Antitakeover legislation and accounting conservatism: New evidence

We examine the effect of second-generation state antitakeover laws (ATLs) on accounting conservatism. We adopt a novel methodology that corrects for selection bias resulting from firms' endogenous incorporation decision. Focusing on the period from when these ATLs became constitutional, we find a negative association between ATLs and conservatism. Our results suggest that ATLs decrease debtholder demand for conservatism by reducing agency costs of debt.