scholarly journals Accounting conservatism or earnings management: A study of the allowance for doubtful accounts

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-190
Author(s):  
Timothy Gordon Bryan ◽  
Mark A. McKnight ◽  
Robert Houmes

This paper empirically examines the relationship between conservatism and earnings management in chemical and allied products manufacturers via an analysis of the allowance for doubtful accounts and bad debt expense. Data used in the study included total accounts receivable, the total allowance for uncollectible accounts, total assets, and other firm-level data from the COMPUSTAT database of North American firms for companies with the standardized industry code (SIC) of 28 which represents chemical and allied products manufacturers. Chemical and allied products manufacturers were deemed an ideal target for the study because the industry typically has large balances in accounts receivable and allowance for doubtful accounts. Bad debt expense and write-offs were also used; these were obtained from the firms’ forms 10K Schedule II filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during the study period from 2005-2017. Analysts reports were also used, as obtained from Bloomberg for each firm. Results from subsequent regression analyses indicate that firms utilized excessive conservatism within the allowance for doubtful accounts to manage earnings to achieve earnings goals throughout the study period.

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan S. Blyde ◽  
Mayra A. Ramírez

Empirical analyses that rely on micro-level panel data have found that exporters are generally less pollutant than non-exporters. While alternative explanations have been proposed, firm level data has not been used to examine the role of destination markets behind the relationship between exports and pollution. In this paper we argue that because consumers in high-income countries have higher valuations for clean environments than consumers in developing countries, exporters targeting high-income countries are more likely to improve their environmental outcomes than exporters targeting destinations where valuations for the environment are not high. Using a panel of firm-level data from Chile we find support to this hypothesis. A 10 percentage point increase in the share of exports to high-income countries is associated with a reduction in CO2 pollution intensity of about 16%. The results have important implications for firms in developing countries aiming to target high-income markets.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Daniele Amore ◽  
Orsola Garofalo ◽  
Victor Martin-Sanchez

Extant research shows that entrepreneurs are typically overly optimistic about their ventures’ prospects and that such optimism hampers performance. We analyze how dispositional optimism affects the adjustments to entrepreneurs’ expectations after they receive negative feedback on their task performance. We then explore the relationship between optimism and the effectiveness of innovation. Exploiting unique firm-level data and a laboratory experiment involving 205 entrepreneurs, we find that dispositional optimism is negatively associated with both the likelihood and extent of belief updating in response to negative feedback. Furthermore, dispositional optimism triggers a discrepancy—between innovation inputs and outputs—that reduces a firm’s innovation effectiveness.


2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Áron Perényi

Competitiveness is defined at the level of firms, clusters, regions, and nations. Although researchers have extensively explored the concept of competitiveness in each of these respective categories, an understanding of the relationship between levels of competitiveness is lacking. The simple aggregation of indicators to approximate broader categories of competitiveness is challenged as a robust solution. This paper proposes an alternative solution to aggregating firm-level competitiveness, based on the profit—growth nexus. Using data collected from SMEs in two ICT clusters, the size— profit—growth relationships were tested. Based on 83 Hungarian and 71 Australian responses, positive relationships were found in both samples, demonstrating high cluster-level competitiveness. It is argued that this outcome better represents cluster-level competitiveness based on firm-level data, than other — linear and additive — aggregation methods. However, a comparative examination of the data across the clusters showed significant differences between the results of the two samples, ascertaining limitations for the generalisability of the results.


2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariann Rigo ◽  
Vincent Vandenberghe ◽  
Fábio Waltenberg

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youssef Benzarti ◽  
Dorian Carloni

This paper evaluates the incidence of a large cut in value-added taxes (VATs) for French sit-down restaurants in 2009. In contrast to previous studies, which only focus on the price effects of VAT reforms, we estimate the effects of the VAT cut on four groups: workers, firm owners, consumers, and suppliers of material goods. Using a difference-in-differences strategy on firm-level data, we find that: firm owners pocketed more than 55 percent of the VAT cut; consumers, sellers of material goods, and employees shared the remaining windfall with consumers benefiting the least; and the employment effects were limited. (JEL H22, H25, L83)


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document