Developments in accounting regulation: A synthesis and annotated bibliography of evidence and commentary in the 2016 academic literature

In this paper key regulation-related findings and commentaries in the 2016 academic literature are synthesized in annotated form. This paper is one in a series of previously published annotated bibliographies published in this journal. Papers published in academic outlets including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting Horizons, The Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting, The Journal of Financial Reporting, Auditing A Journal of Practice and Theory, and Research in Accounting Regulation were reviewed for potential inclusion. The 2016 literature featured strong regulation-related threads as follows: financial accounting regulation, analysis of individual pronouncements, SEC regulatory activity and its impact, international financial reporting standards, income tax reporting, and auditing.     

Application of Anglo-American Principles of Consolidation to Corporate Financial Disclosure in Japan

The adoption by Japan of consolidated corporate reporting in 1977 may be viewed as an instance of the international transfer of Anglo-American practices of corporate reporting, and as a step towards international harmonization of accounting. Consolidation practices in Anglo-American nations are based on assumptions about the nature of corporate group associations. This paper examines the applicability of these assumptions to the corporate context in Japan. Personal interviews and analyses of group associations of listed Japanese corporations support three principal findings: (i) that historical and cultural determinants provide significant contrasts between corporate group associations in Japan and Anglo-American nations; (ii) that Anglo-American methods of consolidation fail to reflect adequately the nature of corporate group associations in Japan; and (iii) that the adoption of consolidation in Japan represented a response to situation-specific change stimuli rather than a general acceptance of the intrinsic merit of consolidation. The findings have implications for international accounting.     

Accounting standards and value relevance of financial statements: An international analysis

Using 17,743 firm-year observations of industrial companies in 21 countries from 1991 to 1997, this paper finds that the use of accrual accounting (versus cash accounting) negatively affects the value relevance of financial statements in countries with weak shareholder protection. This negative effect, however, does not exist in countries with strong shareholder protection. These findings are consistent with the belief that shareholder protection improves the effectiveness of accrual accounting, and suggest the importance of considering shareholder protection when formulating accounting policies related to accruals.     

IFRS framework-based case study: Barrick Gold Corporation—Goodwill for Gold

The case of Barrick Gold Corporation: Goodwill for Gold utilizes a framework-based approach to examine the objectives, underlying concepts, and relevant IFRS guidance applied to goodwill. The questions presented in the case study progressively lead from the broad concepts underlying the preparation of financial data, in general, to the International Accounting Standards concerning recognition, measurement, and subsequent treatment of goodwill, specifically IFRS 3, IAS 36, and IAS 38. It challenges you to determine if these standards are consistent with the underlying concepts set forth in the IFRS’s conceptual Framework. This case illustrates the importance of professional judgment in the standard setting process by requiring you to examine the IASB’s published supporting documents including the Board’s Basis for Conclusions. In addition, the case includes a practical application problem that requires you to determine the financial statement effects of the subsequent treatment of goodwill.     

Impact of International Financial Reporting Standard adoption on key financial ratios

Although previous research has investigated the economic consequences of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) adoption, there is little evidence on the impact of IFRS adoption on key financial ratios. To fill this gap, we examine this issue in a continental European country (Finland). Our results show that the adoption of IFRS changes the magnitude of the key accounting ratios. Moreover, we extend the literature by showing that the adoption of fair value accounting rules and stricter requirements on certain accounting issues are the reasons for the changes observed in accounting figures and financial ratios.     

The role of a crisis in reshaping the role of accounting

Prior to 2001, international accounting standards (IAS) were insufficiently attractive to gain the support of US regulators. The potential role of IAS in the US gained prominence during a period of extreme financial reporting instability in 2001–2002. Emerging opinion increasingly upheld principles-based rather than rules-based accounting standards in the face of the financial reporting crisis. But to promote any active shift in the US position, an institutionally legitimate infrastructure for the international accounting standards setter had to be created. As this was taking shape, the globalisation of business activities grew with inter-organizational linkages and cross-national financial inter-dependencies and flows becoming increasingly complex. Given the extensively uncertain, uneven and constantly evolving nature of global business changes, the aptness of applying judgment in assessing financial performance and position rather than relying on the application of pre-defined rules continued to achieve wider acceptance. The argument is made in the paper that international financial reporting standards are today seen to fulfil a global risk mitigating role founded on a logic that had to first gain political and institutional legitimacy and that also had to be viewed as being responsive to perceived market imperatives.     

美国高校会计的特征及其启示

传统上美国高校会计制度采用"双轨制"方法,私立大学遵从财务会计准则委员会的准则,公立大学采用政府会计准则委员会的准则,二者一般都采用"基金"会计核算方法.近年来,财务会计准则委员会和政府会计准则委员会制定的有关高校会计信息披露法规出现了融合的趋势,两类高校会计信息披露的内容开始向企业会计靠拢.我国高校会计改革应吸收美国已有的成果,应尽量缩小与企业会计的差别.     

Fair Value and the IASB/FASB Conceptual Framework Project: An Alternative View

This paper analyses various controversial issues arising from the current project of the IASB and FASB to develop a joint conceptual framework for financial reporting standards. It discusses their possible implications for measurement and, in particular, for the use of fair value as the preferred measurement basis. Two competing world views are identified as underlying the debate: a Fair Value View, implicit in the IASB's public pronouncements, and an Alternative View implicit in publicly expressed criticisms of the IASB's pronouncements. The Fair Value View assumes that markets are relatively perfect and complete and that, in such a setting, financial reports should meet the needs of passive investors and creditors by reporting fair values derived from current market prices. The Alternative View assumes that markets are relatively imperfect and incomplete and that, in such a market setting, financial reports should also meet the monitoring requirements of current shareholders (stewardship) by reporting past transactions and events using entity-specific measurements that reflect the opportunities actually available to the reporting entity. The different implications of the two views are illustrated by reference to specific issues in recent accounting standards. Finally, the theoretical support for the two views is discussed. It is concluded that, in a realistic market setting, the search for a universal measurement method may be fruitless and a more appropriate approach to the measurement problem might be to define a clear measurement objective and to select the measurement method that best meets that objective in the particular circumstances that exist in relation to each item in the accounts. An example of such an approach is deprival value, which is not, at present, under consideration by the IASB.     

Trends in research on international accounting harmonization

International harmonization of financial accounting standards has been the goal of many professional and academic accountants during the last 40 years. As of January 1, 2005, international accounting harmonization entered a new and perhaps decisive phase. From that date, all companies domiciled in the European Union with shares listed on securities exchanges are required to prepare their consolidated accounts in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This landmark event presents an opportunity for accounting researchers to assess the status of research on international accounting harmonization. In this paper, we review articles published in major English language accounting journals during the period from 1965 through 2004 in order to trace thematic and methodological trends in this line of research and to assess where the research may evolve from here.     

Management incentives to recognise intangible assets

The paper examines whether the introduction of the international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in Australia changed management incentives to recognise intangible assets. We examine post‐IFRS changes in managerial opportunism and economic benefits associated with the recognition of intangible assets. We find evidence after IFRS of significant change in intangible asset recognition concurrent with share issues. We also find that the association between economic benefits and intangible assets changed following IFRS. Evidence is provided that the economic benefits associated with goodwill were enhanced by IFRS, whereas IIA and E&E asset information became less useful to financial report users.     

Financial reporting by charities: a matched case study analysis from four countries

This paper analyses financial reporting requirements applicable to charities in four jurisdictions—Australia; England; Ireland; New Zealand—using case study analysis which compares the actual financial statements of four charities operating in the same field and with similar levels of total income. The authors highlight common issues and implications in terms of the concepts underpinning not-for-profit organization (NPO) financial reporting and argue the case for harmonized international NPO accounting standards.     

A study of earnings-management motives in the Anglo-American and Euro-Continental accounting models: The Canadian and French cases

The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that potentially influence earnings-management policy with reference to the Anglo-American and Euro-Continental accounting models. Canada and France, respectively, belong to those different socio-economic environments. Earnings-management practices detected in those countries are expected to be affected by specific socio-economic features of the Anglo-American and the Euro-Continental environments. We explain earnings-management practices by incentives suggested in the literature to reveal which motives are prominent within each environment.We tested our earnings-management motives (EMM) model using appropriate panel-estimation techniques over 1674 Canadian and 1470 French firm-year observations. Our results provide evidence that incentives for earnings management for French firms are specifically linked to contractual debt costs and effective tax rate. However, Canadian firms show specific incentives matched with a dynamic capital market. Issuing equity is a strong motive for earnings management in Canadian firms.     

A literature survey of financial reporting in private firms

This paper provides a survey of the empirical literature on financial reporting in private firms. Although private firms play a dominant role in country-level economic development, research on their financial reporting is limited. The survey reveals that there remains uncertainty as to the purpose of financial reporting in private firms which is also reflected in the current body of the empirical literature. The survey provides implications for regulators with respect to regulating the financial reporting of private firms. The survey also identifies some limitations of existing research and offers potential avenues for future research.