The paper analyses the timing of disclosing financial statements for small and medium enterprises (SME) in Germany in 2007 and 2008. Comparisons of different regional areas and different company sizes are made and possible explanations for the results discussed. -- Rechnungslegungspolitik ;...

Several studies have addressed, with conflicting results, the issue of procyclical effects of loan loss provisions in the past. More recently, the weak performance of incurred loss models in the financial crisis has given rise to a new debate on the sound design of credit risk provisioning...

This study hypothesizes and tests whether the degrees to which managers exercise earnings discretion relates to their value system (i.e., culture) as well as the institutional features (i.e., legal environment) of their country. We find that uncertainty avoidance and individualism dimensions of...

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the U.S. stock market differentially and rationally prices discretionary accrual components of earnings of U.S.-traded foreign companies from different legal systems – code and common law. The study covers 1,426 U.S.-traded nonfinancial...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between earnings management and the gender of the firm's executives.Design/methodology/approach – Panel regressions of discretionary accruals on a set of female executive dummies and firm-specific controls.Findings – The...

We study the consequences of mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards for earnings quality. On transitioning from local GAAP to IFRS, firms can make strategic balance sheet adjustments that in turn affect future reported earnings. We predict that earnings quality after...

We investigate the extent to which hedge fund managers smooth self-reported returns. In contrast with prior research on the “anomalous” properties of hedge fund returns, we observe the mechanisms used to price the fund's investment positions and report the fund's performance to investors,...

This study investigates whether and how book-tax differences (BTDs) are related to earnings management, tax management, and their interactions in Chinese listed companies. Using unique tax-effect BTDs obtained from Chinese B-share listed firms, we find that firms with strong incentives for...

Using 180 manufacturing firms from 1998 to 2004, the paper proves that insiders with controlling interest more than 36.78% increase earnings management (discretionary accruals) by 10.6%. However, they are risk-adverse and avoid inefficient investment after the financial crisis. On the other...

Corporate ethical behavior is influenced by the social context in which a corporation operates. The social context consists of legal rules, law enforcement as well as shared norms (culture). Prior literature explores the effects of legal rules and law enforcement on private control benefits and...