This paper examines factors affecting the owner-manager's voluntary decision to hire an auditor in small firms. Using a random sample of 412 small private companies in Finland responding to an Internet survey, we first probe the institutional boundaries of a prior UK study [Collis, J., Jarvis,...

The usefulness of segment reporting is grounded on the presumption of diversities of returns and risks across reported segments. We examine the effect of country-specific factors, reporting incentives, and choices on an ANOVA-based measure of cross-segment diversities (CSD) in risk and returns...

This paper provides evidence that firms issuing new shares at higher discounts and hence with larger expected dividend increases, use their opportunities for earnings management in such a way that, by the year of a share issue, they report larger earnings in excess of current dividends than...

Using data for a sample of listed Finnish firms for 1995-97 this paper examines the coincidence of reported cash flows with corresponding cash flows estimated from income statement and balance sheet data. The issue is important in light of prior empirical studies that have analysed the...

Using a sample from the Helsinki Stock Exchange, this paper analyses the information content of dual disclosures of IAS (International Accounting Standards) and LAS (Local Accounting Standards) earnings. Their information content to foreign and domestic shareholders can be distinguished from...

Little empirical research has been focused on analysing the information content of consolidated versus parent-only earnings numbers. In most European countries corporate annual reports include parent company statements, whereas in the USA only consolidated financial statements are available to...