Research in Accounting Regulation最新文献

In this article, we synthesize, in annotated bibliography form, recent regulation-related findings and commentaries in the academic literature. This annotated bibliography is one in a series of bibliographies that summarizes regulation-related academic research. We reviewed articles published in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting Horizons, The Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, and Research in Accounting Regulation. We annotate results of regulation-related research studies and key points from regulation-related commentaries. The literature featured some strong regulation-related threads in 2014 including the foundations of financial reporting, international financial reporting standards, retrospectives on Sarbanes-Oxley and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ten years out, corporate governance and audit quality.

In 2008, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (ACAP) issued a report with findings and recommendations to address the sustainability and effectiveness of the public company auditing profession. The ACAP report addressed a number of longstanding issues and emerging developments at a critical time in history for the auditing profession and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). As the first comprehensive study of the profession since the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002, the report identifies many significant issues for the PCAOB and the profession itself. The report dealt with three primary areas: human capital issues impacting the auditing profession, audit firm structure and finances, and audit firm concentration and competition. The report contains numerous recommendations directed toward regulators, academics, the auditing profession, and other stakeholders. This paper provides updated information about the numerous actions taken on sixteen ACAP recommendations that refer to or involve the PCAOB. Given the amount of effort related to these recommendations, it seems reasonable to ask, “Are we there yet?” But this is not the correct question, because we should never become complacent in thinking that we have made sufficient progress or completed the necessary actions to achieve and maintain high quality auditing. Since the time ACAP report was written, risks to audit quality have changed. The PCAOB continues to focus on areas raised in the ACAP report. While key issues raised in the ACAP report remain relevant, audit firms and audit regulators must be insightful and forward-looking to detect new and emerging risks so that timely actions can be taken to ensure reliable, high quality auditing to support the capital markets and protect investors. Numerous opportunities for future research exist in evaluating the impact of actions taken on the ACAP recommendations, including to what extent the actions have accomplished the original objectives and whether unanticipated consequences have occurred or additional actions might be needed.

With IAS19R, Employee Benefits, the IASB simplified the accounting for defined-benefit pension plans by eliminating the use of an expected pension asset return assumption and by eliminating several of the income smoothing techniques included in the previous standard. To provide prospective evidence useful to the FASB's ongoing attempts to simplify and improve accounting standards, this study applies the revised pension accounting rules under IAS19R to a sample of U.S. firms with defined-benefit pension plans. Overall, there is no significant change in total pension expense from applying IAS19R versus current U.S. GAAP for a sample of S&P 500 firms over 2010–2012. This is due to the effects of eliminating the expected pension asset return and the “corridor” approach to smoothing unrealized gains or losses essentially offsetting each other. However, it is shown that IAS19R would significantly increase pension expense for subsamples of firms with high expected pension asset return assumptions, firms with low levels of amortized net pension losses or gains, and firms with better-funded pension plans.

This work investigate the changes in the market participants' reliance on five types of monitors/monitoring mechanisms (auditors, corporate governance, equity analysts, credit analysts, and banks) after the implementation of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX). By focusing on changes in weights associated with the monitoring mechanisms across implementation of SOX, the results indicate that bondholders appear to rely more on the monitoring of equity analysts, the audit committee, and lenders, and less on auditors and credit rating agencies. Importantly, the results indicate that SOX reduced the bond yield interest spread. However, while SOX may have strengthened the debt market's reliance on some monitoring mechanisms, it seems to have weakened the debt market's reliance on other monitoring mechanisms some might have assumed should have been strengthened by SOX. There are three possible explanations for the finding that SOX's extensive reform in auditing has not increased bondholders' reliance on auditors. One explanation is that it may take a longer time for investors to value the effectiveness of this monitoring mechanism after the implementation of SOX, and this impact is beyond the post-SOX period analyzed. An alternative explanation is that SOX may not solve the real problems underlying the massive corporate failures. The third explanation is the potential substitution effects of the other monitoring mechanisms.

The mission of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (referred to herein as the PCAOB or the Board) is to protect investors and further the public interest. In this article, the regulatory approach of the PCAOB is contrasted with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the context of the “capture” and “public interest” models of regulatory behavior. After the WorldCom fraud, Congress could have stripped the CPA profession of its auditing franchise, but it chose to take a less drastic measure. The independent public accountants retained their audit franchise, but with a new regulator to augment their conscience. The approach is consistent with the SEC strategy in that the auditor continues to fulfill an important role in the financial reporting supply chain. The article discusses the ways in which it appears that the drafters of SOX attempted to infuse the Board with the qualities that have made the SEC so successful. While SOX was prescriptive in many areas, it also imparted a significant degree of discretion to the Board. The article analyzes how the Board has used the discretion granted to it by SOX in ways that are either consistent or inconsistent with the SEC model. Although the PCAOB was structured very similarly to the SEC, the Board has exercised its discretion in ways that appear to deviate from the SEC strategy. The decision to name itself as the auditing standard-setter is an example of the departure from the SEC's own strategy.

In this article, we synthesize in annotated bibliography form, recent regulation-related findings and commentaries in the academic literature. This annotated bibliography is one in a series of bibliographies that summarizes regulation-related academic research. We reviewed articles published in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting Horizons, The Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, and Research in Accounting Regulation. We annotate results of regulation-related research studies and key points from regulation-related commentaries. The literature featured some strong regulation-related threads in 2013 including the foundations of financial reporting, the role of financial reporting in the financial crisis, accounting disclosure, financial reporting choices, International Financial Reporting Standards, and Sarbanes–Oxley and its impact on accounting and audit quality.

In April 2013, the SEC provided explicit guidance to public companies regarding social media use for material disclosures. This paper examines the effect of regulatory approval on the market reaction to financial disclosures distributed by firms via social media. The use of social media to disseminate information may lead to broader market interest in the stock. Social media use by firms is explored in three time periods: (1) prior to public SEC scrutiny of social media, (2) after the SEC filed a formal complaint about the use of social media, and (3) after the April 2013 guidance. The analysis demonstrates a positive association between social media use and market reaction as evidenced in trading volume. Second, the association between social media use by firms and trading volume is greatest following the SEC's guidance. Third, social media are used more extensively by disclosing firms in the period following explicit SEC guidance permitting its use.

This paper explores the impact that Sir Arthur Lowes Dickinson, inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1951, had on accounting thought in the United States. Throughout his career, Dickinson focused on improving the accounting profession, both internally and externally, through speeches, writing, and example. This paper takes particular focus on Dickinson's 1904 “The Profits of a Corporation” paper, his influence on governing bodies such as the Federal Reserve, and the long-term impact of his contribution to the current accounting profession and practice.