The first essay examines the impact of investor protection, market monitoring, and liquidity on the firm-level and country-level earnings management using a sample of 432 firms from 34 countries cross-listed in the U.S. The major findings are as follows: First, cross-listed firms from countries with strong legal system, strong outside investor rights, more institutional investors, and higher financial transparency are less likely to engage in earnings management. In addition, in countries with strong investor protection or market monitoring, the level of earnings management is more pronounced for illiquid firms as compared to liquid firms. Second, cross-listed firms following IFRS have lower propensity in earnings management than those following the U.S. GAAP. Third, the degree of earnings management for cross-listed firms is greater in the home country than in the U.S. market. Fourth, cross-listed firms have higher earnings management in the pre-listing period than in the post-listing period. Fifth, foreign firms listed in U.S. major markets have lower propensity to engage in earnings management than those listed in the OTC market. The findings remain robust with the inclusion of industry fixed effects and GMM estimation. All findings are largely consistent with my hypotheses that better investor protection, greater market monitoring, and higher liquidity reduce the extent of earnings management. The second essay examines the relative contribution to price discovery process of EURO/USD currency futures traded on two major exchanges: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), using the intraday data in 2010. The relative contribution to price discovery is estimated using the information share approach of Hasbrouck (1995). Empirical findings indicate that CME accounts for approximately 87% of price discovery in the EURO/USD market and its contribution is substantially larger in the morning than that in the afternoon. This study also examines the effect of trading characteristics, including volume, quoted bid-ask spread, and price volatility, on information share. CME’s price discovery leadership is attributed to its high trading activity, low transaction costs, and lower volatility. The results support the liquidity hypothesis that a market with greater liquidity contributes more to price discovery.

A dupla listagem é uma estratégia que supostamente pode minimizar os efeitos de uma crise financeira internacional sobre as empresas. Este estudo buscou analisar se esta suposição é válida para companhias brasileiras, no contexto da crise de 2008. O problema de pesquisa que direcionou este estudo foi: A dupla listagem internacional fez com que os impactos da crise financeira de 2008 sobre determinados indicadores das empresas fossem compatíveis com os previstos na literatura e fossem diferentes daqueles sofridos pelas empresas domésticas? O objetivo foi analisar se a dupla listagem pode minimizar os efeitos gerados pela crise financeira de 2008 sobre determinados indicadores associados às empresas listadas. Os efeitos da crise de 2008 foram também comparados com os sofridos pelos papéis de empresas domésticas, sem dupla listagem. Os indicadores analisados foram: liquidez, volume, risco, retorno, custo de capital, alavancagem financeira, valor da empresa e concorrência. O teste de hipóteses foi utilizado para verificar se houve impacto significativo nas variáveis das empresas antes e após a crise financeira. Foram utilizadas para a amostra 37 empresas duplamente listadas (EDL) e 37 empresas domésticas (ED). Os resultados obtidos com o estudo sugerem que, durante uma crise financeira internacional, a maioria dos indicadores das EDL apresenta diferença significativa quando comparados os períodos pré e pós-crise. Os resultados das empresas domésticas foram semelhantes. Estes resultados estão em consonância com os apresentados nos estudos de Bailey, Chan e Chung (2000), Huang e Stoll (2001), Bin, Blenman e Chen (2004), mas contradizem os resultados de Huang e Stoll (2001). Em relação às diferenças entre os dois grupos de empresas Chandar, Patro e Yezegel (2009) afirmam que empresas com dupla listagem ficaram mais protegidas no período da crise; porém, Chira e Marciniak (2014) comprovaram que por serem duplamente listadas as empresas ficaram mais expostas durante as crises financeiras. As duas conclusões principais do estudo são que a crise afetou de forma semelhante os dois grupos de empresas e que, portanto, a dupla listagem não minimizou seus efeitos / The cross-listing is a strategy that supposedly can minimize the effects of an international financial crisis on businesses. This study sought to analyze if this supposition is valid for Brazilian companies, in the context of the crisis of 2008. The research problem that directed this study was: The international cross-listing has meant that the impact of the financial crisis of 2008 on certain indicators of the companies were compatible with the expected in the literature and were different from those experienced by domestic firms? The objective was to analyze if the cross-listing can minimize the effects generated by the 2008 financial crisis on certain indicators associated with listed companies. The effects of the 2008 crisis were also compared with those suffered by the papers of domestic companies, without cross-listing. The indicators analyzed were: liquidity, scale, risk and return, cost of capital, financial leverage, firm\'s value and competitors. The hypothesis testing was used to verify if there was significant impact on the variables of enterprises before and after the financial crisis. The hypothesis testing was used to verify if there was significant impact on the variables of enterprises before and after the financial crisis. They were used for the sample 37 cross-listed firms (CLF) and 37 domestic firms (DF). The results of the study suggest that, during an international financial crisis, most of the indicators of the CLF presents significant difference when compared to the periods before and after the crisis. The results of domestic companies were similar. These results are consistent with those presented in studies by Bailey, Chan and Chung (2000), Huang and Stoll (2001), Bin, Blenman and Chen (2004), but contradict the results by Huang and Stoll (2001). Regarding the differences between the two groups of companies Chandar, Patro and Yezegel (2009) state that companies with cross-listing were more protected in times of crisis; however, Chira and Marciniak (2014) confirmed that cross-listed companies were more exposed during the financial crisis. The two principal conclusions of the study are that the crisis affected in a similar manner both groups of companies and, therefore, the cross-listing did not minimize their effects

A dupla listagem é uma estratégia que supostamente pode minimizar os efeitos de uma crise financeira internacional sobre as empresas. Este estudo buscou analisar se esta suposição é válida para companhias brasileiras, no contexto da crise de 2008. O problema de pesquisa que direcionou este estudo foi: A dupla listagem internacional fez com que os impactos da crise financeira de 2008 sobre determinados indicadores das empresas fossem compatíveis com os previstos na literatura e fossem diferentes daqueles sofridos pelas empresas domésticas? O objetivo foi analisar se a dupla listagem pode minimizar os efeitos gerados pela crise financeira de 2008 sobre determinados indicadores associados às empresas listadas. Os efeitos da crise de 2008 foram também comparados com os sofridos pelos papéis de empresas domésticas, sem dupla listagem. Os indicadores analisados foram: liquidez, volume, risco, retorno, custo de capital, alavancagem financeira, valor da empresa e concorrência. O teste de hipóteses foi utilizado para verificar se houve impacto significativo nas variáveis das empresas antes e após a crise financeira. Foram utilizadas para a amostra 37 empresas duplamente listadas (EDL) e 37 empresas domésticas (ED). Os resultados obtidos com o estudo sugerem que, durante uma crise financeira internacional, a maioria dos indicadores das EDL apresenta diferença significativa quando comparados os períodos pré e pós-crise. Os resultados das empresas domésticas foram semelhantes. Estes resultados estão em consonância com os apresentados nos estudos de Bailey, Chan e Chung (2000), Huang e Stoll (2001), Bin, Blenman e Chen (2004), mas contradizem os resultados de Huang e Stoll (2001). Em relação às diferenças entre os dois grupos de empresas Chandar, Patro e Yezegel (2009) afirmam que empresas com dupla listagem ficaram mais protegidas no período da crise; porém, Chira e Marciniak (2014) comprovaram que por serem duplamente listadas as empresas ficaram mais expostas durante as crises financeiras. As duas conclusões principais do estudo são que a crise afetou de forma semelhante os dois grupos de empresas e que, portanto, a dupla listagem não minimizou seus efeitos / The cross-listing is a strategy that supposedly can minimize the effects of an international financial crisis on businesses. This study sought to analyze if this supposition is valid for Brazilian companies, in the context of the crisis of 2008. The research problem that directed this study was: The international cross-listing has meant that the impact of the financial crisis of 2008 on certain indicators of the companies were compatible with the expected in the literature and were different from those experienced by domestic firms? The objective was to analyze if the cross-listing can minimize the effects generated by the 2008 financial crisis on certain indicators associated with listed companies. The effects of the 2008 crisis were also compared with those suffered by the papers of domestic companies, without cross-listing. The indicators analyzed were: liquidity, scale, risk and return, cost of capital, financial leverage, firm\'s value and competitors. The hypothesis testing was used to verify if there was significant impact on the variables of enterprises before and after the financial crisis. The hypothesis testing was used to verify if there was significant impact on the variables of enterprises before and after the financial crisis. They were used for the sample 37 cross-listed firms (CLF) and 37 domestic firms (DF). The results of the study suggest that, during an international financial crisis, most of the indicators of the CLF presents significant difference when compared to the periods before and after the crisis. The results of domestic companies were similar. These results are consistent with those presented in studies by Bailey, Chan and Chung (2000), Huang and Stoll (2001), Bin, Blenman and Chen (2004), but contradict the results by Huang and Stoll (2001). Regarding the differences between the two groups of companies Chandar, Patro and Yezegel (2009) state that companies with cross-listing were more protected in times of crisis; however, Chira and Marciniak (2014) confirmed that cross-listed companies were more exposed during the financial crisis. The two principal conclusions of the study are that the crisis affected in a similar manner both groups of companies and, therefore, the cross-listing did not minimize their effects