We investigate the way auditor characteristics (i.e., reputation and industry specialization) interact on the consequences of mandatory IFRS adoption in Europe in terms of accounting conservatism. Indeed, a mandatory adoption setting may control for firm-level reporting incentives when gauging...

Trust in the independence of auditors is essential for the functioning of markets. If auditors are not independent or not believed to be independent, transaction costs will rise. In our view, structural weaknesses currently impair auditor independence. We therefore put forward several reform...

The latest European Union's (EU) guiding policies are encouraging big businesses and state-owned organisations to disclose their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Many European member states have transposed the EU's directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial reporting. This...

This paper examines how the investor's belief about the project's ability of generating cash flow affects accounting standard setting. It proves analytically that the accounting standard in the Stackelberg equilibrium of the static model increases with the increase in the investor's belief about...

This research paper studies the quality of own credit (OC) risk disclosures in European banks by analyzing their annual reports. By defining and applying a self-developed disclosure index that incorporates both the (i) relative quantity and (ii) richness of the information provided, it is found...

The switch to IFRS in Europe opens the opportunities to investigate the relationship between a drastic change in the complexity of financial reporting standards and the audit market dynamics. Following concerns that mandated IFRS may have increased the domination of the global audit firms, we...

In 2014 the European Union reformed the regulatory framework of statutory audits in Directive 2014/56/EC and Regulation (EU) Nr. 537/2014. Part of the new legislation addresses the composition and responsibilities of the audit committee of public-interest entities. This contribution studies the...

This paper explores the impact of institutional factors on earnings management by investigating whether and to what extent the features of the national supervisory system affect banks' income smoothing through loan loss provisions (LLP). To address this issue, we consider the supervisory...

Most accounting studies use only public enforcement actions (SEC cases) to measure accounting fraud. However, private cases (securities class actions) also play an important enforcement role. We discuss the legal standards and processes for both public and private enforcement regimes, emphasize...