Using Generalized Method of Moments to Test Mean-Variance Efficiency

This paper develops tests of unconditional mean-variance efflciency under weak distributional assumptions using a Generalized Method of Moments framework. These tests are potentially more robust than commonly employed tests which rely on the assumption that asset returns are normally distributed and temporarily i.i.d. Using returns for size-based portfolios from 1926 to 1988 we show that the conclusion concerning the mean-variance effilciency of market indexes can be sensitive to the test considered.     

Real Earnings Management in Sales

We surveyed 1,638 sales executives across 40 countries regarding their companies’ likelihood of asking sales to perform real earnings management (REM) actions when earnings pressure exists. Using this information, which we refer to as companies’ REM propensities, we study how company characteristics and environmental conditions relate to the responses received. The use of cash‐flow incentives for sales personnel and the distribution of interfunctional power in favor of finance rather than sales are both associated with companies’ REM propensities. In addition, we show that sales executives preemptively change their behaviors in anticipation of top management's REM requests. Sales executives working for public companies and companies in the United States reported higher levels of REM propensity. The data also support an association between REM propensity and finance–sales conflict. These findings and others are compared and contrasted with existing empirical and survey‐based research on REM throughout the paper.