How to promote R&D-based growth? Public education expenditure on scientists and engineers versus R&D subsidies

This paper compares the positive and normative implications of two alternative measures to promote R&D-based growth: R&D subsidies to firms and publicly provided education targeted to the development of science and engineering (S&E) skills. The model accounts for the specificity of S&E skills, where individuals with heterogeneous ability choose their type of education. Although intertemporal knowledge spillovers are the only R&D externality, the analysis suggests that R&D subsidies may be detrimental to both productivity growth and welfare. Moreover, they raise earnings inequality. In contrast to R&D subsidies, publicly provided education targeted to S&E skills are found to be unambiguously growth-promoting and neutral with respect to the earnings distribution.     

Auditor reporting and earnings management: some additional evidence

This paper investigates the reasons that lead to modification of auditors’ opinions. We revisit the conclusions of prior US‐based research on whether a modification highlights likely earnings management activities. Extending this research, we consider an alternate explanation that managers adjust accruals to report earnings that better predict future firm performance, which has the side‐effect of placing them in conflict with their auditors. Our study sample comprises all firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange over the period 1999–2003. Consistent with prior research, there is no evidence of earnings management leading to an audit opinion modification. However, we do show that firms receiving inherent uncertainty modifications (other than going concern) have greater persistence of earnings (accruals) relative to other firms. This is consistent with the proposition that managers have made policy choices in reporting current earnings, with which their auditors disagree, that will likely result in a greater ability to forecast the firm's future earnings.     

Pricing of Foreign GAAP Earnings in U.S. Capital Market Prior to the SEC Required Reconciliation Disclosure

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires foreign registrants to include in their annual reports on Form 20-F reconciliation to U.S. GAAP of net income, earnings per share, and shareholders' equity, if materially different. Previous research indicates that foreign firms usually file their reports with the SEC near or at the deadline, that is six months after the fiscal year-end and about three months after the earnings announcement. The purpose of this study is to examine U.S. investors' ability to interpret foreign GAAP earnings before the SEC regulated disclosure becomes publicly available. Presented empirical evidence indicates that market participants are able to infer U.S. GAAP earnings from the foreign GAAP earnings at the time of initial earnings announcements.     

The quality and conservatism of the accounting earnings of local governments

Our aim is to provide insight into the usefulness of accounting earnings for measuring the economic performance of local governments across Australia. Specifically, we explore whether (i) accrual accounting provides useful information, and (ii) earnings of local governments are conservative. We find that accrual accounting by local governments provides useful information as measured by the ability to predict one-year-ahead operating cash-flows. We find no conservatism in the financial reports of the average local government. This, we posit, is due to a lower level of demand for high-quality accrual-based financial reports from these entities. Consistent with this argument, both the quality of accruals and the degree of conservatism increase for local governments for which we predict a demand for higher-quality financial reporting.     

The accuracy of long-term earnings forecasts in the electric utility industry

This paper examines the accuracy of various methods of forecasting long-term earnings growth for firms in the electric utility industry. In addition to a number of extrapolative techniques, Value Line analyst forecasts are also evaluated. Value Line analyst forecasts for a five-year time horizon are found to be superior to many of the extrapolative models. Among the extrapolative models examined, implied growth and historical book value per share growth rate models performed best. These results provide strong support for using Value Line growth forecasts in cost of capital estimates for electric utilities in the context of utility rate cases. Value Line forecast errors could be explained by changes in dividend payout ratios, the firm's regulatory environment and bond rating changes.     

Earnings quality: Some evidence on the role of auditor tenure and auditors’ industry expertise

Prior studies suggest that auditors with short tenure are associated with lower earnings quality because of the lack of client-specific knowledge and/or low balling. In this study, we examine whether industry specialization of auditors and low balling affect the association between auditor tenure and earnings quality. We find that the association between shorter auditor tenure and lower earnings quality is weaker for firms audited by industry specialists compared to non-specialists. In addition, we do not find results consistent with the low balling explanation.     

中国房地产行业盈余管理模型的构建及实证分析

本文研究中国上市房地产企业的盈余管理行为。本文发现，传统应计制下的盈余管理模型无法较好地拟合中国房地产行业盈余管理的特征。在关注房地产行业经营和财务处理方面特殊之处的基础上，通过详细分析预售制度和会计处理的特点，建立了以预收账款作为被解释变量的预收模型。运用该模型对房地产行业的盈余管理行为进行了检验．其检验效果和拟合优度要优于改进的修正琼斯模型。经过实证检验，认为上市房地产企业利用预收账款，存在微弱的正向盈余操纵。     

Analytics in empirical/archival financial accounting research

In this article, we describe various analytics in empirical/archival financial accounting research. We focus the discussion on research questions that are central to accounting research, analytics used to test hypotheses, and evidence. We also describe voice and text analysis, which is generating interesting new datasets and hypothesis tests, offering promising potential for future studies. Our study seeks to (1) inform business professionals about state-of-the-art analytics in accounting research and (2) trigger academics to pursue creative new research opportunities.     

消费者跨渠道购买行为研究评述与展望

消费者跨渠道购买行为是指多渠道零售环境下,消费者在购买决策过程的不同阶段运用不同渠道的行为。文章基于文献研究法,从定义、影响因素和企业管理策略三个方面对消费者跨渠道购买行为的国内外相关研究进行了梳理和评述,阐述了消费者跨渠道购买行为的定义,总结了消费者跨渠道购买行为的影响因素,归纳了企业对消费者跨渠道购买行为的管理策略并进行了评述,分析了未来研究方向,得出消费者跨渠道购买行为可以细分为消费者跨渠道搭便车行为和消费者跨渠道保留行为,研究结果为多渠道零售企业进行渠道设计和多渠道顾客管理提供了决策参考。     

应计与真实盈余管理：替代抑或互补

基于中国转型经济特有的制度环境,考察应计与真实盈余管理之间的相互关系。结果表明,在中国市场上,应计与真实盈余管理之间存在"二元"关系,即替代关系和互补关系。具体而言,市场竞争压力在应计与真实盈余管理之间具有明显的成本比较优势,使得两者具有替代关系。控制利益、管制压力在应计与真实盈余管理之间不具有显著的成本比较优势,而是应计与真实盈余管理的驱动因素,使得两者具有互补关系。