The Basu Measure as an Indicator of Conditional Conservatism: Evidence from UK Earnings Components

Following the work of Basu in 1997, the excess of the sensitivity of accounting earnings to negative share return over its sensitivity to positive share return (the Basu coefficient) has been interpreted as an indicator of conditional accounting conservatism. Although this interpretation is supported by substantial evidence that the Basu coefficient is associated with likely demands for conservatism, concerns have arisen that it may reflect factors not directly related to conservatism, and that this may adversely affect its validity as an indicator of that phenomenon. We argue that evidence on the validity of the Basu coefficient as an indicator of conditional conservatism can be obtained by disaggregating earnings into components, classifying those components by whether or not they are likely to be affected by conditional conservatism, and examining whether the Basu coefficient arises primarily from components likely to be affected by conditional conservatism. We implement this procedure for UK firms reporting under FRS 3: Reporting Financial Performance from 1992 to 2004. Although a substantial proportion of the Basu coefficient emanates from cash flow from operating and investing activities (CFOI), which cannot directly reflect accounting conservatism, its incidence across other components of earnings is predominantly within those components likely to be affected by conditional conservatism. Also, although the bias documented by Patatoukas and Thomas in 2009 is present in all of our aggregate earnings measures, it is heavily concentrated in the CFOI component of earnings and largely absent from components classified as likely to be affected by conditional conservatism. With the important caveat that researchers should test the robustness of their results to the exclusion of the element of the Basu coefficient due to cash flows, our findings are consistent with the conditional conservatism interpretation of the coefficient.     

Audit judgment research—Issues addressed, research methods and future directions

This paper outlines the purpose of judgment and decision making research in auditing. It examines the following areas of this research: policy capturing; heuristics and biases; information search, hypothesis generation and protocol analysis; knowledge and memory; group decision making; decision aids; and environmental and motivational issues. For each of these issues I outline the key research issues that have been addressed, the research methods used, a summary of past research and potential future research.     

通过卓越经营 实现持续增长

前言 2007年11月至2008年1月，《经济学家》信息部（Economist Intelligence Unit）在全球运营、财务、销售和营销以及信息技术执行官中开展了大规模的调查。调查收到946份来自全球年收入在2000万至5亿美元之间的中型公司高级执行官的答卷，这些公司中有81％的公司全球年收入超过5000万美元。（在一些盛行较小规模公司的国家，年收入不到5000万美元的公司可以参加此次调查。）     

Order effects and recency: where do we go from here?

Previous studies of auditor judgments have examined whether the order in which information is received affects their judgments. In particular, these studies have considered whether there is a recency effect which occurs when the disconfirmatory/confirmatory evidence treatment results in a final judgment which is significantly higher than the confirmatory/disconfirmatory treatment. More recent studies have investigated the circumstances when recency effects exist and when they are mitigated. The results of the studies are mixed. After the addition of two further studies (Arnold et al ., 2000; Monroe and Ng, 2000) in this edition of the journal, the results are still mixed. The paper outlines the possible explanations for the mixed results across studies and some issues that need to be addressed prior to collection of further empirical evidence.     

Road Funds, User Charges, and Taxes

Insufficient or uncertain budgetary allocations to road maintenancehave resulted in road deterioration that has significantly increasedproduction and transport costs in many countries. To avoid thisproblem, highway proferssionals advocate the establishment ofdedicated road funds, managed by independent road boards madeup of user representatives. The road boards would have the powerto determine both the level of charges for road use and thelevel of expenditure on road maintenance. By contrast, macroeconomistsand public finance specialists have tended to resist the establishmentof dedicated road funds. They argue that road funds reduce fiscalflexibility, do not adequatedly address problems associatedwith the provision of public goods or the internalization ofexternalities, and often are not well managed. In general, there are two long-term institutional options forreconciling fiscal prudence with asset maintenance; a road agencythat is operated commercially (subject to the normal oversightof behavior accorded to privatized monopolies), or a reformedand well-functioning budget process. This article argues thatroad funds must be viewed as a provisional, case-specific intermediatestep in the direction of one of the long-term solutions. Therole and nature of road funds should be assessed not on generalprinciples but on a case-by-case basis through the analysisof likely micro-and macroeconomic effects. The article recommendsindicatiors for use in specific cases to determine whether aroad fund should be introduced, continued, or abolished.      

Northern Ireland: the Development Context

This article provides a contextual framework for the new agenda for development, represented in the economic strategy known as Strategy 2010, and the regional spatial plan known as Shaping Our Future. These are considered in the following two articles. This article begins by setting a perspective on the political economy of Northern Ireland and follows with an outline of the spatial planning process. In conclusion, it raises the key challenges facing attempts to renew the region.     

Big-box retailing and the urban retail structure: the case of the Toronto area

This paper examines the growth and impact of power centres and “big-box” retailers through the 1990s in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The data reveal that 72% of big boxes were added in the previous nine years and that twice as many opened in the suburban fringe as compared to the equally populated central area. Of all big-box locations, 59% are on industrial lands and close to expressways. Of all postal codes in the GTA, 11% account for 47% of the big-box locations and a 19% versus 7% of 1989–1995 sales growth. Average annual sales per store in the heavily dominated big-box areas is $2+million versus $1.4 million in non-box areas and market shares for the dominant big-box retailers range between 19 and 33% in their respective retail categories. In eight retail sectors in direct competition with big-box retailers, there is an overall decline of −7% in share of total stores. Between 1993 and 1997, the proportion of retail employment within 2 km of a big-box increased from 28 to 43%. This increase is accounted for by additional retail and service firms.