The Difference between Earnings and Operating Cash Flow as an Indicator of Financial Reporting Fraud*

This paper examines the relation between earnings and operating cash flow to derive and test an indicator of financial statement fraud. Accrual measurement concepts indicate that financial statement fraud should be associated with high levels of earnings relative to operating cash flow. We demonstrate that the excess of earnings over operating cash flow is extreme in most fraud cases in years immediately prior to the fraud discovery based on a sample of 56 fraud cases from 1978 to 1991. We compare the distribution of the earnings minus operating cash flow variable for fraud firms with that for a sample of 60,453 firm-years for firms listed on COMPUSTAT. We test a logistic regression model in which the discovery/nondiscovery of fraud is the dependent variable, and earnings minus operating cash flow is the explanatory variable. Other control variables are included in the model based on prior studies. Results are consistent with expectations derived from accrual measurement theory. We then examine the predictive ability of the model using our sample of fraud firms and a sample of nonfraud firms in the same four-digit SIC code industries. Observations for the fraud firms are for the fiscal year prior to the discovery of fraud. Observations for the nonfraud firms are for the same fiscal years as the fraud firms in the same industries. The predictive ability of the model, including the excess of earnings over operating cash flow, is substantially higher than the predictive ability of the model omitting this variable. We conclude that the earnings-operating cash flow relation provides important information for those interested in identifying financial statement fraud, especially when considered in conjunction with other factors associated with fraud risk.     

HOW FAIR IS FAIR TRADE?

Fair trade, also known as resale price maintenance (RPM), is a per se violation of the antitrust laws. Economic theory suggests that RPM may enhance the efficiency of distribution, but opposition to the practice remains strong. This opposition may stem from concern that RPM raises retail prices and penalizes well-informed customers. This paper summarizes research on the motivation for RPM as well as its impact on prices. The analysis suggests that comparing prices in RPM jurisdictions with those in free-trade areas provides little guidance on likely effects if RPM were permitted everywhere. An analysis of RPM's impact on prices is developed, and then this analysis is employed to assess RPM's welfare effects. Results of the welfare analysis are shown to depend crucially on which form of cost function is assumed for services provided by dealers.     

Users versus nonusers of supplements: socioeconomic characteristics

The objective of this research was to determine the socioeconomic characteristics of supplement users versus nonusers. Seven western states (Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming) were surveyed to determine the socioeconomic profile of persons who either use or do not use supplements. Results indicated that 60.2% of the supplement users were female. The largest percentage was 31–40 years of age. By most definitions, supplement users tended to be well educated. Under adverse economic conditions, only a small percentage (7%) of users would give up supplements first when asked to choose from a variety of items that were considered to be nonessential.     

Information content of Canadian oil and gas companies' historic cost earnings and reserves disclosures*

Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to determine which of three alternative annual report disclosures of oil and gas reserves, namely historic capitalized costs, quantities, or discounted cash flows, contributes information content incremental to that provided by earnings per share. Information content is defined as the ability of a reserves disclosure to account for changes in common stock prices. Multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate the extent to which each of the three alternative reserves disclosures account for common stock returns after first recognizing the information provided by an earnings per share variable. The annual reports of 67 Canadian oil and gas exploration and development corporations were used to gather the data for each of the years 1983 to 1987. The results indicate that the earnings per share provides some significant evidence of information content. The capitalized costs disclosure, the quantities disclosure, and the discounted cash flows disclosure provide significant evidence of incremental information content in a pooled analysis of the five-year period; however, the results for any one disclosure method are not consistent throughout the analyses of each of the five years.     

FEEDING CHILDREN AT SCHOOL*

After briefly reviewing factors affecting questionnaire design with reference to Primary School children, the paper explores three methods of determining food preferences of Middle School children. The overall patterns of food preferences that emerged were similar although there were significant differences obtained for 25% of the 100 individual food items investigated. The reading ability of the pupils influenced the type of questionnaire that could be used, especially for junior schools, although other factors such as amount of paper used and analysis time were also considered. The ‘recognition’ of the name of menu items was investigated and most popular or unpopular items were well known. There was no overall influence on the preferences shown by the sex or the age of the child, although children who stayed at school tended to have higher preference ratios for dishes than those who never stayed to school lunch.