Does audit quality matter more for firms with high investment opportunities?

This paper examines the association of firms with high investment opportunities with high quality audits (proxied by Big 5 auditors) and whether that association results in a lower likelihood of earnings management. Firms with high investment opportunities may demand high quality audits for curbing earnings management. This is because they have more flexibility in the provision of discretionary accruals that arises from the attendant operating uncertainty which creates particular monitoring problems. Big 5 auditors will provide high quality audits that will constrain earnings management for firms with high investment opportunities because the risk of losing (and hence the likelihood of maintaining) auditor independence is higher. Results show the following. First, firms with high investment opportunities are more likely to hire Big 5 auditors than firms with low investment opportunities. Second, firms with high investment opportunities are more likely to have more discretionary accruals but this relationship is weaker when they have Big 5 auditors. These results are robust to various sensitivity tests.     

知识经济下的现金流动制探析

知识经济时代的到来对现行会计的会计假设、确认原则以及信息披露等产生的重大冲击,传统的权责发生制已经不能适应这一新经济环境的发展需要,而现金流动制从盘存制思想出发采用公允价值计量的方法,可以弥补权责发生制的不足。本文阐述了现金流动制的原理及优点,分析了现金流动制的应用前景。     

政府会计与预算基础:非对称的改革进程分析

现实中,政府会计和政府预算的应计制改革进程往往呈现非对称的特点,且应计制政府会计改革大多领先于应计制政府预算改革,这种状况的背后既有人们对应计制预算的重重顾虑,也是对其研究不够深入的反映。矛盾与激励并存,在改革的进程中,应当合理地安排政府会计和政府预算的应计制改革进度,保持一个适度的差距,以促进我国公共财政管理改革平稳、健康地推进。     

亏损上市公司盈余管理手段的实证研究

该文收集了我国亏损上市公司的有关财务数据,运用统计分析方法,研究上市公司进行盈余管理的手段。结果发现连续亏损两年和连续亏损三年的上市公司在亏损年和扭亏年均存在盈余管理,主要是操控流动性应计利润项目、非流动性应计利润项目(特别是资产减值计提项目),投资损益、处置资产损益和补贴收入等项目来实现扭亏目标。     

Detecting income-smoothing behaviors of Turkish listed companies through empirical tests using discretionary accounting changes

Flexibility when selecting accounting methods sometimes motivates managers to choose accounting methods or to change employed ones in order to increase, decrease or smooth income figures. In this study, income-smoothing behaviors of Turkish listed companies are detected through empirical tests using discretionary accounting changes (DACs). Parallel to the study conducted by Moses [Moses OD. Income smoothing and incentives: empirical tests using accounting changes. The Accounting Review 1987;11(2):358–77], income smoothing is accepted as one motivation of DACs and the sample firms are classified as smoothers and non-smoothers by using Moses’ smoothing behavior index. Results show that possible motivations of DACs are income smoothing, economical characteristics of the periods in which the DACs are made, and the desire of Turkish firms to have net incomes close to zero.     

The Chinese specialties of A-share accrual anomaly

This paper extends the work of SONG （2008） and finds a significantly positive relation between hedge returns from accrual anomaly and market returns for Chinese A-share market. Since market returns in Chinese well-known ＂policy market＂ is more volatile than those in USA, the hedge risks in China are higher than those in USA. Additionally, higher transaction costs and one-direction trading system also prevent investors in Chinese A-share market from arbitraging on accrual anomaly.     

“权责发生制”在养老保险基金会计核算中的必要性

"收付实现制"是以现金的流入和流出作为确认收入和支出的依据,这种记账基础下,基金财务收入或支出只包括以现金或银行存款已实现收入或支出的部分,不能反映那些定期已经产生的应收未收账,应付未付账.在收付实现制基础上形成的这部份隐性债权或隐性债务,在基金会计账务核算和会计报表中得不到反映,使基金财务状况不能得到全面真实的反映,新增设部份应以"权责发生制"为基础的会计科目,实现基金会计报表区分,可以参照金融机构的会计报表并反其道而行之,分为表内科目(收付实现制)和表外科目(权责发生制).     

Was audit quality of Laventhol and Horwath poor?

Laventhol and Horwath (L&H), the then seventh largest accounting firm in the US, declared bankruptcy in November 1990. The firm claimed that its bankruptcy was due to the perception of it being a deep pocket rather than inherent deficiencies in its performance. In this study, we examine whether the audit quality of L&H was lower than other auditors. Results do not show that L&H is associated with lower quality audits either in terms of lower likelihood of issuing modified audit opinion, higher levels of discretionary accruals for its clients, or lower predictability of discretionary accruals for future non-discretionary net income for its clients than for clients of other auditors. Results of additional tests also do not suggest that auditors that take up clients of L&H report differently from L&H. This evidence does not support the proposition that L&H’s audit quality was less than audit quality of other audit firms during the period leading up to the bankruptcy.     

股权集中度与盈余管理相关性实证研究——来自深市A股市场的经验证据

在我国上市公司中股权相对集中,第一大股东持股比例平均在40%以上,这种高持股比例导致大股东与其他投资者之间存在重大的利益冲突,其结果可能发生上市公司的盈余管理行为。本文以2004年深市A股上市公司为样本,对上市公司股权集中度与盈余管理的相关关系进行了实证研究。研究结果表明:上市公司的股权越集中,公司的应计利润越容易被大股东所操纵。还发现,公司的第一大股东为国有股时更容易操纵应计利润。     

Legitimacy building strategies in conditions of discretionary legal enforcement: A logic of social action approach

The present study explores strategies used to legitimize the transfer of organizational practices in a situation of institutional upheaval. We apply the logic of social action (Risse, 2000) to analyze the effectiveness of consequence-based action and communication-based action, in terms of higher coordination, lower conflict, and overall higher economic performance. Consequence-based legitimation is obtained by using a system of distributor incentives tied to performance of specific tasks, while communicative legitimation can be achieved by recommendations and warnings. Our setting is an export channel to European emerging economies. Our results indicate that in the absence of legitimacy, as manifested in discretionary legal enforcement, consequence-based legitimation is more effective than communicative legitimation in reducing conflict, increasing coordination, and ultimately in improving the performance of the export dyad.