Standard setters struggle with the costs and benefits of separate recognition of intangible assets in business combinations. In this study, we experimentally show that separately identifying intangibles enables investors to more easily envision how an acquiring company can benefit from an...

In an experiment with 127 accounting professionals averaging over 18 years of experience, we investigate how two important characteristics related to auditing—prior audit negotiation outcomes and auditor expertise—affect (1) whether, on balance, the presence of an audit is more likely to...

We test whether an impending change in the accounting for goodwill mitigates bias in the initial values that acquirers assign to intangible assets. Results of two experiments with experienced professional participants suggest that the new accounting alters, but does not eliminate, bias in...

The provision of examples as implementation guidance is pervasive in accounting standards. Prior research has established that preparers engage in “example-based reasoning,” a tendency to favor the accounting treatment in an example, even when the example does not exactly match the...

Although prior research reports that firms that consistently beat their earnings expectations are rewarded with a market valuation premium, most firms are inconsistent in the signs of their benchmark performance, sometimes missing and sometime beating. In this paper, we report the results of...

In this paper, we provide a framework in which to view management earnings forecasts. Specifically, we categorize earnings forecasts as having three components - antecedents, characteristics, and consequences - that roughly correspond to the timeline associated with an earnings forecast. By...

An important problem facing firm managers is how to enhance the credibility, or believability, of their earnings forecasts. In this paper, we experimentally test whether a characteristic of an earnings forecast from managementyacute;namely, whether it is disaggregatedyacute;can affect its...

In this paper, we draw on judgment and decision making research to examine the behavioral implications of the SEC's Financial Reporting Release No. 48 on market risk disclosures. While these disclosures have been examined using archival data, no research has investigated how these disclosures...

Several researchers (e.g., Lundholm, 1999; Ryan, 1997; Petroni, et al, 2001) have proposed a reporting mechanism to enhance the reliability of estimates and other forward-looking information in the financial reporting process. Their proposal requires companies to report reconciliations of prior year...

We examine how investor reaction to management earnings forecasts is a joint function of the form of the forecast and management's perceived credibility. In a laboratory experiment involving 126 individual investors, we compare investors' earnings predictions and their confidence therein after...