Discussion of Privacy in E-Commerce: Development of Reporting Standards, Disclosure, and Assurance Services in an Unregulated Market

Jamal, Maier, and Sunder (hereafter, JMS), have written an interesting paper on the development of standards in an unregulated market. The development of private standards and assurance that there is compliance are important for creating trust among market participants and for the success of new markets. The paper is relevant for accounting professionals who are responsible for assuring investors that firms' financial information is reliable and trustworthy. It shows that there is demand for market standards absent regulation, that firms voluntarily adopt standards, and that they generally comply with them. The authors contrast these findings with the regulated outcomes in the capital market and raise questions about the merits of regulation.     

Enforced Standards Versus Evolution by General Acceptance: A Comparative Study of E-Commerce Privacy Disclosure and Practice in the United States and the United Kingdom

We present data on privacy practices in e‐commerce under the European Union's formal regulatory regime prevailing in the United Kingdom and compare it with the data from a previous study of U.S. practices that evolved in the absence of government laws or enforcement. The codification by the E.U. law, and the enforcement by the U.K. government, improves neither the disclosure nor the practice of e‐commerce privacy relative to the United States. Regulation in the United Kingdom also appears to stifle development of a market for Web assurance services. Both U.S. and U.K. consumers continue to be vulnerable to a small number of e‐commerce Web sites that spam their customers, ignoring the latter's expressed or implied preferences. These results raise important questions about finding a balance between enforced standards and conventions in financial reporting. In the second half of the 20th century, financial reporting has been characterized by both a preference for legislated standards and a lack of faith in its evolution as a body of social conventions. Evidence on whether this faith in standards over conventions is justified remains to be marshaled.     

The Value Relevance of International Financial Reporting Standards: Empirical Evidence in an Emerging Market

This study examines the value relevance of accounting information under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX, henceforth). Based on models developed by Easton and Harris (1991), and Ohlson (1995) and using monthly market data from 2000 to 2006, this paper investigates the value relevance of accounting information of firms traded on the ADX. Our overall results show that earnings scaled by beginning of period price are positively and significantly related to cumulative returns and that earnings per share and book value per share are positively and significantly related to price per share. We also find that value relevance of accounting information has changed since the market inception in 2000. The results documented herein extend the literature on value relevance accounting information in an emerging market that requires the use of IFRS. The study therefore contributes to the debate over the mandatory adoption of IFRS and the value relevance of accounting information reported under IFRS.     

Disclosure of the impacts of adopting Australian equivalents of International Financial Reporting Standards

This study investigates two disclosure variables (Extent and Quality) in relation to compliance with paragraph 4.1 (b) of AASB 1047 Disclosing the Impacts of Adopting Australian Equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards. Using a sample of 150 Australian listed firms, I find that the extent and quality of disclosure is influenced by firm size, leverage and auditor firm size, with the latter variable being the most significant. In general, the results suggest that many companies might have relied on sample disclosures provided by their auditors, perhaps limiting both quality and intent. Additionally, the ultimate usefulness of broad and imprecise standards might be questionable. Smaller companies might also require more guidance and assistance with their preparation for the adoption.     

环境敏感性、产品市场竞争和内部控制缺陷认定标准披露质量

内部控制缺陷认定标准披露是企业内部控制评价报告编制的关键环节。文章以我国境内纳入内部控制规范体系强制实施范围的上市公司为样本,考察环境敏感性、产品市场竞争和内部控制缺陷认定标准披露质量之间的关系,研究发现:产品市场竞争有助于提升内部控制缺陷认定标准的披露质量;环境敏感性正向调节产品市场竞争对于内部控制缺陷认定标准披露质量的影响。     

A Critical Appraisal of Assurance Services Development in Australia

This paper appraises the development of assurance services in Australia and discusses the differences between assurance and consulting seruices. This is an issue of mounting importance as accounting firms consider separating their assurance and consulting activities into separate entities. The advantages and disadvantages of the profession being involved in the development and promotion of these seruices are debated, as are the risks of extending practice into non-traditiona1 assurance products. The paper considers whether the profession is choosing the cowect assurance services to promote, and suggests the promotion of services closer to their current experh'se, such as providing assurance to company directors about the information they consider at their regular meetings.     

Corporate Disclosure Quality: Lessons from Australian Companies on the Impact of Adopting International Financial Reporting Standards

For annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005, Australian companies were required to comply with the Australian equivalents of International Financial Reporting Standards (AIFRS). To ensure a smooth transition, a broadly defined standard (AASB 1047) mandated pre-adoption company disclosures of the AIFRS' impact. The standard provided managers with the opportunity to exercise considerable discretion in complying with the underlying disclosure requirements. We examine how this discretion impacted on the quality of pre-adoption AIFRS disclosures provided by a sample of large Australian companies. Using a disclosure quality index, we find considerable evidence of a cross-sectional variation in disclosure quality that varies according to differences in the AIFRS financial impact, size, industry and profitability factors. Importantly, we also observe individual Big 4 audit firm influences on disclosure quality. These findings highlight consequences of mandating corporate disclosures based on broadly defined principles.     

International Financial Reporting Standards in an Emerging Economy: Lessons from Romania

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are a reference point for the modernisation of accounting models in emerging economies. Previous literature documents a diverse IFRS experience, especially among emerging economies. The IFRS implementation strategy and local institutional characteristics shape the way in which the standards are used in practice. We use the Romanian case to illustrate the effect of various contextual factors, some historical, on the process and outcomes of IFRS implementation. We show that IFRS implementation can follow a different pattern in emerging economies.     

注册会计师保证服务的发展与研究

保证服务(assuranceservices)是20世纪90年代中后期国际会计行业对注册会计师专业鉴证性服务领域的一个新的概括和提法,它既是注册会计师专业服务产品向纵深开发的结果,也是注册会计师专业鉴证性服务从审计(audit)经由鉴证(attestation)之后的又一次重大跨越。本文旨在探究注册会计师保证服务的缘起、内涵、外延,并简要介绍主要的新服务产品。注册会计师保证服务的缘起任何服务产品的开发和拓展,最根本的原因来自市场的需求和服务提供者的努力。具体到注册会计师保证服务,领先的会计公司的市场开发活动、行业协会的组织、研究与推动起了主导…     

Consequences and Institutional Determinants of Unregulated Corporate Financial Statements: Evidence from Embedded Value Reporting

I analyze Embedded Value (EV) reporting by firms with life insurance operations to assess the impact of unregulated financial reporting on transparency and to examine the institutional characteristics that promote unregulated reporting. Under EV accounting, the present value of future cash flows from in‐force contracts is included in shareholders’ equity, and profit is calculated as the change in equity between two periods. In contrast to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), this approach produces higher shareholder's equity and recognizes income at contract inception. I find firms that adopt EV reporting exhibit a decline in information asymmetry, with the decline increasing as EV reporting evolves to address methodological deficiencies and to permit more comparability across firms. The decrease in information asymmetry is contingent on providing an audit certification, and larger for firms that commit to providing EV reports. Moreover, I document that EV reporting is more widespread in countries with more hostile takeovers, managers that do not avoid volatile income measures, regulators that are less likely to intervene in the product market, and analysts that believe EV disclosure increases the value of their information intermediation function.     

市场反应、生存模型与信息披露

本文应用生存模型对上市公司年报信息披露后股票市场价格反应时间进行研究，选择沪深两市在2004年710家样本公司年报信息披露后的股票价格作为研究对象，使用生存模型研究股价的变动方向和价格沿同一方向持续变动的时间。研究结果表明，上市公司的业绩变量、行业因素、市场交易状况和审计意见类型对市场反应时间有明显的影响，投资者可以选取关键指标来预测市场反应。     

Stock Exchange Disclosure and Market Development: An Analysis of 50 International Exchanges

This study examines associations between measures of stock exchange disclosure and market development at 50 of the member stock exchanges of the World Federation of Exchanges. We focus on stock exchange disclosure systems (rather than actual company disclosures) because this approach links stock exchange policy with desired outcomes related to market development (such as liquidity, trading activity, and market size relative to gross domestic product). We find strong support for the hypothesis that the strength of the disclosure system (disclosure rules, monitoring, and enforcement) is positively associated with market development, after controlling for legal system, legal protection of investors, market size, and several other potentially relevant explanatory variables.     

公众公司财务报告的披露、分析与解释机制

本文旨在研究公众公司财务报告的披露、分析与解释机制。以披露为基础的财务报告架构要想有效地发挥其功效, 必须做到两点第一, 必须要披露财务报告; 第二, 使用者应该有效地使用所披露的财务报告。前者通过公众公司财务报告披露机制完成, 其中披露规则和披露过程是关键; 后者则需要借助公众公司财务报告的分析与解释机制, 主要包括证券分析师、评级机构等中介服务机构功能的发挥。本文对这些机制和要件分别进行了理论探究和制度分析, 并在此基础上针对中国相关机制的现状和问题进行剖析, 得出一些有益的启示和改进的建议。     

Mandatory Disclosure,Voluntary Disclosure,and Stock Market Liquidity: Evidence from the EU Bank Stress Tests

We use the EU stress tests and the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis to study the consequences of supervisory disclosure of banks’ sovereign risk exposures. We test the idea that a mandatory one‐time disclosure induces an increase in voluntary disclosures about sovereign risk in the following periods and, through the shift in the voluntary disclosure equilibrium, increases the liquidity of banks’ shares. First, we find that the timing and content of different mandatory disclosure events helps explain the levels of stress‐test banks’ voluntary disclosures about sovereign risk. Second, although the bid‐ask spreads of stress test participants generally increased after the mandatory stress test in 2011, our results suggest that the decrease in market liquidity is entirely attributable to those stress‐test participants that did not commit to voluntarily maintaining the disclosures of sovereign risk exposure.     

高管持股、择时披露与市场反应

基于2001至2008年间A股公司业绩预告的样本,本文研究了高管持股对择时信息披露策略的影响,以及市场对择时披露信息的反应。研究发现,A股公司在业绩预告时存在择时披露的行为:好消息①更倾向于在交易日披露,坏消息更倾向于在休息日披露。高管持股比例会显著影响择时披露策略:高管持股比例越高的公司,进行择时披露的可能性也越高。从市场反应角度看,休息日披露的坏消息与交易日披露的坏消息没有显著差异,休息日披露的好消息反而会产生更加显著的正面市场反应。本文的研究意味着,高管持股比例会显著提高上市公司进行择时信息披露的可能性,但是市场在一定程度上能够识别择时披露策略,本文的研究结果支持了"信息消化"假说。