Advances in Accounting最新文献

Using a sample of 3678 firm-year observations with discontinued operations from 1992 to 2019, and a matched sample of 3678 observations without discontinued operations, we find a significant positive relationship between CEO power and discontinued operations, measured as the likelihood and magnitude of discontinued operations. Our results suggest that more powerful CEOs are more likely to discontinue business operations and report a larger magnitude of discontinued operations than less powerful CEOs.

Prior research documents jurors do not always respond consistently, or favorably, to auditors' quality-intended efforts. Counterintuitively, in some instances, doing more has led to greater liability, not less (Reffett, 2010). We hypothesize (and find) that proactive engagement of the corporate audit committee will reduce counterfactual thinking, and the proactive use of a forensic specialist at the audit planning stage will reduce negative intention-attributions. We further hypothesize these interventions, in turn, will reduce negative affect toward the auditor and negligence judgments. Our research leverages counterfactual thinking, attribution, and blame theories, and the use of affect as information. Additionally, we build on recent research that finds proactive preventive actions and the presence of a strong, active audit committee can reduce auditor liability judgments (Alderman & Jollineau, 2020; Frank, Grenier, & Pyzoha, 2021). Unlike Reffett (2010), we find that auditor's incremental efforts can reduce, rather than increase, negligence judgments. Our scenarios differ from those of Reffett in the timing and nature of auditor interventions and the root causes of the audit failure. We contribute to ongoing research examining the effects of auditor choices on jurors' judgments.

This paper examines how financial statement comparability varies between firms in the mature stage of their life cycle and firms in other life cycle stages. We hypothesize that mature firms are inclined to produce financial statements that are comparable among their industry peers. Using a sample of U.S. listed companies from 1987 to 2019, we find evidence to support our hypothesis. We also find that this association between life cycle and comparability is moderated by information asymmetry. A battery of robustness tests validates our initial findings. We extend the financial statement comparability literature by providing evidence on a determinant of comparability. Our study provides insights to policymakers regarding the necessity to consider firm life cycle when designing financial accounting standards.

Auditor rotation is believed to affect financial reporting quality partly because of the fresh views brought by new auditors. However, fresh views are generally unobservable and are often presumed. This study examines fresh views as evidenced by changes in key audit matters (KAMs) following auditor rotation. Using data from Taiwan, we find that different KAM disclosures are more likely to be observed when there is a change in audit partner(s) than when there is none. The identification of different KAMs provides evidence of the fresh perspective of the new auditors. We also examine the association between financial reporting quality and auditor rotation based on whether there is a change in KAM disclosures. We find that auditor rotation is not significantly associated with accruals quality when there is no change in KAMs after the rotation. Auditor rotation tends to affect accruals quality only when different KAMs are provided by the succeeding audit partners. This finding suggests that auditor rotation influences financial reporting quality under circumstances when auditors change their assessments of significant risk, as this can affect the audit plan and process, and accordingly affect the audit results.

This study examines the effect of audit committee characteristics (size, independence, and expertise) on compliance with the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI's) Financial Accounting Standards (FASs). Our sample consists of 372 bank-year observations from 2009 to 2015. Using panel regressions, our results provide evidence that compliance with AAOIFI's FASs is positively influenced by audit committee size. However, audit committee independence does not affect the compliance level. With respect to audit committee expertise, we find a positive and significant association between compliance with AAOIFI's FASs and accounting financial expertise. Moreover, our results reveal that audit committee members with accounting financial and culture expertise are positively and significantly associated with the level of compliance with AAOIFI's FASs. Interestingly, our finding suggests that an audit committee member with a combination of culture expertise (expertise in Islamic banking) and accounting financial expertise better improves the compliance level than an audit committee member with only accounting financial expertise.

In recent years, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) inspections have repeatedly reported audit deficiencies related to complex fair value measurements. Motivated by the PCAOB's concern, this paper investigates whether audit quality of fair value measurements has information value to investors. Using a sample of U.S. public banks during 2008–2019, I find a significantly positive (negative) association between stock prices (bid-ask spreads) and the perceived audit quality of fair value estimates. This finding is consistent with investors valuing audit quality as it enhances the reliability of—and reduces the uncertainty associated with—complex estimates. Furthermore, using the fair value hierarchy mandated by SFAS 157, Fair Value Measurement, I find the incremental valuation effect of the perceived audit quality is greater for the substantial estimation uncertainties and potential management bias inherent in Level 3 fair value assets. In addition, I find some evidence that an auditor's banking industry expertise plays a more significant role than Big 4 status in investors' perceptions of audit quality with respect to FVM. Additional cross-sectional results reveal that the documented effect is greater for banks with declining capital adequacy and for smaller banks. Collectively, my findings suggest that perceived audit quality is important to investors in assessing the informativeness of complex fair value measurements.

Canada adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2011. We investigate the impact of this mandatory change by examining whether value relevance and non-market-based accounting information changed for a comprehensive set of Canadian companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Our findings reveal the effects of IFRS adoption are not consistent across all firms as demonstrated by a minimal change in value relevance for large firms, but a significant increase for small firms. These differences are primarily attributed to the weakening (strengthening) relationship of book value to stock price for large (small) firms and a strengthening (weakening) relationship of earnings to stock price for large (small) firms. This suggests the goal of IFRS in providing improvement to the balance sheet is only achieved for small firms in Canada. For the non-market-based accounting quality measures of earnings persistence, earnings smoothing, earnings discretion, and the frequency of small profits to losses, the findings are mixed for large firms, but improve for small firms after IFRS adoption.

I re-examine the information content of earnings press releases (EPRs) by distinguishing textual fundamentals (TF), which captures information content in non-tone language, from tone, which captures optimism and pessimism and is the focus of prior research. I find after controlling for standard firm characteristics, TF positively predicts future operating performance, unlike tone, which negatively predicts future operating performance. I document a return continuation in TF, in contrast to the return reversal in tone documented in prior literature. My findings distinguish informative content in TF and misleading content in tone in EPRs.

Prior research indicates that males and females tend to respond differently in various decision settings. Two such behavioral characteristics, risk-taking attitudes and ethical leadership, are tied to corporate financial and investment decision-making. In this study, we examine the association between CFO gender and corporate investment efficiency, specifically, the extent of firm-level overinvestment. We find that the presence of a female CFO is significantly associated with a decreased level of corporate overinvestment. Robustness checks using alternative investment measures and controlling for CFO-, CEO-, and board-level factors provide consistent support to this main finding. Consistent with prior studies, we show that female executives are more cautious and risk-averse than their male counterparts when making various corporate decisions, and thus, may be more likely to act in shareholders' best interests. Our findings highlight that gender plays a role in corporate financial and investment decision-making.

Human capital plays a substantial role in the corporate tax planning process, and thus a firm's ability to attract, retain and motivate talented employees is a potential determinant of tax planning outcomes. Motivated by the premise that employee satisfaction is a key driver of productivity, I investigate the relationship between employee satisfaction ratings, collected from the website Glassdoor, and corporate tax planning outcomes. I find that firms with higher employee satisfaction ratings exhibit significantly greater tax avoidance as well as lower tax risk. A one-point increase in overall employee satisfaction ratings, on a five-point scale, is associated with a 2.6 percentage point decrease in cash effective tax rates (Cash ETRs) and a 0.20 standard deviation decrease in Cash ETR volatility. These results are stronger for firms with larger corporate tax departments, which rely more on employees to manage the tax planning process. I also find that employee satisfaction is negatively associated with UTB reserves, indicating that the increased tax avoidance is unlikely to arise from aggressive tax positions. Finally, through path analyses, I find that employee satisfaction can influence a firm's tax outcomes by reducing tax department turnover and improving the firm's internal information environment. Overall, my findings are consistent with the premise that employees play a substantial role in implementing tax avoidance strategies and mitigating tax risk, thus managers who adopt a strong work culture and employee-friendly policies can attain beneficial tax outcomes.