保险公司资产组合与最优投资比例研究

保险公司收益主要来源于承保利润和投资收益,其中承保利润受政策变动、市场条件等外部环境的影响较大,而投资收益则更多地取决于保险公司的投资能力,因此保险公司如何构建资产组合、如何确定最优投资比例就是获取投资收益最大化的重要因素。本文通过理论推导得出了保险公司的资产组合模型并运用非线性规划求解出最优投资比例,进而根据保险公司的投资数据进行了实证研究,为我国保险公司的资产组合及最优投资比例提供了一个可借鉴的思路。     

Delays in reporting price-sensitive information: The case of going concern

Regulators require firms to disclose all price-sensitive information at the earliest possible date. The going-concern opinion constitutes a fundamental uncertainty for the firm and thus is likely to be of a price-sensitive nature. This paper explores whether going-concern uncertainty disclosures are price sensitive in the London market, and then tests whether managements report such audit report information to investors on a timely basis. We capitalize on a London Stock Exchange regulatory loophole which, in effect, allows financially-distressed firms to choose either to report a forthcoming going-concern at the preliminary results announcement stage, or to delay this crucial information to their annual report release. In line with the regulatory requirements, we expect that firms with more price-sensitive, i.e., more serious, adverse news will disclose their forthcoming going-concern opinion at the earliest stage i.e., in their preliminary announcement, rather than delay to their annual report.     

The value relevance of corporate voluntary disclosure in the Middle-East: The case of Jordan

We examine whether higher voluntary disclosure, resulting from privatization and the accompanying governance reforms, enhances the value of privatized Jordanian firms. We use panel data for 243 firm-year annual reports (over a period of 9 years from 1996 to 2004) and employ univariate and multivariate tests in order to test our hypothesis,. We construct a governance index to proxy for the impact of privatized firms’ governance on voluntary disclosure. Also, we control for the endogeneity of voluntary disclosure in its relation with firm value. Our multivariate results indicate that voluntary disclosure is positively associated with firm value. We also find that firm value is associated with industry types as a proxy for size. However, we did not find that growth and liquidity are associated with firm value.     

Voluntary disclosure of reasons for auditor changes and the capital market reaction to information disclosure

This study examines the association between firm attributes and management’s voluntary disclosure of the reason(s) for auditor changes and evaluates the capital market reaction to information disclosure of the auditor change events accompanied by preexisting red flag and non-red flag issues. We find that managers are more likely to disclose the reason(s) for auditor changes when those changes occurred because of benign business reasons or if the reasons do not indicate the presence of any underlying operating or financial reporting problem. On the other hand, managers are less likely to disclose the reason(s) for auditor changes when those changes are preceded by red-flag situations. Furthermore, auditor changes accompanied by preexisting red-flag situations are viewed negatively by the capital market, implying that the full disclosure of reasons for auditor changes is informative to investors. This observation is supported further by our market-based analyses, which consistently show that auditor changes accompanied by prevailing red flag issues are valued incrementally in the market above and beyond the reportable events (under FRR No. 31) and auditor-initiated changes. The study contributes to the recent policy debate related to mandating the disclosure of the reason(s) for auditor switches. Specifically, the results support the recent debates that the current voluntary disclosure regime results in selective disclosure practices that are likely to contribute to the general lack of transparency with respect to auditor changes.     

Strategic asset allocation for a country: the Norwegian case

This paper develops a simple strategic asset allocation model for a country with non-tradable assets and liabilities. Contemporaneous correlation does not capture the long-term relationship between the non-tradable items and the financial assets. I apply cointegration and duration matching to better identify the long-term relationship. The model is applied to the case of Norway. Simulations suggest that Norway should implement a strategy which entails a higher proportion (than today’s strategy) invested in stocks. Although the new strategy is superior in several criteria and as Norway reforms its social security system, there is still considerable risk that Norway will fail to meet its liabilities.      

Shell games: On the value of shell companies

A reverse merger allows a private company to assume the current reporting status of another company that is public. This can be done quickly, without fundraising, road show, underwriter, substantial ownership dilution, or great expense. Private firms that go public via reverse merger are often motivated by the need to quickly secure financing through privately placed stock (PIPEs) and the desire to make acquisitions using stock as payment. In each of the last eight years reverse mergers have outnumbered traditional IPOs as a mechanism for going public, and reporting shell companies are providing fuel for much of this growth. We study 585 trading shell companies over the period 2006-2008. The purpose of most of these shell firms is to find a suitor for a reverse merger agreement. These companies have no systematic risk, operations, or assets, and their share price tends to decline over time. Yet, these firms have investors. When a takeover agreement is consummated, shell company three-month abnormal returns are 48.1%. We argue that this exceptional return is compensation to investors for shell stock illiquidity and the uncertainty of finding a reverse merger suitor. We show that shell company returns are much greater at the consummation of a merger than those of a similar entity that in dollar terms is more popular among investors — Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs).     

The provision of financial information to employees: A study of the reporting practices of some large public companies in the United Kingdom

The provision of financial information to company employees has grown rapidly in recent years. These developments are discussed in the context of wider social changes and, followed by the findings of an exploratory empirical study, conducted in order to isolate more precisely the forces at work on the management of large public companies.Although the findings suggest that companies either have an “open” management attitude to information provision or they do not, both categories of company appear to have been provoked into providing information by trade unions.     

Taste,information, and asset prices: implications for the valuation of CSR

Firms often undertake activities that do not necessarily increase cash flows (e.g., costly investments in corporate social responsibility or CSR), and some investors value these non cash activities (i.e., they have a “taste” for these activities). We develop a model to capture this phenomenon and focus on the asset-pricing implications of differences in investors’ tastes for firms’ activities and outputs. Our model shows that, first, investor taste differences provide a basis for investor clientele effects that are endogenously determined by the shares demanded by different types of investors. Second, because the market must clear at one price, investors’ demands are influenced by all dimensions of firm output even if their preferences are only over some dimensions. Third, information releases cause trading volume, even when all investors have the same information. Fourth, investor taste provides a rationale for corporate spin-offs that help firms better target their shareholder bases. Finally, individual social responsibility can lead to corporate social responsibility when managers care about stock price because price reacts to investments in CSR activities.     

核准制下新股发行公司财务信息披露研讨班在京举办

由中国注册会计师协会、中国证监会、国家会计学院共同举办的核准制下新股发行公司财务信息披露研讨班5月16日-18日在京召开.来自全国78家具有证券执业资格的会计师事务所和资产评估事务所的注册会计师、注册资产评估师及部分证券发行公司的从业人员共300余人参加了此次研讨班.     

英美上市公司内控信息披露制度对我国的启示

本文分析并指出我国上市公司内控信息披露现行规定存在的不足,分析英美两国关于上述问题各自不同做法的背景和原因,借鉴其各自合理的理念和做法,针对"狭义内部控制"和"广义内部控制"信息披露目的的不同,本文建议通过建立一套相互衔接的内控信息披露制度体系分别对前者进行强制要求,对后者则借鉴英国"遵循或解释"的做法予以引导。为统一认识,不同口径内部控制的确切含义应在即将制定的内控框架中予以明确界定。     

Audited financial reporting and voluntary disclosure as complements: A test of the Confirmation Hypothesis

We examine the “confirmation” hypothesis that audited financial reporting and disclosure of managers' private information are complements, because independent verification of outcomes disciplines and hence enhances disclosure credibility. Committing to higher audit fees (a measure of financial statement verification) is associated with management forecasts that are more frequent, specific, timely, accurate and informative to investors. Because private information disclosure and audited financial reporting are complements, their economic roles cannot be evaluated separately. Our evidence cautions against drawing inferences exclusively from market reactions around “announcement periods” because audited financial reporting indirectly affects information released at other times and through other channels.     

Bankruptcy prediction: the case of Japanese listed companies

This paper investigates if bankruptcy of Japanese listed companies can be predicted using data from 1992 to 2005. We find that the traditional measures, such as Altman’s (J Finance 23:589–609, 1968) Z-score, Ohlson’s (J Accounting Res 18:109–131, 1980) O-score and the option pricing theory-based distance-to-default, previously developed for the U.S. market, are also individually useful for the Japanese market. Moreover, the predictive power is substantially enhanced when these measures are combined. Based on the unique Japanese institutional features of main banks and business groups (known as Keiretsu), we construct a new measure that incorporates bank dependence and Keiretsu dependence. The new measure further improves the ability to predict bankruptcy of Japanese listed companies.     

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.     

Annual report disclosure in a developing country: The case of the UAE

This paper examines the extent of disclosure in annual reports of 31 listed firms in the UAE for the fiscal year 2003, and seeks to determine the underlying factors that affect the level of disclosures. It also seeks to establish whether differences exist between the UAE sectors. This paper uses denominator-adjusted disclosure-indices. The extent of corporate disclosure is calculated and compared among firms and between sectors. Statistical analysis is performed using a logit regression through the implementation of Weighted Least Square and a weighted one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is employed to determine whether any differences exist in the extent of disclosure among the sample. This study hypothesizes that four main factors would affect the extent of disclosure in the UAE, namely, the sector type (banks, insurance, industrial, and service), size (assets), debt equity ratio, and profitability. Significant differences are found among sectors; however, the size, the debt equity ratio, and the profitability were found to have insignificant association with the level of disclosure.     

Determinants of voluntary disclosure of segment information: A re-examination of the role of diversification strategy

This paper explores the determinants of management's decision to voluntarily disclose segment information. It is an extension of McKinnon and Dalimunthe (1993) who investigate the role of six hypothesised determinants. Their results indicate that firm size, industry membership, ownership diffusion, and the level of minority interest are related to the voluntary disclosure of segment information. However, they find that leverage and diversification into related versus unrelated industries are not related to this disclosure. It is the diversification finding that motivates our work. This paper explores the effect of differences in data, differences in samples, and differences in the measurement of diversification on the McKinnon and Dalimunthe (1993) results. Using an alternative definition of diversification, we find diversification strategy, firm size, and the level of minority interest to be related to segment disclosure while the results for ownership diffusion and industry are mixed. We find no support for a leverage effect.     

投资性房地产公允价值计量的财务影响与决定因素:以北辰实业为例

以北辰实业为例,本文分析了企业在投资性房地产成本模式与公允价值计量模式之间选择的财务影响及其决定因素。与成本模式相比,投资性房地产公允价值计量将大幅提高其账面价值,加剧了企业当期净利润的波动。北辰实业在A股年报中采用成本模式,而在H股年报中采用公允价值计量,这主要源于以下因素:(1)香港会计准则与我国会计准则的差异;(2)两地监管机构对公允价值会计的态度不同;(3)两地投资性房地产信息披露的差异;(4)资本市场成熟度与投资者的理性程度的差异。最后我们总结了本案例对于企业选择公允价值计量模式、监管层推行公允价值会计与应对会计国际趋同三个方面的政策含义。     

The impact of monetary policy surprises on asset return volatility: the case of Germany

This paper investigates the impact of monetary policy surprises by the FED or Bundesbank/ECB on the return volatility of German stocks and bonds using a GARCH-M model. We show that stock return volatility is susceptible to monetary policy surprises in the United States, whereas monetary policy surprises in the Euro zone matter for bond return volatility. These findings are robust for other Euro zone stock markets, but not significant for other Euro zone bond markets. The empirical evidence also suggests that monetary policy surprises have larger effects on German stock return volatility in bear markets than in bull phases. Moreover, our results support the claim that stock return volatility can be negatively correlated with stock returns, contradicting predictions made by many asset pricing models (e.g., CAPM or ICAPM) and the empirical finding of an insignificant relationship often reported in the literature.

Seeking legitimacy for new assurance forms: The case of assurance on sustainability reporting

Based on the development of a more refined conception of legitimacy than has been used in prior audit/assurance and sustainability accounting research, this paper analyses how the legitimation processes adopted by sustainability assurance practitioners in a large professional services firm have co-evolved with and impacted upon their attempts to develop this form of assurance practice - particularly the construction of assurance statements. The analysis reveals a complex and interdependent interplay between attempts at securing pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacy with three key constituencies - clients who commission the sustainability assurance services; (socially constructed) non-client users of the assurance statements; and the firm’s internal Risk Department that approves the wording of assurance statements. Securing these types of legitimacy is shown to require the adoption and alignment of varying legitimation strategies according to the constituency practitioners seek to influence. Developing pragmatic legitimacy with clients depends on establishing moral legitimacy with non-client users of assurance statements while securing moral legitimacy with non-client users is contingent on acquiring pragmatic legitimacy with the firm’s internal Risk Department. The practitioners’ legitimation strategies are underpinned by a commitment to opening up dialogue within the assurance process which is evident in their engagement with potential users of assurance and their efforts to expand assurance statement content and encourage user influence over what is assured. This provides a counterpoint to Power’s (1994, 1999) concerns about the tendency for new assurance forms to restrict debate and dialogue and reveals a rare empirical domain where Power’s (2003b) call for more customised and informative narratives in assurance reporting is being heeded.     

An international investigation of associations between societal variables and the amount of disclosure on information technology and communication problems: The case of Y2K

This study examines the association between five societal variables—political and civil system, cultural values, type of legal system, level of economic development, and equity market features—and the amount of corporate disclosure on the Year 2000 (Y2K) technological dilemma. Data are collected from the 1997/1998 fiscal-year annual reports of 1618 publicly listed firms spanning 17 nations. Empirical findings indicate the amount of Y2K disclosure varied significantly across national boundaries. Statistical analysis indicates a strong positive association between the amount of Y2K disclosure and the level of (a) political rights and civil liberties and (b) economic development. Results also imply publicly listed firms in Common Law nations disclose more Y2K information than counterparts in Roman-German Law nations. Of Hofstede's [Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture's consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications] four cultural dimensions, only power distance is a significant explanatory factor of variations is the amount of Y2K disclosure.