Abstract: To address the question as to whether managers manipulate accounting numbers downwards prior to management buyouts (MBOs), we implement an industry-adjusted buyout-specific approach and receive an affirmative answer. In UK buyout companies, negative earnings manipulation (understating...

This paper provides evidence that Belgian firms belonging to a business group have a lower effective tax rate (ETR) and face a less positive association between pre-tax income and ETRs than independent firms.These findings suggest that individual group members apply efficient tax planning...

This study has analysed the share price reactions to changes in top management.A distinction was made among different types of CEO turnover: forced resignation, voluntary departures and age-related retirements.The announcement of a forced CEO resignation is hailed favourably by the market with a...

We contrast the features of the German corporate governance system with those of other systems and discuss the recent regulatory initiatives.For example, the rules on insider trading and anti-trust have been strengthened.The Restructuring Act has been revised to prevent minority shareholders...

The paper examines the payout policy of UK firms listed on the London Stock Exchange during the 1990s.We complement the existing payout literature studies by analyzing jointly the trends in dividends and share repurchases.Unlike in the US, we find that, in the UK, firms do not demonstrate a...

This paper studies how the difference between technical depreciation and tax depreciation affects the firm's optimal investment strategy. The objective is maximization of shareholder value. When tax depreciation differs from technical depreciation, an additional investment not only generates...

We show that the agency theory of overvalued equity (see Jensen, 2005) rather than investors' fixation on accruals explains the accrual anomaly, i.e., abnormal returns to an accrual trading strategy (see Sloan, 1996).Under the agency theory of overvalued equity, managers of overvalued firms are...

Nowadays, every bookkeeping system used in practice is automated. Most bookkeeping software and integrated information systems are based on databases. In this paper, we develop a new conceptual bookkeeping model which is not based on manual techniques, but which is applicable in a database...

The purpose of this paper is twofold.First, we provide a discussion of the problems associated with endogeneity in empirical accounting research.We emphasize problems arising when endogeneity is caused by (1) unobservable firm specific factors and (2) omitted variables and discuss the merits and...