1,720,992 research outputs found
Do tenure-based voting rights help mitigate the family firm control-growth dilemma?
Full text linkInvestment growth in family firms is constrained by family preferences to retain corporate control, which limits outside equity issuance and increases the expropriation risk perceived by external minority shareholders. Tenure-based voting rights (TVRs) weaken the link between voting rights and cash flow rights, facilitating new equity capital issuance without loss of control. We find that publicly listed family firms in Italy adopt TVRs to facilitate the continuation of investment growth while retaining family control. We also find that in family firms with fragile control, investment increases after TVR adoption. Our results indicate that control-enhancing mechanisms such as TVRs can help resolve the control–growth dilemma in family firms
International differences in the timeliness, conservatism, and classification of earnings
No full textWe analyze differences in the timeliness of income recognition between the U.S. and U.K. GAAP financial reporting regimes. Building on previous work in the area we focus on the links between current reported earnings and current and past changes in market value. In the light of Basu [1997] we present a formal model in which
the response of reported earnings to changes in market value varies according to whether the value change is good news or bad. This model yields a number of insights with regard to the definition and measurement of earnings conservatism. We also report evidence indicating that controlling for cross-jurisdictional classification differences affects comparisons of earnings timeliness and earnings conservatism; specifically, we find that apparent differences in conservatism between the U.S. and
U.K. accounting regimes are sensitive to the inclusion or exclusion of extraordinary items in U.K. accounting earnings
Auditor university education: does it matter?
Full text linkWe examine the implications of auditor education for audit quality and audit pricing. We exploit a novel institutional setting in the UK, where auditors major in many different degrees at university and signing auditors are identifiable. Using hand-collected data for a large sample of signing auditors, we establish two main findings. First, auditors whose degrees have a quantitative orientation are associated with higher accruals quality and higher audit fees than those with more qualitative degrees. Second, auditors with degrees directly relevant to accounting are also associated with higher accruals quality and increased audit fees relative to auditors with unrelated university degrees in qualitative subjects. Overall, our study provides evidence that heterogeneity in auditor education is associated with divergent audit outcomes
Discussion of Disclosure Practices, Enforcement of Accounting Standards, and Analysts' Forecast Accuracy: An International Study
No full textDiscussion of O-K. Hope "Disclosure Practices, Enforcement of Accounting Standards, and Analysts' Forecast Accuracy: An International Study
Analyst ability and research effort: non-EPS forecast provision as a research quality signal
Full text linkThe range of non-EPS forecast types provided by individual analysts to I/B/E/S has increased dramatically over time but varies considerably across firms. We propose that in providing a broader range of forecast types analysts can signal superior research ability and research effort. Consistent with this hypothesis, we document positive associations between the number of forecast types (NFT) an analyst provides and common proxies for research quality including earnings forecast accuracy, price target accuracy, stock recommendation profitability, market reactions to stock recommendation revisions and analyst career outcomes. The effects of NFT are incremental to other quality proxies used in the literature and are distinct from the issuance of specific non-EPS
forecast types studied previously, e.g., cash flow forecasts. We demonstrate the information value of NFT to investors by examining the out-of-sample performance of portfolios formed conditional on NFT and exploiting revisions in consensus earnings forecasts and individual analysts’ stock recommendations. We conclude that the number of forecast types an analyst provides for a firm is a readily available proxy for the quality of her research
Accounting for asset impairment : a test for IFRS compliance across Europe : a research report by the Centre for Financial Analysis and Reporting Research, Cass Business School
No full textNo abstract availabl
The interplay between mandatory country-by-country reporting, geographic segment reporting, and tax havens: evidence from the European Union
No full textWe investigate whether mandatory public country-by-country reporting (CBCR) by European Union (EU) banks affects geographic segment reporting. We find no significant change in the reported number of geographic segments, country segments, or line items per geographic segment disclosed in segment reporting notes after the introduction of CBCR. Consistent with the notion that EU banks may aggregate geographic segments to obfuscate tax haven activities, we find a positive association between tax haven intensity and geographic segment aggregation. Further, we document the location of banks’ operations and the extent of their economic presence in tax havens. We find that EU banks report significantly higher profit margins, turnover per employee, and profit per employee, and lower book effective tax rates for operations located in tax havens, relative to non-tax havens. Our evidence suggests that mandatory public CBCR has limited impact on geographic segment reporting. Nevertheless, CBCR provides additional information to better identify the existence and scale of tax haven involvement. Our results should be informative for EU policymakers currently considering the expansion of public CBCR to all industries. They might also be relevant to researchers considering the decision usefulness of CBCR for financial statement users in estimating after-tax profitability and tax enforcement risk
Asymmetric persistence and the market pricing of accruals and cash flows
Full text linkWe investigate whether stock prices reflect the asymmetric persistence of accruals and cash flows resulting from conditional conservatism. Using the Mishkin (1983) test (MT), we provide further evidence on the earnings fixation explanation for the accrual anomaly. We also apply panel estimation techniques that significantly affect market efficiency inferences. Our results suggest that over our sample period (1) investors seem to partially anticipate asymmetric persistence in accruals and cash flows; (2) the accrual anomaly originates in the dispricing of accruals in years of economic gains, even though the differential persistence between accruals and cash flows is greatest in years of economic losses; (3) investors respond differently to accrual and cash flow surprises and therefore they do not naively fixate on earnings surprises; and (4) after clustering standard errors in the MT by firm and year dimensions, there is no longer evidence of cash flow mispricing, while the statistical significance of accrual mispricing falls. All our findings contradict the earnings fixation explanation for the accrual anomaly. Our study has implications for understanding the accrual anomaly in relation to accrual dynamics, as well as for researchers interested in using the MT framework to test the rationality of investor expectations more generally
Proactive financial reporting enforcement: audit fees and financial reporting quality effects
No full textWe examine the costs and benefits of proactive financial reporting enforcement by the U.K. Financial Reporting Review Panel. Enforcement scrutiny is selective and varies by sector and over time, yet can be anticipated by auditors and companies. We find evidence that increased enforcement intensity leads to temporary increases in audit fees and more conservative accruals. However, cross-sectional analysis across market segments reveals that audit fees increase primarily in the less-regulated AIM segment, and especially those AIM companies with a higher likelihood of financial distress and less stringent governance. On the contrary, less reliable operating asset-related accruals are more conservative in the Main segment and, in particular, those Main companies with stronger incentives for higher financial reporting quality. Overall, our study indicates that financial reporting enforcement generates costs and benefits, but not always for the same companies
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