The Impact of the Management Approach on Segment Reporting

Accounting standard setters have increasingly attempted to align external segment reporting disclosures to a firm's internal reporting structure. We study how this move to the management approach for segment reporting impacted the number of reported segments and the extent of line item disclosures when Australia adopted IAS 14 (revised) and IFRS 8. We find that both standards led to firms disclosing a greater number of segments. An examination of the motives behind the non‐disclosure of segments suggests that segment information was withheld for agency cost reasons. We find only limited support for the proprietary cost motive for non‐reporting of segments. We also document that IFRS 8 led to a reduction in the amount of line item disclosure. Consistent with a proprietary cost explanation, the decrease in disclosure is greatest for firms with a higher number of profitable segments. Our results indicate that the change to the management approach to segment identification is not associated with the properties of analyst forecasts, nor did it lead to increased analyst following.     

Accruals quality vis-à-vis disclosure quality: Substitutes or complements?

The impact of accruals quality and disclosure quality on stock returns is a topical issue in market-based accounting research. Most of the debate is centred on their incremental ability to predict future earnings. Recent studies suggest that higher information risk proxied by either lower accruals quality or lower disclosure quality results in higher stock returns. This paper examines the relationship between accruals quality and disclosure quality, and investigates whether they are complements or substitutes in explaining the time-series variation in portfolio returns. Applying portfolio groupings, we find a positive association between accruals quality and disclosure quality, suggesting that firms with higher disclosure quality engage less in earnings management and have higher accruals quality. Asset pricing tests show that an accruals quality factor and a disclosure quality factor explain the time-series variation in the excess returns of similar sets of portfolios. This suggests that they contain similar information and confirms the substitutive nature of accruals quality and disclosure quality factors.     

Disclosure and the Cost of Capital: Evidence from the Market's Reaction to Firm Voluntary Adoption of IAS

Abstract:  Using a unique international setting where the effects of disclosure on firm value can be measured in a constant regulatory environment and in isolation of other confounding factors, this paper shows that firms can increase their value through their choice of accounting standards. Specifically, we document strong positive abnormal returns at the announcement of voluntary adoption of International Accounting Standards (IAS / IFRS) by a sample of international firms and an economically significant reduction in long-run returns, consistent with a reduction in the cost of capital. Consistent with these results we also document evidence of an upgrade in analyst recommendations after the IAS / IFRS adoption announcement and a reduction in the implied cost of capital. Finally, we find strong evidence that the documented abnormal returns are consistent with signaling and bonding benefits stemming from the reduction in asymmetric information. Our results highlight the importance of increased disclosure on minority shareholder protection and on corporate governance in general.     

An analysis of the impact of adopting IFRS 8 on the segment disclosures of European blue chip companies

Amidst the IASB's post-implementation review of IFRS 8, we examine how the standard's adoption changed the reporting of segments by European blue chips (i.e. companies comprising the top tier index of 14 European stock exchanges). We focus on anticipated benefits articulated in the IASB's Basis for Conclusions and concerns expressed by IFRS 8 opponents.In addition to convergence with U.S. GAAP, IFRS 8 results in the reporting of significantly more operating segments on average. However, most companies report the same number or fewer segments. Refuting claims regarding the loss of geographic data at the entity-wide level, we identify an improvement in the fineness of disclosures and a significant increase in the disclosure of geographic groupings. We do not identify an improvement in consistency of segment disclosures with other sections of the annual report, which is due to the consistency already achieved under IAS 14R.IFRS 8 results in a significant decline in the number of reportable segment information items (notably liabilities) and a significant decline in the reporting of capital expenditures at the entity-wide level. Furthermore, adoption of the standard produces a lack of comparability in segment profitability measures and extensive reporting of non-IFRS measures. However, almost all companies report a measure of segment profitability tied to a number on the consolidated income statement or reconciled to the income statement.     

The effect of disclosure on the pay-performance relation

We examine whether greater transparency leads to improved evaluation and rewarding of management. We posit that disclosure improves board effectiveness at monitoring executives and in strengthening the link between pay and performance. We use management guidance as our empirical proxy for disclosure and document the following. We predict and find higher sensitivity of CEO compensation to performance (both accounting and stock returns) for firms that issue management guidance than for firms that do not. Our results are robust to multiple tests that address the potential endogeneity of management’s decision to issue guidance (using a Heckman self-selection model, employing a matched-sample approach, and identifying a subsample of firms in which increased disclosure is likely to be exogenous), tests that control for alternative explanations, and tests that use conference calls as an alternative disclosure metric.     

Insights on CFOs’ Perceptions about Impairment Testing Under IAS 36

We survey CFOs of Italian listed companies and examine their views on the complexities involved in implementing IAS 36 requirements and the perceived usefulness of national guidelines aiming at assisting preparers in this respect. We find that IAS 36 is perceived as an atypical standard among IFRS, it demands subjective interpretation, its requirements can be made adaptable to managerial needs and do not limit creative accounting. Further, respondents do not see a strong link between IAS 36 disclosure requirements and market variables, except for stock returns. Moreover, the impairment testing process became more difficult during the recent financial crisis and guidelines issued by the Italian authorities do not appear to assist in implementing the recoverable amount estimation process or compliance with mandatory disclosure. The respondents explicitly call for a revision in IAS 36 and/or issuance of separate guidance. These findings inter alia respond directly to the IASB’s current quest on financial statements preparers’ concerns about the application of the IAS 36 requirements.     

Adoption of IAS 19R by Europe's premier listed companies: Corridor approach versus full recognition: Summary of an ACCA research monograph

This report provides a summary of a research monograph sponsored by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) [Fasshauer, J., Glaum, M., & Street, D. L. (2008). Adoption of IAS 19R by Europe's premier listed companies: Corridor approach versus full recognition. An ACCA research report, London] and is based on our in-depth analysis of the defined benefit pension plan disclosures provided in the year 2005 by companies constituting the premier segments of 20 European exchanges. Most importantly, the study identifies the method these companies selected under International Accounting Standard (IAS) 19 for the recognition of actuarial gains/losses, provides insight into factors affecting the policy choice between the methods allowed under IAS 19 for the recognition of actuarial gains/losses, and assesses the impact on profit and loss (P&L) and the balance sheet of using the new IAS 19 option of full recognition through the Statement of Recognized Gains and Losses (SORIE), in contrast to the traditional corridor approach. We also benchmark key pension assumptions against relevant country or industry averages.As accounting for defined benefit pension plans continues to evolve with the amendment of IAS 19, the recent issuance of SFAS 158 in the U.S., the release of The Financial Reporting of Pensions in Europe, and most notably the release of Preliminary Views on Amendments to IAS 19 Employee Benefits by the IASB, our research provides timely empirical evidence regarding important issues to be addressed in the IASB's current retirement benefits project.     

The value relevance of disclosure: Evidence from the emerging capital market of Egypt

This study examines the value of voluntary and mandatory disclosure in a market that applies International Accounting Standards (IAS) with limited penalties for non compliance. The lack of enforcement creates an element of choice in the level of mandatory disclosure by companies. Using panel-data analysis, our empirical results show that, after controlling for factors such as asset size and profitability, mandatory disclosure has a highly significant but negative relationship with firm value. This result, although puzzling from a traditional perspective, is consistent with the predictions of analytical accounting models, which emphasize the complex interplay of factors determining disclosure effects. Our results also show that voluntary disclosure has a positive but insignificant association with firm value. This lack of statistical significance supports the view that there is a complex interplay of different factors determining the relationship between disclosure and firm value.     

Disclosure Quality and the Excess Value of Diversification

For a sample of U.S. firm years from 1980 through 1996 we document a positive association between the excess value of diversification as defined by Berger and Ofek [1995] and security analyst ratings of voluntary disclosure as developed by the Association for Investment Management and Research. We also examine an alternative proxy for disclosure quality that captures the degree of segment disaggregation and document a positive association between this measure and excess value. Our results are robust to controls for firm performance and information environment. Taken together, these phenomena suggest that disclosure plays a monitoring role in disciplining management's investment decisions. However, tests of the association between disclosure and the value of firms' investment spending yield mixed results.     

Banking industry volatility and economic growth

Utilizing the recent dynamic panel GMM estimation techniques for 36 markets, this research investigates the relationship between banking industry volatility and future economic growth, and provides empirical evidence complementary to Cole et al. (2008) who examine the finance-growth nexus from a unique asset pricing theory perspective and document a positive relationship between bank stock returns and future economic growth that is significantly influenced by a series of country-specific and banking institutional characteristics. We find that the negative link between banking industry volatility and future economic growth is significantly affected by government ownership of banks, the enforcement of the insider trading law, systemic banking crises, and bank accounting disclosure standards, while the impact of financial development is ambiguous. The significant results are primarily driven by the data from emerging markets.     

Market Valuation of Research and Development Spending under Canadian GAAP*

Section 3450 of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) Handbook requires Canadian firms to capitalize development costs that meet certain criteria and to expense those that relate to research. International Accounting Standard (IAS) No. 38 favours a similar approach. In the United States, Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (SFAS) No. 2 recommends the immediate expensing of all research and development (R&D) spending. The only exception is SFAS No. 86, which requires software development costs to be capitalized when a product successfully passes a technological feasibility test. Consequently, the Canadian financial disclosure regime provides a rich setting for testing the market valuation of capitalized R&D. Our primary research question asks whether capitalized R&D provides useful information to market participants investing in Canadian firms. We use price‐level and return models to assess the value relevance of capitalized R&D disclosed in the financial statements under Canadian GAAP. In line with expectations, using a price‐level model, we find that capitalized R&D and R&D expense as disclosed in the financial statements provide information that is value relevant to market participants. However, we find that R&D capitalized during the year helps explain returns while R&D expense does not. Thus we conclude that the application of section 3450 of the CICA Handbook produces value‐relevant information.     

Write‐Down Timeliness, Line‐of‐Business Disclosures and Investors' Interpretations of Segment Divestiture Announcements

Abstract:   This paper examines investors' anticipation and subsequent interpretations of asset write‐downs accompanying segment divestitures. Examining long‐window returns cumulated over the two years preceding the year of divestiture, we hypothesize and find that investors anticipate write‐downs of segment operating assets before divestiture and recognition occurs, with anticipation conditional on the timeliness of the write‐down and prior disclosure of the segments' operating results under segment reporting rules. Short‐window returns cumulated over the three days surrounding the announcement of the divestiture confirm that investor interpretations of asset write‐downs are similarly contingent on write‐down timeliness and prior disclosure.     

Corporate Disclosure,Market Valuation,and Firm Performance

In this paper, I study the relationship between the Association for Investment Management and Research disclosure rankings and several corporate performance measures. I find a positive relationship between these rankings and stock returns. Furthermore, disclosure rankings are highly correlated with firm value. Specifically, Qs of firms ranked at the top of disclosure rankings are 35% higher than those of firms ranked at the bottom. I also find positive associations between disclosure rankings and future net profit margins, sales growth, and research and development intensity. Finally, I document a positive correlation between changes in disclosure rankings and future earnings surprises.     

Industry concentration,excess returns and innovation in Australia

This paper examines market concentration and stock returns on the Australian Securities Exchange. We find that dominant companies operating in concentrated industries in Australia are able to generate significant risk‐adjusted excess stock returns. Our results for Australian data are opposite to that found by Hou and Robinson (2006) for United States market data. Hou and Robinson reason that United States firms which operate in concentrated industries are insulated from competitive pressures, have lower levels of innovation (Arrow, 1962) and therefore experience lower profitability and stock returns. By contrast, the Australian data show a significant and positive relationship between concentration and innovation expenditure. Therefore, the excess stock returns of dominant companies in Australia are consistent with previous research linking innovation expenditure with excess stock returns. We hypothesize that the apparent contradiction of our results compared with Hou and Robinson (2006) for the United States market is resolved by an examination of the differences in size and competition in United States and Australian industries and the consequent differential ability of dominant companies in the two countries to generate monopoly rents and invest in ‘Schumpeterian’ (Schumpeter, 1942) innovation.     

Multidimensional Competition and Corporate Disclosure

In this paper, we argue that the influence product market competition exerts on disclosure is defined by the combined effect of the incentives and disincentives to disclose raised by the multiple competition dimensions. We distinguish between firm‐ and industry‐level competition measures, and we hypothesize that the former raises agency and proprietary costs, whereas the latter creates incentives to disclose either to fulfil the owners’ need for information to monitor managers or to deter the entrance of new competitors in the industry. Our research design allows for non‐monotonic relationships between competition and disclosure as well as for interactions between competition dimensions. Using a sample of US manufacturing companies, we gather evidence that is consistent with our hypotheses. First, we find an inverted U‐shape relationship between corporate disclosure and a firm's abnormal profitability, which is suggestive of firms being reluctant to disclose when they are underperforming (outperforming) their rivals because of the fear of unveiling agency conflicts (raising proprietary costs). Second, we observe a U‐shape relationship between corporate disclosure and industry profitability, although this U design evolves to approximate a rising function as the protection provided by entry barriers increases.     

Accounting for financial instruments: An analysis of the determinants of disclosure in the Portuguese stock exchange

This paper studies the determinants of disclosure level in the accounting for financial instruments of Portuguese listed companies. An index of disclosure based on IAS 32 and IAS 39 requirements is computed for each company. The analysis includes variables that capture intrinsic features of Portuguese companies and institutional regulatory context, such as capital structure and characteristics of the corporate governance structure, within contingency theory. We could not find any significant influence of corporate governance structure or of financing structure. We conclude that the disclosure degree is significantly related to size, type of auditor, listing status and economic sector. This research reveals areas for improvement of Portuguese companies' reporting practices and suggests areas for intervention of the Portuguese capital markets regulator in the context of mandatory IAS after 2005.     

Segment Disclosure and Cost of Capital

We investigate whether segment disclosure influences cost of capital. Improved segment reporting is expected to decrease cost of capital by reducing estimation risk. However, in a competitive environment segment disclosure may also generate uncertainties about future prospects and lead to a larger cost of capital. Asset‐pricing tests confirm that segment disclosure is a priced risk factor. Also, segment disclosure reduces ex‐ante estimates of cost of equity capital and other measures connected to risk. These results suggest a negative relation between segment disclosure and cost of capital. Our results also show that competition reduces, but does not eliminate, the previous relationship.     

Intensive Board Monitoring,Investor Protection and Segment Disclosure Quality: Evidence from EU

Abstract

This study examined the association between intensive board monitoring (IBM) and segment disclosure quality (SDQ). It also investigated whether this association can be moderated by firm's home country investor protection (IP) level. Based on a panel of 271 non-financial European Union (EU) listed corporations covering the 2007–2012 period, this study estimated two multiple regression models including industry and year fixed effects. We found evidence that the segment disclosure quality is higher when a majority of outside directors serve on monitoring committees. We, also, found that the positive association between IBM and SDQ is more pronounced for firms in a weak IP environment and less pronounced for firms in a strong IP environment. Thus, we provided evidence in favor of a substitutive relationship between IBM and IP level with respect to their association with SDQ. Our findings are evidenced by several robustness tests.     

Returns,volatility and investor sentiment: Evidence from European stock markets

In this study, we show that patterns in returns behave as if investors, influenced by their level of optimism, selected stocks according to their volatility. Our goal is to confirm the contribution of behavioral finance while showing that investor sentiment can be profitably used by practitioners. We incorporate volatility in the relationship between investor sentiment and future returns, this is the main originality of our approach. Our methodology consists in comparing returns, volatility and higher-order moments of portfolios managed with investor sentiment against those obtained either with passive (buy and hold) portfolio management or with a minimum variance portfolio. Portfolios managed with investor sentiment have better returns and involve less risk under certain conditions.     

IS THERE NEWS IN THE CLUB?

In September 1994, the Wall Street Journal started the Annual Report and Earning Service. Firms participating in this service volunteer to provide on request, to any reader, their annual report and current quarterly information. The daily price quotations of such firms appear with a small symbol like the club in playing cards. We examine the utility of voluntarily disclosing this second‐hand information to the public and seek to find the motivation for this disclosure. Our results show that most of the firms that joined this service had below‐industry‐average performance, or at least were headed in that direction. Membership in the Annual Report and Earning Service brought some short‐term benefits in the form of average excess returns, but the economic fundamentals reasserted, and most firms had significant below‐average returns at the end of our sample period. JEL classification: G10, G14.