We study the consequences of mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards for earnings quality. On transitioning from local GAAP to IFRS, firms can make strategic balance sheet adjustments that in turn affect future reported earnings. We predict that earnings quality after...

We study the information consequences of conservatism in accounting. Prior research shows that information asymmetries in capital markets lead to firm-level increases in conservatism. In this paper, we further argue that increases in conservatism improve the firm information environment and lead...

Prior literature argues that managers make opportunistic income-decreasing accounting choices to limit the concessions made to trade unions. However, empirical research to date presents mixed evidence, potentially due to the theoretical approach common in prior work that views labor bargaining...

We examine the effect of employee quality development on investment efficiency. Employees at all levels of an organization, as well as the corporate executives, may play a significant role for efficient corporate investment. Thus, human capital development efforts that improve employee quality...

This paper examines whether firms cut Ramp;D spending in response to short-term earnings pressures and how equity markets interpret such behaviour. Failure to report positive earnings and earnings growth increases the probability of a subsequent cut in Ramp;D spending, while pressure to report...

Using a sample of Spanish listed firms for the period 1997-2002 we find that firms where the CEO has low influence over the functioning of the board of directors show a greater degree of accounting conservatism. We measure the influence of the CEO over the board of directors using two aggregate...

We examine the impact of conditional conservatism on earnings management. Our findings support the view that conditional conservatism reduces accruals-based earnings management but also triggers a trade-off between accruals and real earnings management. Notwithstanding this trade-off, we show...

Prior literature studying railway accounting during the 19th and 20th centuries defends the thesis of lack of reliability of accounting figures. This prior research, which mainly studies the cases of the United Kingdom and the United States, offers mixed views on the causes, or simply accepts...

We investigate the role of prudential supervisors' independence in affecting income smoothing behavior in European banks. Powerful national supervisors are predicted to influence the accounting practices of their supervised entities, shaping the properties of the accounting numbers they prepare....

This paper analyses earnings quality in ex-post failed firms. Using a large sample of UK bankrupt firms, we find that failed firms manage earnings upwards in the four years prior to failure. This manipulation is achieved in two ways: (1) through accounting (accruals) manipulation, and (2) by...