We examine the governance characteristics, earnings quality, growth rates, dividend policy, and compensation structure of 97 firms recently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for accounting fraud. Our results show that the corporate environment most likely to lead to an accounting scandal manifests significant growth and accounting practices that are already pushing the envelope of earnings smoothing. Firms operating in this environment seem more likely to tip over the edge into fraud if there are fewer outsiders on the audit committee and outside directors appear overcommitted. Copyright 2007, The Eastern Finance Association.

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PurposeThis paper aims to extend the work by Vafeas and Lie and Lie by developing an empirical model of choice among four alternative mechanisms for distributing cash from corporations to shareholders: a fixed‐price self‐tender offer, a Dutch auction self‐tender offer, an open market share repurchase, and a special dividend.Design/methodology/approachA multinomial logit (MNL) model adapted for choice‐based sampling is used to examine the factors that influence a firm's choice among the four methods.FindingsFirms with a high degree of heterogeneity in shareholder valuations tend to select an open market repurchase, while firms with low levels of heterogeneity choose a special dividend. Firms already paying high dividends are more likely to issue a special dividend than institute an open market repurchase. A firm with poor stock performance prior to the announcement is more likely to choose a fixed‐price self‐tender offer or open market share repurchase. On the other hand, firms are more likely to follow strong performance with a special dividend. Contrary to Persons' model, it is found that firms facing a takeover threat are more likely to choose a fixed‐price tender offer than a Dutch auction.Practical implicationsIt is shown that the ownership structure, current payout level; the size of the distribution, and the degree of stock undervaluation are among the most important determinants of a firm's choice among alternative payout methods.Originality/valueThis study adds to the existing literature by developing the first empirical model of choice among all four one‐time (or infrequent) corporate cash disbursement methods. It is also the first to adjust the MNL estimates for the choice‐based sampling method used to collect the data.