{"title":"Review of Recent Research on Improving Earnings Forecasts and Evaluating Accounting‐Based Estimates of the Expected Rate of Return on Equity Capital","authors":"Peter Easton, S. Monahan","doi":"10.1111/abac.12064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/abac.12064","url":null,"abstract":"type=\"main\"> We extend Easton's (2007) review of the literature on accounting-based estimates of the expected rate of return on equity capital, which we refer to as the ERR. We begin by reiterating the reasons why accounting-based estimates are used. Next, we briefly review the recent literature that focuses on improving forecasts of expected earnings by either (i) removing predictable errors from analysts’ forecasts of earnings or (ii) developing cross-sectional regression-based estimates of earnings using prior-period financial data. In the remainder of our review we discuss a recent debate on methods for evaluating estimates of the ERR. We highlight the key points in the debate so that the reader will find it easier to form an independent view of the relative merits of the proposed methods.","PeriodicalId":134477,"journal":{"name":"ARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121281457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Evaluation of Asset Impairments by Australian Firms and Whether They Were Impacted by AASB 136","authors":"David Bond, Brett Govendir, P. Wells","doi":"10.1111/acfi.12194","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12194","url":null,"abstract":"type=\"main\" xml:id=\"acfi12194-abs-0001\"> This study evaluates how managers of Australian firms are implementing the regulation requiring the impairment of assets and whether asset impairments can be categorised as non-discretionary. We find some evidence that realised asset impairments are reflective of regulatory requirements. However, for the majority of firms exhibiting at least one externally observable indicator of impairment, they are not recognising asset impairments, and recognition is often delayed. Accordingly, while realised asset impairments might be categorised non-discretionary, the timing of their recognition appears highly discretionary. There is some evidence that the realisation of asset impairments increased subsequent to transition to IFRS; however, the majority of firms with indicators of impairment are still not recognising asset impairments.","PeriodicalId":134477,"journal":{"name":"ARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130745653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Auditor Reputation Under Different Negligence Regimes","authors":"Jochen Bigus","doi":"10.1111/abac.12051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/abac.12051","url":null,"abstract":"type=\"main\"> Do auditor reputation effects evolve the same way under precise negligence as under vague negligence? Or are there differences? We assume that investors update their beliefs on unobservable auditor quality when an auditor discloses an inaccurate report. We call this a reputation effect. A necessary condition for reputation effects to occur is that, ex ante, investors expect ‘good’ auditors to take more care than ‘bad’ auditors such that ‘good’ auditors are less likely to issue an inaccurate report. Consistent with empirical evidence, we assume that wealthier (‘good’) auditors tend to take more care than less wealthy (‘bad’) auditors. We find that under vague negligence, reputation effects will occur, inducing both types of auditor to increase the level of care taken. A ‘good’ auditor is likely to exert excessive care. Then, even in the absence of auditor risk aversion, a (properly defined) liability cap is necessary to induce efficient incentives. A contractual liability cap is preferable to a legally fixed liability cap. Under precise negligence, a ‘good’ auditor will exert the standard of due care. However, a ‘bad’ auditor will also do so if sufficiently wealthy. Consequently, ex ante, investors do not expect different levels of care to be taken or reputation effects to occur. A liability cap is not desirable. This paper highlights the importance of non-legal sanctions in auditor liability. Finally, it links the ‘reputation’ and ‘deep pocket’ hypotheses, both of which have attempted separately in the past to explain the positive correlation between auditor size and auditor quality.","PeriodicalId":134477,"journal":{"name":"ARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133573768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Changing Trends of Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure within the Australian Gambling Industry","authors":"C. Loh, C. Deegan, R. Inglis","doi":"10.1111/acfi.12075","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12075","url":null,"abstract":"type=\"main\" xml:id=\"acfi12075-abs-0001\"> This study examines how the corporate social and environmental disclosure (CSD) practices of a sample of gambling companies operating within Australia appears to change around the time of three specific interrelated Australian government initiatives; the Productivity Commission, 1999, Australia's Gambling Industries, Report No. 10, the subsequent establishment of the Ministerial Council on Gambling and the MCG-initiated National Framework on Problem Gambling. Drawing upon three complementary theories, namely legitimacy, stakeholder and institutional theory, our analysis of the extent and type of CSD in the annual reports of gambling companies over a 15 year period suggests that CSD is a response to social pressures created around the time of these initiatives.","PeriodicalId":134477,"journal":{"name":"ARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130335663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Relating Context Variables to Participative Budgeting and Evaluative Use of Performance Measures: A Meta‐Analysis","authors":"Klaus Derfuss","doi":"10.1111/abac.12046","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/abac.12046","url":null,"abstract":"type=\"main\"> Extant findings regarding how context variables relate to participative budgeting and the evaluative use of accounting performance measures (APM) are contradictory. Unlike previous reviews of such findings, this empirical article uses a meta-analysis to examine the relations of context variables with participative budgeting or evaluative use of APM to determine (i) how the variables relate and (ii) which factors might cause between-correlation variance, such as statistical artefacts or moderating influences of variable measures, sample selection, or industry differences. All meta-analyses are based on rather small samples. Three groups of context variables emerge. First, some relate significantly and homogeneously to participative budgeting or evaluative use of APM; these direct relations should be considered explicitly in further studies. Second, for some variables, the relations are homogeneous but not significant, such that they are neither simple nor direct. Third, substantial variance exists in the correlations for some context variables; these relations are contingent on other influences. Industry differences and sample selection explain some inconsistencies in exploratory moderator analyses and should receive additional research attention.","PeriodicalId":134477,"journal":{"name":"ARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals","volume":"2012 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125649781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of the Antecedents and Consequences of Job Burnout on Junior Accountants' Turnover Intentions: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach","authors":"V. Chong, G. Monroe","doi":"10.1111/acfi.12049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12049","url":null,"abstract":"type=\"main\" xml:id=\"acfi12049-abs-0001\"> This paper examines the impact of the antecedents and consequences of job burnout on junior accountants' turnover intentions. A questionnaire was completed by 368 junior accountants working in public accounting firms. Our results suggest that role ambiguity, role conflict and job-related tension are important antecedents for job burnout. Role ambiguity and role conflict initially influence employees' perceived levels of job-related tension, and job-related tension is associated to job burnout, which, in turn, decreases employees' levels of job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Dissatisfied and uncommitted employees are more likely to seek alternative employment.","PeriodicalId":134477,"journal":{"name":"ARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals","volume":"75 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121392656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interactive Data and Retail Investor Decision‐Making: An Experimental Study","authors":"J. Locke, A. Lowe, A. Lymer","doi":"10.1111/acfi.12048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12048","url":null,"abstract":"The results of an experimental study of retail investors' use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language tagged (interactive) data and PDF format for making investment decisions are reported. The main finding is that data format made no difference to participants' ability to locate and integrate information from statement footnotes to improve investment decisions. Interactive data were perceived by participants as quick and ‘accurate’, but it failed to facilitate the identification of the adjustment needed to make the ratios accurate for comparison. An important implication is that regulators and software designers should work to reduce user reliance on the comparability of ratios generated automatically using interactive data.","PeriodicalId":134477,"journal":{"name":"ARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130281972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Earnings Conservatism and Audit Committee Financial Expertise","authors":"Nigar Sultana, J–L W. Mitchell Van der Zahn","doi":"10.1111/acfi.12042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12042","url":null,"abstract":"type=\"main\" xml:id=\"acfi12042-abs-0001\"> Using an Australian sample of 494 firm-year observations, this study finds that accounting financial expertise is the primary type of expertise that influences earnings conservatism, rather than nonaccounting financial expertise. The association between accounting financial expertise and conservatism holds only when the accounting financial expert(s) on audit committees is (are) independent. Overall, results suggest that audit committee accounting financial expertise is important in recognising the asymmetrical timeliness of losses. Findings provide a better understanding of the dynamics between audit committee financial expertise and earnings conservatism and demonstrate the importance of accounting financial expertise in improving financial reporting quality.","PeriodicalId":134477,"journal":{"name":"ARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114618866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carl Brousseau, M. Gendron, P. Bélanger, J. Coupland
{"title":"Does Fair Value Accounting Contribute to Market Price Volatility? An Experimental Approach","authors":"Carl Brousseau, M. Gendron, P. Bélanger, J. Coupland","doi":"10.1111/acfi.12030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12030","url":null,"abstract":"type=\"main\" xml:id=\"acfi12030-abs-0001\"> This paper contributes to the debate on the impact of accounting measurement rules for financial assets. We examine the association between fair value accounting for financial assets and market price volatility for nonfinancial firms in an experimental setting. One group of participants was provided with financial statements where held-for-trading securities were reported at fair market value (FVA). Another group received financial statements with investments reported at historical cost (HCA). Controlling for accounting data, we find no systematic difference between FVA and HCA for three different measures of market price volatility, despite higher earnings volatility and marginally heavier trading under FVA.","PeriodicalId":134477,"journal":{"name":"ARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals","volume":"75 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115667767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Model of Equity Based Compensation with Tax","authors":"Martin Widdicks, Jinsha Zhao","doi":"10.1111/jbfa.12085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jbfa.12085","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we develop a two-stage continuous time model of employee stock option (ESO) valuation under different tax regimes. We show that tax rules can have significant effects on ESO exercise behavior. In addition, we find that incentive stock options (ISO) are the optimal form of compensation for all levels of employees in the UK. In the US, restricted stock plans are preferred, and tax breaks offered by incentive schemes are only beneficial to employees with high liquid wealth (or small option holdings relative to wealth) or low risk aversion. We also analyze 83b elections for restricted stock plans in the US and find that making an election is a sub-optimal decision for both the employee and the firm.","PeriodicalId":134477,"journal":{"name":"ARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"118022666","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}