Accounting-based capital maintenance is a traditional feature of the Continental-European system of creditor protection, serving as a correlative of the limited liability enjoyed by shareholders of corporations. Due to recent developments at the EU regulatory level, this system has come under...

When annual earnings are regressed on annual returns, the returns coefficient is higher when returns are negative. The difference between the coefficients of earnings on positive and negative returns is called asymmetric timeliness of earnings and, in the accounting literature, is used...

In a lot of countries, not only one but several sets of accounts have to be prepared and disclosed by (holding) companies. This paper inquires into possibly different economic functions of these sets of accounts by looking at the German dual financial reporting system, in which company (single)...

This study empirically explores whether, and how, selected attributes of China's two-tier board system affect Chinese firms' performance and earnings informativeness. Using a data base of 4623 firm-year observations over the 1999 to 2003 period, we find some effects that mirror ones reported in...

Using a large sample of earnings announcements made by firms belonging to Korean chaebols, we examine propping (i.e., negative tunneling) within a chaebol. Consistent with the market's ex-ante valuation of intra-group propping, we find that the announcement of increased (decreased) earnings over...

A regulatory approved Deed of cross guarantee (the Deed), introduced into Australia in December 1991, exempts nominated companies (the closed group) from having to prepare, have audited, and file financial statements. We examine the characteristics of firms that obtain relief from filing (and...

We analyze the ability of the capital structure and the ownership structure as mechanisms of control of the managers of the firms and to reduce their accounting discretionary power for a sample of Chilean firms. Using earnings management and abnormal accruals as indicators of discretionary...

Corporate governance is a burning issue now-a-days. In Bangladesh, a number of attempts have been made on part of different governmental and non-governmental institutions for ensuring better corporate governance. Considering the importance of this issue, this paper has tried to examine the...

This paper provides a case study which describes corporate governance structures and mechanisms at Telecom Italia S.p.A. Telecom Italia is one of the largest Italian companies. It is listed both on the Italian Stock Exchange, where it is a 'blue-chip' company, and on the New York Stock Exchange...

This paper investigates whether foreign institutional investors affect the global convergence of financial reporting practices. Using several measures of reporting convergence, we show that U.S. institutional ownership is positively associated with subsequent changes in emerging market firms'...