Given a morphism (not necessarily flat) $f \colon X \rightarrow Y$ between smooth varieties over $\mathbb{C}$ say, we have a pull-back homomophism of graded rings $f^* \colon A^*(Y) \rightarrow A^*(X)$ (See Fulton, 8.1 - 8.3). My question is:
Under what conditions can it be said of a closed subscheme (or subvariety) $Z \subset Y$ that $f^*([Z]) = [f^{-1}(Z)]$? I'm expecting some sort of transversality condition...
In Stacks, 0B0I, it's stated that this holds whenever $f^{-1}(Z)$ is of the expected codimension in $X$ AND in addition "$Z$ is Cohen-Macaulay at the images of the generic points of $f^{-1}(Z)$". Can we find a reference or proof for this fact, ideally in Fulton?
Can this latter condition (i.e., Cohen-Macaulayness, etc.) be shown to be superfluous if we assume in addition, say, that $f$ is a closed immersion and $f^{-1}(Z)$ is integral and smooth?
Thanks!