The valuation consequences of voluntary accounting changes

Firm management typically claims that voluntary accounting method changes (VACs) are made to enhance the informativeness of earnings by better matching accounting practices with economic reality. In contrast, skeptics argue that managers adopt new accounting procedures to opportunistically manage earnings and influence their firm’s stock price. In this paper, we investigate these alternative motives for VACs. Specifically, we investigate whether VACs cause equity prices to deviate from their fundamental values in the short-term by studying the long-run stock-price performance for a sample of firms that voluntarily change accounting methods. In addition, we investigate changes in earnings informativeness by examining the behavior of earning response coefficients and the relationship between earnings and future cash flows in years surrounding the VAC event. In contrast to prior research, we find little evidence that a strategy based solely on the earnings effect of a VAC can generate abnormal returns. While we find weak evidence of post-VAC abnormal returns for extreme VACs, this result appears to be driven by the accruals anomaly documented in Sloan [Sloan, R. G. (1996). The Accounting Review, 71, 289–315]. Our evidence further suggests that earnings informativeness is not significantly altered by voluntary changes in accounting methods. Taken together, our evidence suggests the market recognizes the financial statement effects of alternative acceptable accounting methods and efficiently processes the valuation implications of VACs.

Valuing corporate securities: some effects of bond indenture provisions—a correction

This paper identifies and corrects a typographical error in Black and Cox (J Finance 31:351–367, 1976). While the typographical error is seemingly trivial, the magnitude of the pricing error that it generates can be substantial.

Wird der vom Regierungsentwurf eines VVG geplante Direktanspruch des Geschädigten gegen den Pflichthaftpflichtversicherer ein stumpfes Schwert? Zur Notwendigkeit eines Informationsanspruchs des Geschädigten in der neuen Pflichthaftpflichtversicherung

The amendment of the German Act on Insurance Contracts comprises a number of substantial modifications regarding liability insurance. The most important modification is the introduction of a direct claim against the insurer with regard to all compulsory insurances. Such a direct claim is up to now only known from the motor vehicle liability insurance. Yet, a direct claim will be advantageous for the aggrieved claimant only if he manages to identify the proper insurer. As a result of the structural differences to the motor vehicle liability insurance the act of identifying the insurer is almost utterly impossible for the claimant without any help by the insured. Thus the claimant must also be given a claim against the insured to be furnished with all necessary information regarding the insurer. This right originates from sec. 242 of the German Civil Code.     

Zur Integration heuristischer Managementstrategien in die Dynamische Finanzanalyse

Dynamic financial analysis (DFA) has become an important tool in analyzing the financial situation of insurance companies. Constant development and documentation of DFA tools has occurred during the last years. However, several questions concerning the implementation of DFA systems have not been answered in the DFA literature to date. One such important issue is the consideration of management strategies in the DFA context. The aim of this paper is to study the effects of different management strategies on a non-life insurer’s risk and return profile. Therefore, we extend the results of a recent working paper by Eling / Parnitzke / Schmeiser (2007) with two variants and test these variants numerically within a DFA simulation study.     

Artificial life

E-business processes between insurance companies and their private customers allow — in comparison to conventional business processing — savings in administrative expenses up to 30 per cent. However, today’s e-business processes are often described as little transparent and stereotyped. Users, therefore, complain them being far to complex and, as a consequence, do not accept them. Relating to research in the field of customer behaviour, it has been proved that even in e-business processes customers like to be contacted and treated individually. This can be reached by corresponding to the cognitive ability and the personal involvement of each customer. By using those mechanisms information processing becomes ?hospitable‘ or even ?human-alike‘. Chatter-bots simulate human behaviour in e-business processes and will possibly replace personnel in certain areas. Therefore, chatter-bots seem a suitable instrument to introduce successfully e-business processes between insurance companies and their private customers. Two positive consequences could be reached: first, process efficiency could be raised and second, cost-savings in processing could be gained.     

There's something about saving …

The paper considers how people should plan their saving, given certain assumptions about inheritance and changes in household circumstances. The results are produced by a model that takes into account tax and state benefits as well as various private savings vehicles. It concludes that, for many households, saving for retirement through a ‘pension’ might not be optimum and that the best strategy is to vary the incidence and allocation of saving in response to changes in household circumstances.