The first twenty-five years of the European Accounting Association: an American view

Since its emergence at the beginning of the 1990s, numerous companies have adopted the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). This paper tackles two research questions: (1) whether the BSC adds value to companies and (2) if so, how does it contribute to organisational performance. In contrast to previous literature that does not separate these two questions, we rely on an established methodology (Foster and Swenson, 1997) to separate and quantify both the BSC contribution to performance and the way that the contribution is achieved, by applying a unique cause-and-effect scheme to the BSC. Our empirical results are based on survey data collected from 76 business units. They indicate first that the Balanced Scorecard has a positive impact on organisational performance. More specifically, the BSC improves the integration of the management processes and empowers people. Using the Strategy-Focused-Organisation (SFO) model (Kaplan and Norton, 2001), we empirically find that the sources of performance derived from the BSC are primarily of three types: (1) a better translation of the strategy into operational terms, (2) the fact that strategising becomes a continuous process, and (3) the greater alignment of various processes, services, competencies and units of an organisation.     

Greece in the European Union: policy lessons from two decades of membership

This paper examines the first two decades of Greece’s experience as a member of the European Union (EU). In evaluating the Greek experience within the EU, we derive three fundamental policy lessons that apply both to similar small peripheral countries now entering the EU and to the EU itself in terms of facilitating their integration in a large economic area. First, small peripheral countries that enter the EU must address the structural deficiencies of their economies before entry in order to minimize the impact of increased competition after the removal of trade protection, and follow domestic policies that maintain and promote their comparative advantage within the EU. Second, the Convergence Criteria have proven to be a successful mechanism for countries with a poor historical policy record to achieve macroeconomic stability, as shown by the case of Greece. Third, common EU policies can be very helpful in facilitating structural reforms in small peripheral economies. However, these policies must be continuously evaluated and improved so that their effectiveness is maximized.     

Accounting Accruals and Stock Returns: Evidence from European Equity Markets

Abstract

In this paper, I show a generalisation of the negative relation of traditional accruals and percent accruals with future returns in 11 of 16 European countries. Positive abnormal returns from hedge portfolios on both accrual measures summarise the economic significance of this generalisation. The magnitude of returns obtained from traditional accruals is higher than that obtained from percent accruals, contrary to existing evidence from the U.S. capital market. The magnitude of the accrual effect on stock returns based on both accrual measures is stronger in countries with higher individualism, lower uncertainty avoidance, higher equity-market development, higher equity-market liquidity, lower transaction costs, higher analyst coverage, lower analyst optimism, and lower ownership concentration. In markets where minorities have legal protection against expropriation by corporate insiders and where accrual accounting is permitted, the accrual effect based only on percent accruals is positive. Earnings opacity does not appear to exhibit a significant influence. Overall, the evidence suggests that cross-country differences in culture, equity-market setting, analysts' research output, investor protection, and ownership structure play an important role in explaining variation on the magnitude of the accrual anomaly in Europe.     

Monetary union: European lessons,Latin American prospects

This paper analyzes the long-run sustainability of monetary unions. We infer from the EMU experience that for monetary union to be sustainable, fiscal policy rules are necessary. That does not imply a formal Stability Pact, however. Labor market flexibility is more important for sustainability than cross-border labor mobility. Sound financial markets are another precondition. Lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean include, first, that the benefit-cost balance of a shift to monetary union is much less favorable in Latin America and the Caribbean than in Europe and, most important, that the region is some distance away from satisfying the necessary conditions for monetary union. That leaves dollarization as a limited option for small countries and floating rates combined with inflation targeting for much of the rest.     

The Role of International Financial Reporting Standards in Accounting Quality: Evidence from the European Union

Previous studies on the effect of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on accounting quality often have difficulties to control for confounding factors on accounting quality. As a result, the observed changes in accounting quality could not be attributed mainly to IFRS. We use a unique research setting to address this issue by comparing the accounting quality of publicly listed companies in 15 member states of the European Union (EU) before and after the full adoption of IFRS in 2005. We use five indicators as proxies for accounting quality. We find that the majority of accounting quality indicators improved after IFRS adoption in the EU. That is, there is less of managing earnings toward a target, a lower magnitude of absolute discretionary accruals, and higher accruals quality. But our results also show that firms engage in more earnings smoothing and recognize large losses in a less timely manner in post‐IFRS periods. In addition, we examine the effects of institutional variables on financial reporting quality. Our contribution to the literature is that we show the improved accounting quality is attributable to IFRS, rather than changes in managerial incentives, institutional features of capital markets, and general business environment, etc.     

Accounting and capital markets: a survey of the European evidence

The relationship between accounting information and capital markets has been the subject of numerous studies, especially in the US. The purpose of this article is to examine the corresponding evidence in Europe. This review classifies the European literature into three groups: studies of the market reaction to newly released accounting information; studies of the long-term association between stock returns and accounting numbers; studies devoted to the use of accounting data by investors and to the impact of market pressure on accounting choices. The paper reviews and summarizes the main results related to each of these topics. It also addresses some methodological issues and provides suggestions for future research.     

What matters in disclosures of key audit matters: Evidence from Europe

New regulation in the European Union has introduced the mandatory disclosure of key audit matters (KAMs) to audit reports. The EU has identified KAMs as significant risks, significant transactions or events, or significant judgments by auditors. This paper aims to determine the factors that influence the number of KAMs that auditors disclose in the main European countries under the new regulation. We predict that the litigation risk, reputation loss, auditor–client relationship, precision of accounting standards, and the effect of regulators and supervisors’ activities affect the number of KAMs that auditors disclose. The sample consists of firms on the FTSE 100, CAC 40, or AEX 25 that have disclosed KAMs at the 2016 fiscal year‐end. In line with our hypotheses, the findings show that a higher number of business segments (complexity) and more precise accounting standards lead to the disclosure of a higher number of KAMs. Contrary to our expectations, the results indicate that a positive association exists between the audit fee and the number of KAMs disclosed. As audit fees can be related to higher client risk, this finding could indicate that litigation risk dominates any auditor–client dependence. Further, although auditors often view their audits of banks as complex, the findings show a negative association between banks and the number of disclosed KAMs. This evidence may be related to the fact that financial institutions are in a highly regulated and supervised industry that reduces the need to disclose the KAMs.     

Evaluating the prevalence and distribution of dependent self‐employment: some lessons from the European Working Conditions Survey

This article advances understanding of the prevalence and distribution of dependent self‐employment. Analysing the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey of 35,765 employees in 28 European countries, the dependent self‐employed are found to comprise 4.3% (1 in 23) of the EU workforce, 47% of all those reporting themselves as self‐employed without employees and 31% of all self‐employed. The prevalence of dependent self‐employment, however, is found to have decreased since the previous 2010 survey, is not found to be concentrated among marginalised population groups and is significantly more likely in agriculture, forestry and fishing, arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities, and the household services sector. The implications for theorising and tackling dependent self‐employment are discussed.     

From newsletter to academic journal: creating the European Accounting Review

This paper looks at the evolution of the European Accounting Review as the journal of the European Accounting Association. It provides an historical background to the launch of the journal in 1992, and traces how the European Accounting Review has developed to be a widely accepted academic journal in accounting. The journal tried at one and the same time, and managed with some success, to fulfil several different functions: to be an academic journal, a newsletter for the members and a place for debate on European accounting regulation. It seems that one of the main reasons that this was possible was the way EAR grew out of earlier initiatives by the EAA such as the Newsletter, the annual doctoral colloquium and the EIASM accounting workshops. The journal was thus a product of the development of a community of accounting researchers in Europe. In turn it began to play a constructive role in contributing to the further development of the accounting research community in Europe. During its first decade, the period on which our analysis concentrates, the European Accounting Review has acted to develop the idea of European accounting research in a research environment which has tended, at the international level, to be dominated by the Anglo-Saxon countries. EAR has tried to become a journal for European academics, and to be sensitive to European issues while being published in English. Being published in English, it thus directly competes for submissions and for readers in the global market for accountancy journals. In this way it has acted as one of the catalysts in the process of internationalization of the European academic accounting community. After the reform of 1999, the structure and aims of the journal are now more tightly focused on being a successful academic research journal, and less on playing a role as a forum for information and discussion. In this article we hope that we can contribute to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the EAA and reflect on EAR 's future role in a world where the focus in both research and practice in accounting is more and more at the ‘global’ level.     

公允价值会计:以历史和环境为视角的研究

本文通过对公允价值会计演进历史的回顾,及对公允价值会计适用的经济环境的分析,说明公允价值计量属性和经济的虚拟性有着密切关系,同时履行中合约的会计处理,也促使人们采用公允价值这一计量属性。笔者认为会计准则建设中适时的体现会计计量的公允性,不仅对整个财务会计系统建构有着重要意义,而且也充分体现了会计中的“真实和公允”的原则。     

Violence in European schools: A widespread phenomenon that matters for educational production

Violence at schools is a well-known problem in many societies. This paper assesses the degree of school violence in 11 European countries and analyzes the determinants of being a victim and its effect on student performance. The study draws on the international TIMSS 2003 and the British longitudinal NCDS data. The level of school violence is high in most countries but seems not to increase over time. Besides gender, social and migration background and the appearance of students determine being bullied, hurt or stolen from by fellow students. Being a victim has a significantly negative impact on contemporary and later student performance. In addition, the level of educational attainment is affected while there is no direct link to earnings when controlling for education, non-cognitive skills and appearance.     

Accounting and financial audit harmonization in the European Union

The article reviews the evolution of financial reporting in the EU and considers how this is likely to affect auditing in the future. The analysis shows how the European Commission has recently concentrated its harmonization focus on the consolidated accounts of listed companies and the use of International Accounting Standards. The move towards internationally harmonized reporting seems likely to require auditing to be harmonized throughout Europe, which seems to impact recent national auditing standards. It is probable that this trend will continue and in the short term will cause changes in the arrangements for external overview of the audit and in national auditor independence rules.     

A Brief History of the American Economic Association

The 20^th‐century American economics profession and its leading professional organization—the American Economic Association (AEA)—were privileged and shaped by the federal government's need to direct resources and to call on experts. Bureaucratic tendencies to classify and count had an impact on the discipline's self‐concept, the articulation of subdisciplines, and the establishment of multiple research agendas. They also powerfully framed the strategies for growth and development formulated and deployed by the AEA itself. A consensus of professional opinion and the standardization of curriculums emerged out of the involvement of economists and the AEA with governmental affairs. At the same time, such public engagement was fraught with risks and contradictions—posing challenges and difficulties with which the AEA and the profession would have to contend for decades to come.     

The adoption of International Accounting Standards in the European Union

Abstract

This paper discusses the IASB's process of developing accounting standards for adoption by listed companies within the European Union. Issues addressed include the structure of the IASB, its role as a global standard setter and its programme. Particular attention is given to two topics that are both controversial and important, accounting for financial instruments and reporting financial performance.     

Expatriate management: lessons from the British in India

In this paper, lessons for the study of expatriate management are drawn from the period of British administration in India. It uses ‘the past to study the present’ and puts into sharp focus the key issues which confront human resource management researchers and practitioners dealing with expatriate management today. These issues are seen as essentially the same and cover such areas as selection, training, adjustment, appraisal, reward and re-entry.