This study examined whether external users of financial statements are capable of assessing goodwill impairment apart from management. This study aimed at investigating goodwill write-offs resulted from acquisitions among Jordanian shareholding companies in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) during...

Since 2005, all European Union listed firms must comply with IFRS. The resulting mandatory changes in accounting methods have substantially affected reported earnings predictions. Using the FactSet/JCF database that collects 2005 earnings forecasts under both IFRS and local GAAP for European...

This study examines the main problem raised by pro forma earnings (or “street” earnings) because investors may have trouble focusing their attention when they are relying on this information to make decisions about investing in French publicly traded securities.This article, based on 116 pro...

This study investigates the relationship between dirty surplus items on the balance sheet and the cost of debt for Japanese firms. We focus on three dirty surplus items — unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities (SEC), foreign currency translation adjustment (FOC), and land...

I test whether the introduction of a new pension standard (FRS 17) in the U.K., which virtually eliminated the smoothing mechanisms in pension accounting, is associated with a reallocation of assets from equities to bonds in defined benefit pension plans. My findings indicate that sample firms...

Financial reporting around the time of IPOs is consistent with listed firms reporting more conservatively than previously as private firms, consistent with the results in Ball and Shivakumar (2005). We hypothesize that IPO firms supply the higher quality financial reports demanded by public...

This paper examines the usefulness of International Accounting Standards (IAS) in a transitional economy, the People's Republic of China (PRC). Using a sample of firms that provide financial reports under both IAS and more rigid local PRC standards, we conclude that information produced using...

International differences in the demand for accounting income predictably affect the way it incorporates economic income (dividend-adjusted change in market value) over time. We characterize the quot;shareholderquot; and quot;stakeholderquot; corporate governance models of common and code law...

The convergence process of national accounting practices into international standards requires significant changes on accounting regulation. Brazil has many examples of that: the creation of the Brazilian Accounting Standards Committee (CPC), the issuance of the Federal Law 11.638/07, the...

After many years of debating the appropriate treatment for goodwill, Malaysia finally has an enforceable accounting standard on this topic. Applicable for business combinations with reporting dates commencing on or after 1 January 2006, FRS 136 - Impairment of Assets requires that goodwill...