abstract
We empirically examine whether risk-taking by publicly traded US companies declined
significantly after adoption of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). Several provisions
of SOX are likely to discourage risk-taking, including an expanded role for independent
directors, an increase in director and officer liability, and rules related to internal
controls. We find several measures of risk-taking decline significantly for US versus nonUS
firms after SOX. The magnitudes of the declines are related to several firm
characteristics, including pre-SOX board structure, firm size, and R&D expenditures. The
evidence is consistent with the proposition that SOX discourages risk-taking by public
US companies.
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