Within-industry timing of earnings warnings: do managers herd?

An earnings surprise can be caused by a combination of firm-specific factors and market or industry factors. We hypothesize that managers have an incentive to time their warnings to occur soon after their industry peers’ warnings to minimize their apparent responsibility for earnings shortfalls. Using duration analysis, we find that firms accelerate their warnings in response to peer firms’ warnings. We conduct several tests to control for alternative explanations for warning clustering (for example, common shocks and information transfer) and conclude that the observed clustering is primarily due to herding. Our study is one of the first to empirically examine managers’ herding behavior and the first to document clustering of bad news. Moreover, we provide a multi-firm perspective on managers’ disclosure decisions that alerts researchers to consider or control for herding when they examine other determinants of managers’ disclosure decisions.     

Industry self‐regulation and adverse selection: a comparison across four trade association programs

In an attempt to avoid costly regulation and liability as a result of externalities, a number of trade associations have promoted industry self‐regulation – the voluntary association of firms to control their collective behavior. However, previous studies have found that, without explicit sanctions for malfeasance, such self‐regulatory programs are likely to attract more polluting firms. In this paper, we examine four environmental self‐regulatory programs in the chemical, textile, and pulp and paper industries. Using a sample of over 4000 firms within these industries, we find evidence that in at least one program more polluting firms tended to join, while in another cleaner firms were more likely to join. We propose that differences in the structure of the programs drive the appearance of this form of adverse selection. In particular, we speculate that only when self‐regulatory programs have explicit sanctions for malfeasance may they avoid adverse selection problems. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

The Association between External Monitoring and Earnings Management in the Property-Casualty Insurance Industry

This paper examines the association between external monitoring and earnings management by property-casualty insurers. We extend previous work by Petroni and Beasley (1996) by expanding the set of external monitors to include both auditors and actuaries. We investigate whether certain auditor-actuary pairs are associated with less understatement of the loss reserve account by financially struggling insurers. Our data consist of loss adjustments reported by 465 property-casualty insurers for reserves established in 1993. The results indicate that under-reserving by weak insurers is essentially eliminated when the firm uses auditors and actuaries that are both from Big Six accounting firms. In contrast, non-Big Six actuaries have less impact on under-reserving by weak insurers. Our results suggest that the quality usually associated with Big Six auditors falls when the audit firm relies on third party actuaries to evaluate the loss reserve estimates of struggling insurance clients. We conjecture that Big Six actuaries insist on more conservative loss reserve levels because, compared to actuarial consulting firms, they are more attuned to the liability exposure of the auditor.     

harcourt brace economics

Jennifer Pegg, economics editor with Harcourt Brace, outlines her publishing plans for economics books for the rest of 1993 and beyond.     

The Structured Interview: Reducing Biases Toward Job Applicants with Physical Disabilities

Research shows that the traditional job interview is a poor indication of a candidate's potential. However, when employers structure the interview process, they are more effective at predicting success, forming consistent evaluations, and reducing discrimination. The current study tested whether the structured interview also serves to reduce biases involved in interviewing applicants who have a physical disability. In the non-structured interview, results showed that there was a leniency bias, where raters evaluated disabled candidates more positively than equally qualified non-disabled candidates. Structured interviews reduced this effect. These findings add to the support for the structured interview as a way of increasing fairness in employee selection.     

Application of the Fair-Value Concept: Evidence from Australian Legal Decisions

The concept of "fair value" is increasingly being incorporated into Australian and international accounting standards and pronouncements. The fair-value concept has also been established and developed in Australian legal cases, and an examination of pertinent court decisions is of interest to accountants. By examining and analysing relevant cases, the paper highlights some of the principles and difficulties involved in operationalising the fair-value concept for accounting and legal purposes, particularly in situations where the asset being valued is subject to imperfect or incomplete markets.     

Vertical Integration, Business Diversification, and Firm Architecture: The Case of the China Egg Produce Company in Shanghai, 1923-1950

This article is a case study of a Chinese indigenous firm inthe refrigerated egg-packing industry during the interwar period.I argue that the China Egg Produce Company (CEPC) was quickto grasp Western management in terms of vertical integrationand business diversification. In addition, this firm took advantageof embedded social relations and social networks to constructa strong "internal architecture." As a result, CEPC not onlyrivaled some six to eight British and American enterprises,but also took the lead in persuading them to form an internationalcartel during the 1930s. The data presented in this case studyshows the surprising vitality and adaptability of Chinese businessesand suggests that China was in the process of developing a modernbusiness system prior to the chaotic events of the late 1940s.     

An Empirical Validation of Perceived Importance and Behavior Intention in IT Ethics

Robin et al. (1996) suggested a new construct when studying ethical behavioral intention which they entitled PIE (perceived importance). They empirically tested the PIE construct and found it to significantly impact both ethical judgment and behavioral intention. The present study extends and validates Robin et al.s work on PIE using a different context, different scenarios and a different sample. The findings indicate strong support for the validity of Robin et al.s PIE instrument and show PIE to significantly influence ethical judgment (attitude) and behavioral intention. This study also indicates the sex of the individual affects the individuals perception of importance and is a significant influence of ethical judgment and behavioral intention. Future ethical models and studies should include PIE as a possible influence on behavioral intention.Timothy Paul Cronan is Professor of Information Systems and M.D. Matthews Lecturer in Business at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Dr. Cronan received his D.B.A. from Louisiana Tech University and is an active member of the Decision Sciences Institute and The Association for Computing Machinery. He has served as Regional Vice President and on the Board of Directors of the Decision Sciences Institute and as President of the Southwest Region of the Institute. In addition, he has served as Associate Editor MIS Quarterly. His research interests include ethics in computing, local area networks, downsizing, expert systems, performance analysis and effectiveness, and end-user computing. His publications have appeared in Decision Sciences, MIS Quarterly, OMEGA The International Journal of Management Science, The Journal of Management Information Systems, Communications of the ACM, Journal of End User Computing, Database, Journal of Research on Computing in Education, Journal of Financial Research, as well as in other journals, and Proceedings of various Conferences. Lori N. K. Leonard is an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at the University of Tulsa. Dr. Leonard received her Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas and is an active member of the Decision Sciences Institute. Her research interests include electronic commerce, electronic data interchange, ethics in computing, simulation, and data warehousing. Her publications have appeared in Journal of Computer Information Systems, Information & Management, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, Journal of End User Computing, as well as in other journals, and Proceedings of various Conferences. Jennifer Kreie is Associate Professor in Business Computer Systems at New Mexico State University. Dr. Kreie received the Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. Her research interests include ethics in computing, end-user computing, systems development, and computer-aided instruction. She is an active member of the Decision Sciences Institute, the Association of Computing Machinery and the Association of Information Technology Professionals. Her publications have appeared in Communications of the ACM, Decision Support Systems, Journal of End User Computing, Journal of Accountancy, and the National Accountant as well as Proceedings of several Conferences.