Commentary: Research Productivity Measurement and the Field of Academic Accounting*

The previous issue of Canadian Accounting Perspectives contained three studies that examined various aspects of performance measurement in universities. In this issue, we step back from the acts of performance measurement and disclosure to consider the context within which the demand for increased performance measurement has arisen. The current commentary considers the use of research productivity measures in the field of academic accounting and why the use of these measures is drawing such an equivocal response from academics in the field. Starting from three theoretical perspectives, we consider the use, response, and consequences associated with research productivity measurement.     

A Note on the Association between Audit Firm Size and Audit Quality*

Abstract. This study proposes that comparison of management earnings forecasts with audited, reported earnings provides an approach to the measurement of audit quality. Assuming that managers have incentives to minimize the difference between forecasted and reported income, higher-quality audit firms will tend to be associated with larger forecast errors. Therefore if, as previous literature suggests, larger auditing firms provide higher-quality audits than do smaller auditing firms, larger auditing firms will tend to be associated with larger forecast errors, all else being equal. Data from the Toronto Stock Exchange are used to examine this proposition. After controlling for client characteristics such as risk, the results indicate that larger auditing firms tend to be associated with larger forecast errors consistent with the proposition that, other things being equal, larger auditing firms provide higher-quality audits than do small auditing firms. Résumé. Les auteurs proposent une technique de mesure de la qualité de la vérification qui consiste à comparer les prévisions de la direction relatives aux bénéfices et les bénéfices déclarés qui ont été vérifiés. Si l'on suppose que les gestionnaires ont intérêt à minimiser l'écart entre les bénéfices prévus et les bénéfices déclarés, les vérificateurs de haut calibre auront tendance à être associés à des erreurs prévisionnelles plus importantes. Par conséquent, si, comme l'ont suggéré les études antérieures, les cabinets d'experts-comptables importants offrent des services de vérification de meilleure qualité que les cabinets d'experts-comptables de taille plus modeste, les cabinets d'experts-comptables importants auront tendance à être associés aux erreurs prévisionnelles plus grandes, toutes choses étant égales. Les auteurs utilisent les données de la Bourse de Toronto pour vérifier cette affirmation. Une fois contrôlées les caractéristiques du client telles que le risque, les résultats indiquent que les cabinets d'experts-comptables de grande taille tendent à être associés aux erreurs prévisionnelles plus importantes, ce qui confirme l'hypothèse voulant que, toutes choses étant égales, les cabinets d'experts-comptables de grande taille offrent des services de vérification de meilleure qualité que les cabinets d'experts-comptables de taille plus petite.     

Related Party Transactions: A Preliminary Evaluation of SFAS 57 and IAS 24 Using Four Case Studies

Transactions between related parties have been the subject of increasing concern in recent years. Corporate scandals, overseas and local, have typically involved non-arm's length transactions contrived between the reporting entity and related companies or affiliates. These scandals provided catalysts for the relatively recent development of accounting standards on related party transactions.
This paper considers whether the application of the new pronouncements, particularly the Financial Accounting Standards Boards' statement 57 and its international equivalent, International Accounting Standard 24, is likely to overcome the problems highlighted in several major scandals. The methodology adopted involves the hypothetical application of the two pronouncements to the pertinent facts in four case studies: (1) Continental Vending, a U.S. criminal court case; (2) Penn Central, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation case; (3) Tarling (Haw Par), a Singapore criminal court case; and (4) Stanhill, an Australian case investigated by a government appointed Inspector.
In each hypothetical application, the resultant presentation is compared with the stated expectations found in the relevant findings of the case. In all cases, SFAS 57 and IAS 24 are found to be deficient.
While four case studies may not be sufficient for drawing general conclusions about either SFAS 57 or IAS 24 the conclusions of this study represent preliminary evidence for evaluating those standards.     

ECONOMICS, ETHICS, AND THE PROBLEM OF BUILDING PEACE

To build peace it is necessary to convert what Hirshleifer (1976) has called "meta-constitutional" politics among nations into "constitutional" politics. To predict the eventual elimination of meta-constitutional politics and to suggest some steps that may hasten the process, Boulding's (1945) and North's (1981) explanations of the rise of civilization are combined with Coase's (1937) and Cheung's (1978) insights into organization theory and with Alchian's (1950) analysis of prediction that does not rely on rational behavior. The argument can be summarized in terms of game theory where technology, education, and population growth change the perceived payoff matrices.