Since 2010 a number of firms have voluntarily adopted mark-to-market (MTM) accounting for the actuarial gains and losses associated with their defined benefit pension plans. While pension accounting rules have allowed such a choice since 1986, only recently have firms begun to exercise that...

Der Periodenerfolg im Kreditgeschäft hängt nicht nur von den Zinserträgen, sondern auch von der Bewertung der Kreditforderungen unter Berücksichtigung des Ausfallrisikos ab. Hier werden Wertberichtigungen für eingetretene Verluste, für erwartete Verluste, und solche zur Berücksichtigung...

Many observers have argued that the fall in RMBS prices during the crisis was partly caused by fire sales. We provide an explanation for why financial institutions may have engaged in fire sales using a unique dataset of RMBS transactions for insurance companies. We show that risk-sensitive...

This paper investigates whether, and if so, to what extent, Level 3 fair values disclosed by European banks provide useful information to investors and are reflected in firm value changes. Using a unique sample of 416 hand-collected firm-year observations from European banks reporting under...

The principles characterizing the traditional revenue-expense approach to accounting have never been "invented". They are an institution that is the result of social evolution, not of human design. Therefore, the efforts to defend them against the balance sheet approach endorsed by...

We directly test the reliability and relevance of fair values reported by listed private equity firms (LPEs), where the unit of account for the fair value measurement (FVM) is an investment stake in an individual investee company. FVMs are observable for multiple investment stakes, fair values...

Whether fair value accounting should be used in financial reporting has been the subject of debate for many years. A key dimension to this debate is whether fair value earnings can provide information to financial statement users that is helpful in making their economic decisions. A criticism of...

The Bank for the Accounts of Companies Harmonized (BACH) is a free-of-charge database containing the aggregated accounting data of non-financial incorporated enterprises for, so far, 11 European countries. While the individual accounts feeding the database were originally prepared in line with...

This study's underlying premise is that current pension plan accounting has two important negative effects. First, it distorts the measurement of earnings and net worth in the short run, as well as the pattern of earnings over future periods. Second, this distortion can send incorrect signals to...

Based on extant literature, we review the positive theory of GAAP. The theory predicts that GAAP's principal focus is on control (performance measurement and stewardship) and that verifiability and conservatism are critical features of a GAAP shaped by market forces. We recognize the advantage...