The Effects of Compensation and Board Quality on Non-GAAP Disclosures in Europe

This study reports international evidence on the impact of compensation and board quality on the voluntary disclosure of non-GAAP earnings numbers. We find that compensation contracts of board directors that are linked to firm's market performance are associated with a higher probability of disclosure of non-GAAP figures in the earnings announcements' press release. Furthermore, when this type of compensation is used, firms tend to report non-GAAP figures in the title of the press release, make more adjustments for recurring items, and avoid reporting reconciliations. These reporting practices have been associated with opportunistic disclosure. We also show that an efficient governance structure of the board of directors can help restrain most of these discretionary disclosure decisions regarding non-GAAP reporting.     

Does Investor Sentiment Affect Earnings Management?

I hypothesize and find that earnings management via accruals is driven partially by the prevailing market‐wide investor sentiment. Managers inflate earnings in periods of higher sentiment, but report more conservatively during periods of low sentiment. Moreover, the likelihood of income‐increasing earnings management to avoid negative earnings surprises is also positively associated with investor sentiment. These results are robust to: (i) controls for time‐varying firm characteristics such as growth, investment opportunity sets, future profitability, leverage and size; (ii) macroeconomic variables such as future inflation, GDP growth, and growth in industrial production; (iii) multiple proxies for investor sentiment; and (iv) discretionary revenues as alternative measure of earnings management. Cross‐sectional analyses reveal that firms whose stock returns co‐move more with investor sentiment are more (less) likely to manage earnings upward via abnormal accruals in quarters of higher (lower) sentiment. The findings of managers’ strategic use of abnormal accruals show the need for increased attention from boards of directors, auditors and regulators to heightened managerial incentives to overstate earnings and to report optimistic earnings numbers during periods of high investor sentiment.     

Estudio de la relación entre satisfacción laboral y el desempeño de los trabajadores de las ferias libres

This study analyzes and discloses the relationship between Job Satisfaction and Performance variables of a total population of 264 workers in Chilean Free Fairs. Out of the total population to which this research applies (264 individuals), the sample taken corresponds to 60% of each Fair, which is equivalent to 158 individuals. In order to obtain the objectives we applied a 54-item instrument. The first part collects general information about respondent; the second part collects average information of sales and salary to measure the workers’ productivity and the third part studies job satisfaction. Once performed the analysis of data collected, the results show that the dimensions of job satisfaction, boss relationship satisfaction and recognition satisfaction have a statistically significant relationship with productivity: daily sales/daily working hours. Good management of these can positively contribute to an increased competitiveness of Free Fairs. Another outstanding aspect included in this study is satisfaction with the physical environment, which has a statistically significant relationship between daily and monthly salary, which significantly contributes to the hours spent at work by individuals as well as the wage they perceive.     

Assessing evaluation: Why student engages or resists to active learning?

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - This research shows, on a wide dataset of students, that evaluation methods to promote active learning improve students’ academic...     

The occupational attainment of migrants and natives in Barcelona, 1930

Very few empirical studies have analysed the labour market performance of migrants in European countries in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This article uses a rich new micro‐dataset to examine the occupational attainment of migrants, mostly internal migrants, in the city of Barcelona, a key destination from the late nineteenth century onwards, adding to the literature on internal migrations in Spain during the period of industrialization. The study shows that the occupational outcomes achieved by early migrants tended to match those of natives, the reference group. However, some groups of migrants who arrived at the end of the period covered by the study show poorer outcomes than natives. The relative underachievement of these groups is explained by changes in the type of migrants and in the characteristics of the labour market. Our estimates also suggest that Spanish migrants did not experience upward occupational mobility after settling in Barcelona.     

Corporate Networks and Business Groups in Argentina in the Early 1970s

This article examines the interlocking directorates' structure of prominent Argentine business groups at the end of the import substitution period (1970–72), identifying corporate relations among and between business groups and the largest companies, during a period characterised by high institutional and macroeconomic instability. Applying social network analysis, it seeks to clarify how business groups can contribute to the cohesion of a corporate network structure, through their ability to create links among firms not only within their boundaries but also external to them. The article contributes to both corporate network and business groups' literature, highlighting a role of business groups that extant literature has failed to identify as relevant.