The accounting system currently in operation in several developing countries, though imported, cannot be completely written off. There are areas where it needs modification and others where more emphasis has to be placed. Taking into account the dominance of small and private (family) business...

The aim of manuscript is to analyze and identify determinants of honest accounting errors leading to financial restatements based on data from SEC database and from annual reports. Reason for this study is that accounting errors are expensive for companies that need to change already published...

It is well known that the great Railway Mania in Britain in the1840s had a great impact on accounting. This paper contributes a description and analysis of the events that led to this revolution, and of the key role played by Robert Lucas Nash in those events. He was a pioneer in accounting and...

This paper examines whether firms that deviate from an empirically modeled ("expected") credit rating engage in earnings management activities, as measured by abnormal accruals and real activities earnings management. We then test whether such actions are successful in helping these firms move...

This study examines whether financial statement comparability plays a significant role in mitigating costs of capital in the market for seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). The FASB refers to comparability as a qualitative characteristic of financial reporting that enhances the decision-usefulness...

This study examines whether the quality of borrowers' accounting information affects the accuracy and timeliness of credit ratings issued by rating agencies. I consider two possible effects. The news effect posits that higher quality accounting provides better information to credit rating...

This paper attempts to tease out some of the reasons why the history of M&A accounting has been so fraught. It compares the different M&A accounting regimes which have been tried over time in UK, US and international standards. It illustrates the quantitative impact of alternative accounting...

This study investigates whether opportunistic earnings management affects the value relevance of net income and book value in determining stock price. We document a decrease in the value relevance of earnings in the year of an equity offering for a group of firms that exhibit ex post evidence of...

An analytic framework is provided for incorporating different user perspectives on materiality into the audit process. The framework serves as a tool for disaggregating materiality to specific accounts based on materiality criteria for accounts and account combinations. To improve audit...

We discuss “Mandatory IFRS Reporting and Changes in Enforcement” by Christensen, Hail, and Leuz (CHL, 2013). We begin by discussing CHL in the context of prior literature, and subsequently discuss the research design, results, and inferences. CHL seeks to contribute to the literature by...