Managers’ segment disclosure choices under IFRS 8: EU evidence

We examine the impact of proprietary and agency cost motives on segment disclosure quality and quantity and how the adoption of the principle IFRS 8 affects this impact. By using hand-collected data, our results show that proprietary and agency costs play a relevant role in determining the quality and quantity of segment disclosure. We find that proprietary costs are a particularly relevant reason for providing lower segment disclosure quality post-IFRS 8. Our results also suggest that firms’ segment disclosure choice is dependent on disclosure dimension. These results contribute to the ongoing debate regarding IFRS 8 and have valuable implications for accounting regulators.     

Disentangling Managers’ and Analysts’ Non‐GAAP Reporting

Researchers frequently proxy for managers’ non‐GAAP disclosures using performance metrics available through analyst forecast data providers (FDPs), such as I/B/E/S. The extent to which FDP‐provided earnings are a valid proxy for managers’ non‐GAAP reporting, however, has been debated extensively. We explore this important question by creating the first large‐sample data set of managers’ non‐GAAP earnings disclosures, which we directly compare to I/B/E/S data. Although we find a substantial overlap between the two data sets, we also find that they differ in systematic ways because I/B/E/S (1) excludes managers’ lower quality non‐GAAP numbers and (2) sometimes provides higher quality non‐GAAP measures that managers do not explicitly disclose. Our results indicate that using I/B/E/S to identify managers’ non‐GAAP disclosures significantly underestimates the aggressiveness of their reporting choices. We encourage researchers interested in managers’ non‐GAAP reporting to use our newly available data set of manager‐disclosed non‐GAAP metrics because it more accurately captures managers’ reporting choices.     

On Quality and Variety Bias in Aggregate Prices

How do product variety and quality affect the aggregate price bias? We develop a general equilibrium model that accounts for the joint interaction of product quality and variety. Our findings show that the aggregate price bias is procyclical and the contribution of product variety is persistent whereas the contribution of product quality becomes countercyclical in the medium to long run. We show that accounting for product quality and variety has critical implications on the measure of cyclical fluctuations. Measurements of cyclical fluctuations derived using the consumption deflator, which abstracts from changes in product quality and variety, underestimate the variables' true volatility.     

An international study of internal audit function quality

We investigate organisational and environmental factors that influence firms’ incentives to develop high-quality internal audit functions (IAFs) by using a unique international sample formed by matching proprietary data from a global internal auditor survey with public data obtained from Worldscope. Concerning organisational factors, we find that a positive relationship exists between IAF quality and firm complexity and confirm that complex firms have a higher demand for monitoring and advising and, therefore, a greater need for formal controls. In addition, IAF quality is positively related to board monitoring and audit committee diligence but negatively associated with CEO power, which suggests that IAF quality is influenced by other key players in corporate governance. Regarding environmental factors, we document that IAF quality is positively associated with industry competition, which implies that a firm’s incentive for a high-quality IAF is enhanced when confronted with greater environmental uncertainty. Furthermore, IAF quality has a significantly positive relationship with our self-constructed index of IAF requirements included in national corporate governance codes, which indicates that strong home-country corporate governance codes play a role in fostering IAF development.     

Annual report readability and corporate agency costs

Annual reports are the main sources of information for outside investors’ investment decisions and enable shareholders to supervise the management. Difficulties with the readability of these reports may therefore have serious consequences. Using 19,221 firm-year observations of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2001 to 2015, we investigate the association between annual report readability and corporate agency costs, where readability is proxied by report file length and/or file size. We find that firms with better annual report readability experience lower agency costs, and the negative association between readability and agency costs is more pronounced in firms with higher external audit quality, internal control quality or analyst coverage. These results hold after several robustness checks. The positive effect of annual report readability is stronger in private firms than in state-owned enterprises, and becomes stronger after the implementation of new accounting standards in 2007. Readable annual reports can help in monitoring corporate insiders’ opportunistic behavior and thus reduce agency costs.     

我国农用地资源态势分析与对策建议——基于国家农业资源台账

[目的]为切实解决我国长期面临的农业资源禀赋家底不清楚、农业资源更新不及时、基础数据共享不充分等实际问题,中国农业科学院农业资源与农业区划研究所率先启动了"国家重要农业资源台账数据"系统建设和服务应用。[方法]文章在国家重要农业资源台账数据基础上,根据研究内容与分析要求,甄选出了典型样点县(市)农用地资源数据库(2010~2015年),作为农用地资源态势分析和研究的依据。[结果](1)耕地、林地是典型样点县农用地主要类型。耕地主要分布在我国中东部地区,占土地总面积均在40%以上。2010~2015年,全国各样点农用地结构均发生了明显变化。耕地呈现总体增加的态势,年均增长率为1.76%,主要分布在土地后备资源较丰富地区,耕地减少的地区主要在快速发展的中部区域。(2)2010~2015年耕地质量呈现整体下降态势,这种趋势在我国中部经济增长较快的地区尤其明显。草地、园地面积均有明显减少,年均减少2.10%和2.02%。(3)分析土壤有机质含量平均值、全氮含量平均值、速效钾含量平均值及土壤pH发现,东北地区样点的有机质含量高,由北向南逐渐降低;南部地区的土壤全氮含量、有效磷含量较高,华北地区普遍偏低。土壤速效钾含量最高的地区分布在中部地区,而南部土壤速效钾含量较低。中部地区的p H普遍偏高,土壤呈碱性,南部及北部地区的pH偏低,土壤多为酸性。[结论]近些年来我国耕地数量保持稳定甚至有所增加,但耕地质量下降的问题不容忽视。从提高农业综合生产能力、促进农业农村可持续发展的战略高度,亟须进一步加大农用地资源整治与保护力度,加快国家农业资源基础数据建设与共享,加强农业资源利用领域前沿的技术方法和科学决策研究,为新时代农业农村优先发展、推进农业现代化提供参考依据。     

大兴安岭森林火烧对土壤生境质量影响研究

森林火烧是一种自然或人为因素产生的干扰,能够改变当地土壤的物理性质、化学性质及生物指标,对土壤的性质与土壤的肥力影响较大,对农业生态系统的结构与功能影响深远。作为我国重点的国有林区,大兴安岭地区林地面积广阔,森林覆盖率高,是我国生态安全的重要保障区,拥有丰富的林业资源,林下适生农业经济作物有500多种,林木、柞蚕、林果及中草药等绿色种养产业的资源十分丰富,是当前大兴安岭发展现代农业的主要模式。大兴安岭是我国森林火灾的多发区,文章对近年来国内专家学者对火烧影响森林土壤的理化性质与生物指标等众多研究成果进行综合评述,近年来,研究者从大兴安岭不同地区、不同林火种类与林火强度系统分析并研究了火烧对土壤生境质量的影响,该文通过对其进行归纳总结,旨在为该地区的火烧迹地植被恢复及农业林下经济的科学经营管理提供科学依据。     

农村劳动力质量对规模农户生产效率影响研究

随着我国工业化与城镇化加速推进,农村领域大量劳动力以不同速度流向了非农产业,农村劳动力要素禀赋质量发生了巨大变化,农村劳动力要素禀赋质量的异质性对规模农户粮食生产效率的提高产生了深刻的影响。文章基于460户调查数据,运用Q型聚类方法将劳动力质量类型分为男性经验丰富型、女性经验丰富型、男性经验欠缺型、女性经验欠缺型四种类型,并利用随机前沿生产函数模型,计量检验了不同劳动力质量类型、劳动态度及劳动力市场发育等变量对家庭生产效率的影响。研究结果表明:男性经验丰富型与女性经验丰富型对家庭经济增长效率提升产生了显著的正效应,效应值分别为0.290、0.170,而男性经验欠缺型与女性经验欠缺型对生产效率提升产生了明显的负向影响,效应值分别为-0.110、-0.153,劳动态度、劳动力市场发育变量与家庭生产效率提升呈现了较强正、负相关性,效应值分别为0.590、-6.738。     

绿色生产视角下的“三品一标”发展研究

在当前传统农业向现代农业转变的关键时期,推进绿色生产是保护农业生态环境、实现农业可持续发展的必然要求.绿色生产有着丰富的内涵和鲜明的特征,即生产过程标准化、终端产品优质化、整体效益最大化和发展方式可持续.“三品一标”和绿色生产在内涵和外延上高度统一,是绿色生产的具体表现形式,“三品一标”在促进农业生态环境保护、增强生产者绿色生产意识、促进农业生产方式转变和提升农产品质量安全水平等方面发挥了显著作用.本文在总结“三品一标”在促进绿色生产方面发挥的主要作用的基础上,重点探讨了如何积极发展”三品一标”的问题并就此提出了政策建议.     

政府监管与蔬菜质量安全研究

蔬菜质量安全问题,已成为我国政府和民众关注的焦点,成为影响我国蔬菜国际竞争力、持续增加我国农民收入、全面建设小康社会的关键因素.该文在分析我国农产品质量安全监管现状的基础上,重点分析了我国蔬菜质量安全存在的主要问题,并从政府机关、生产供应层面、创业协会提出了相应的对策.