On accounting standards and fair valuation of life insurance and pension liabilities

The actuarial profession is increasingly teaming up with financial economists for a fruitful cooperation on the proper valuation of life insurance and pension (L&P) liabilities. This has been a natural consequence of a recent sharply increased focus on market values in financial reports of L&P companies from regulators, standard setters, the financial press, stakeholders, and others with an interest in the L&P business.

This article provides a financial economist's point of view on recent developments in relation to the fair valuation of L&P liabilities. The role of accounting standards and the background for the international harmonization in this field are first discussed. We then review and explain the concept of fair value and provide a general view on appropriate techniques for estimating fair values of L&P liabilities in accordance with the definition of the concept. The paper also contains a section which briefly reviews recent and quite innovative regulatory initiatives in relation to market value reporting in the Danish market for life and pension insurance.     

Topical coverage in internal auditing: academic versus practitioner perceptions

This study reports the results of research that investigates whether a gap may exist between academic content and practitioner needs in the area of internal auditing within the USA. Questionnaires were sent to internal auditing faculty and practitioners to identify and quantify the perceived importance of 25 different internal auditing topics, as well as the use of case studies and practitioner classroom visits as pedagogical techniques. Groups were in substantial agreement on the relative importance of the topics. However, some specific topic differences were noted, with educators placing more importance on items including engagement planning, preliminary surveys, audit programmes, risk management and fraud. Practitioners placed more importance on the qualities desired in staff internal auditors, Certificate in International Auditing (CIA) examination preparation, and computer auditing. In addition, there was considerable agreement between the two groups on the use of case studies in the classroom, as well as classroom visits from practicing internal auditors.     

Does accounting conservatism pay?

We investigate whether or not there is a link between conservative accounting practices and the sensitivity of executive pay to accounting performance. Using several accrual‐based measures of accounting conservatism as well as alternative measures of accounting performance, we estimate an econometric model of CEO compensation that incorporates the interaction of accounting conservatism and accounting performance. Consistent with optimal contracting theory, we find that the sensitivity of executive pay to accounting performance is higher for firms that report conservative accounting earnings. These results support the hypothesis that accounting conservatism, by limiting earnings management opportunities and improving the reliability of accounting performance measures, allows firms to formulate contracts that tie executive compensation more closely to accounting performance.     

重大保险风险测试及其对再保险定价的影响

2010年我国保险行业实施《企业会计准则解释第2号》后,在保费收入的会计确认上发生了重大变化,要求保险公司对签订的再保险保单进行重大保险风险测试。重大保险风险测试对再保险保单的影响重大,本文主要阐述重大保险风险测试问题的提出以及主要测试方法,并从实务角度出发,分析我国的重大保险风险测试规定对临时再保险、非比例合约再保险和比例合约再保险等再保险保单定价的影响。     

林业企业会计监督中的问题及对策

林业企业的健康快速发展缺少不了财务会计管理,而会计监督是保障会计信息真实的有力支撑,但是当前相当多的林业部门对会计监督还没有受到重视,因此本文以林业会计监督为研究对象,重点阐述了林业会计监督存在的问题,最后提出了加强林业会计监督的措施或对策,以解决这些问题,为林业企业实现又好又快发展服务。     

Big Five Audits and Accounting Fraud*

We examine the association between Big Five audits and the incidence of accounting frauds allegedly committed by U.S. public companies between 1981 and 2001. Many commentators argue that the prominent financial reporting failures that led to major corporate governance reforms cast serious doubt on whether the large public accounting firms continue to supply relatively high‐quality audits, especially in recent years. However, in unmatched and matched samples, we provide strong, robust evidence that fraudulent financial reporting becomes less likely with the presence of a Big Five auditor. Importantly, time‐series tests suggest that the Big Five are consistently associated with a lower incidence of fraudulent accounting, including in the last five years of our sample period when the number of frauds soared. Moreover, we find evidence implying that these relations are causal rather than an artifact of endogeneity in auditor choice.     

公允价值在新会计准则中的运用探讨

本文从公允价值的内涵出发,分析新会计准则下公允价值运用存在的问题,并针对此问题,提出相应的解决对策。     

现行电算化会计档案管理之我见

随着会计电算化事业的不断发展,各类企业事业单位大多数已经实现了会计电算化,但实现电算化后的档案管理却没能引起足够的重视,存在着不同程度的问题。那么,怎样做好会计电算化下的会计档案管理工作,是摆在我们面前的新问题。     

Explaining the accounting disclosure index of stock exchanges by foreign exchange market activity

In this article, researcher-created accounting disclosure index of 23 stock exchanges for the year 1992 and its relationship with variables including foreign exchange turnover, economic and financial indicators were investigated. The accounting disclosure index of global stock exchanges crafted by Adhikari and Tondkar (1992) was regressed on foreign market turnover which was utilized as a proxy for foreign exchange market activity. The OLS results supported that along with the activity of foreign exchange market; GNI per capita, market capitalization, energy and electric consumption, number of listed companies were significantly related with the accounting disclosure index. The foreign market turnover was found to be positively influencing the accounting disclosure index. The models explained about 73% of the variation in the index with an F-ratio of 26.56 indicating the overall significance of the model.