Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, June 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed September 20, 2006). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 190-196).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed June 19, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 124-127).

This empirical study is concerned with the extent to which news announcements affect the performance of common equity securities of oil and gas producing companies. The market effects of news announcements are considered to be of importance in resolving two issues. One concerns financial statement disclosure and the second concerns examination of prior oil and gas industry-related accounting research. This dissertation assumes capital market efficiency and addresses two research questions: do news announcements concerning activities of nonintegrated oil and gas producing companies affect the companies' common stock prices, and are announcements concerning nonintegrated oil and gas companies' financial, personnel, explorational, and developmental and operational activities used equally by investors in their decision-making?