This paper examines whether regulatory oversight affects managerial ability. To measure regulatory oversight, I use comment letters from two Iranian regulatory agencies. Furthermore, to measure managerial ability, I employ managerial ability-score introduced by Demerjian et al. (Management Science 58(7):1229–1248, 2012). Using a difference-in-differences design with a propensity score matching approach, I reveal that the managerial ability of a firm is enhanced following the receipt of a comment letter by the firm. I further reveal that the managerial ability of a firm is enhanced following the receipt of a comment letter by the firm’s industry peers. Collectively, the findings highlight the internalities and externalities of regulatory oversight in the context of managerial ability.

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