Research in Accounting Regulation最新文献

This study examines the stock market's valuation of customer-related intangible assets for a sample of publicly-traded U.S. firms. Customer-related intangible assets are found to be positively associated with equity prices, but valued at a discount relative to goodwill. These results suggest that value-relevant information is lost if customer-related intangible assets are subsumed into goodwill rather than being reported separately. This evidence can be useful to standard setters potentially considering extending to public companies a recent FASB Accounting Standards Update allowing private companies not to recognize separately from goodwill certain customer-related intangible assets.

We examine the impact of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) violations on participation during conference calls and on analysts’ forecast quality. We hand-collected conference call transcript data for quarterly conference calls surrounding the date of the SEC investigation announcement over the period 2002 – 2013. We find that management's discriminatory practices are significantly higher for firms under investigation for a Reg FD violation, but management's discriminatory practices significantly decrease after a Reg FD investigation is announced. In this post-investigation period, there is greater forecast accuracy and lower forecast dispersion for firms under investigation compared to firms not being investigated. Overall, we find that when the SEC publicly discloses the existence of a Reg FD investigation, there is a decrease in management's discriminatory practices on quarterly conference calls, an increase in forecast accuracy, and a decrease in forecast dispersion. Our findings suggest that the SEC should publicly announce its investigations as soon as possible given the positive implications for the investing public, analysts, and management's discriminatory practices.

Donald C. Cook served as a member of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 1949 to 1953 and as Chairman during the last two years. His unique position as the only Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who served as Commission Chairman has been largely unnoticed and elicits the need for a profile about the individual, his background, career, and what, if any, legacy might be related to it. Cook was also unique in that his prior staff experience at the SEC was primarily in the public utilities division. This profile describes and identifies several episodes in Cook's career at the SEC and after. These include other public service positions in government and his executive career at American Electric Power (AEP) as president and board chairman. These years were often filled with controversy and challenges in dealings with the SEC and with issues relating to consolidation among utilities as the country's demand for electrical energy grew substantially. His government service roles beyond the SEC acquainted him with many political leaders. He was an advisor to President Lyndon Johnson, who shared the opinion of others that Cook was “the smartest man in the country” [Johnson, Telephone conversation No. 7070, March 16, 1965].

This report examines the predictive value of geographic revenue disclosures under IFRS 8 in forecasting company revenues using four forecast models. The findings show that the predictive accuracy of IFRS 8 entity-wide geographic sales significantly outperform consolidated sales in forecasting consolidated sales one year out. The results indicate that the predictive ability of country specific entity wide geographic sales improves on average by six percent when geographic sales are reported for country of domicile or by each individually material country. The study also finds that geographic sales disclosures by companies located in countries with high and moderate enforcement regimes improve the predictive accuracy of geographic sales by five percent. These results provide evidence that the disclosure of finer geographic sales data is more decision useful and associated with improved predictive accuracy for large listed companies in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

This study examines the effect of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) on accounting distortions in the context of the earnings quality of high-growth firms relative to lower-growth firms. High-growth creates unique management and reporting challenges that can contribute to accounting-related distortions. SOX, with its emphasis on financial reporting, control systems and management responsibility, could have been particularly relevant for high-growth firms with such challenges. Test results indicate a stronger reduction (weaker increase) in accounting distortions related to total accruals and book-tax differences (performance-matched modified Jones discretionary accruals) for high-growth firms from the pre- to the post-SOX period relative to lower-growth firms. Other tests indicate that the relation between accounting returns and market returns strengthened for high-growth firms in the period after SOX, but not for lower-growth firms. These results suggest greater reductions in accounting distortions and related improvements in reporting quality for high-growth firms relative to other firms coinciding with the post-SOX period.

State and local government pension underfunding has become a major focus of public policy debate due in large part to recent Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) actions that have brought national attention to the issue. The extent of these plans underfunding has been debated, along with the necessity for state government intervention and the level of regulatory actions that should be enacted by state legislatures. State and local public pension plans do not fall under the enumerated powers of the federal government in the Constitution and are therefore left to each individual state to regulate. The amount of plan underfunding and enacted public policy by state varies greatly. Additionally, in contrast to numerous state balanced-budget laws, legal directives for fully funding public pensions are virtually non-existent. This paper analyzes the state and local public pension crisis, examines current and long-term risk, studies public employee fiscal conditions, considers the societal impacts of these plans, considers the strengths and weakness of pension plan types, recommends public policy and regulation, and offers strategies for managers, board members, and public officials to adopt.

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (FAS) No. 131, Disclosures about Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information (FASB [1997]), reestablishes standards for how public business enterprises report segment information in financial statements. A prevailing criticism of FAS 131 is that it likely reduces financial statement comparability for firms with similar lines of business. This study estimates comparability of accounting disclosures surrounding the implementation of FAS 131 to examine potential variation in comparability associated with the segment reporting regime shift. Financial statement comparability is operationalized following the De Franco et al. (2011) accounting system comparability measure as the degree that firms have similar mappings for economic performance into financial statements. Results indicate decreased comparability for firms following FAS 131 adoption. Specifically, segment information reformulated according to how companies manage their businesses marginally limits this reduction in comparability, but greater segment information disaggregation through an increase in the number of reported segments attributed to FAS 131 application diminishes comparability overall. This study contributes to the standard setting process, as the FASB has assigned comparability to an important position in its conceptual framework and has made the goal of increasing comparability a vital component of its agenda that drives the need for accounting standards.

The scandals involving Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Andersen are frequently cited as among the principal reasons for the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act [Pub.L. 107–204, 116 Stat. 745, enacted July 30, 2002] (SOX) as well as the genesis of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The PCAOB is a relatively new agency that was created to a play vital role as the regulator for auditors of U.S. public companies. For such an important organization, its background remains relatively unexamined. This paper seeks to extend the existing literature by examining the historical origins of the PCAOB and identifying the regulatory influences and prototypes of this regulatory agency. Was the organization's regulatory structure chosen arbitrarily? Were there various events as well as exemplar entities in the preceding decades that played an integral role in the eventual creation of the PCAOB? This research seeks to answer these questions.

In the U.S., the investing public can readily access a great deal of information about publicly-traded companies. However, the large private accounting firms that audit those companies—and that are just as economically significant—provide very little information. This paper provides insight into the audit markets by taking a novel, descriptive approach to explore the cost of performing audits, an under-examined area in the literature due to lack of data. The analyses explore audit production costs, profitability, and partner compensation at the audit-firm level, using publicly available data from the U.K. The findings suggest interesting potential differences in audit production functions between the Big Four firms, an important factor when considering the competitiveness of the audit market. Taking this analysis and applying it to the U.S. setting, an estimate of the average profitability per domestic Big Four partner is approximately $1.2 million for the year 2013. This paper intends to stimulate discussion about how public accounting firms are regulated in the U.S.

In response to a current lack of research in the Middle East, this study aims to critically evaluate the perceived costs and benefits associated with the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Saudi Arabia, the world's leading oil and natural gas exporter. Using documentary analysis and interviews with stakeholders (account preparers from listed companies in Saudi Arabia, auditors from Big 4 and local accountancy firms, and university academics), the study contributes to the literature by concluding that the benefits of IFRS adoption in Saudi Arabia outweigh the costs. Importantly, a lack of qualified accountants, significant dependence on Big 4 accounting firms, inadequate coverage of IFRS in university education, and a lack of research are identified as major obstacles to the effective implementation of IFRS. The findings offer a possible policy agenda for local and international policy makers.