This working paper presents a review of the main criticisms to positive accounting theory (henceforth, PAT). Three levels of criticisms are distinguished: (1) on epistemology, (2) on the valitidy of the theoritical framework and (3) about the methods to test empirical predictions....

This article presents and evaluates the most popular discretionary accruals models both conceptually and empirically on French firms data. The internal consistency of those measures is appreciated as well as its consistency with the accounting framework.

Using data from 21 countries, this paper analyzes the relation among analyst coverage, earnings management and financial development in an international context. We document that the effectiveness of financial analysts as monitors increases with a country's financial development (FD). We find...

This paper examines the impact of the accounting flexibility offered by IFRS 1 during the 2005 mandatory adoption of IFRS in the European Union. Same year reconciliations between local GAAP and IFRS are used on a sample of 1,635 European firms to determine the nature and extent of their use in...

This study investigates the determinants and consequences of non-IFRS disclosure, taking into consideration the fact that firms may publish a disaggregated income statement. We argue that there is a tradeoff between non-IFRS disclosure and the disaggregation of income statement numbers. Our...