scholarly journals Does the Format of Internal Control Disclosures Matter? An Experimental Investigation of Nonprofessional Investor Behavior

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanuel F Tadesse ◽  
Uday S. Murthy
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Investor Behavior ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Nonprofessional Investors ◽  
Individual Control ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
High Salience

We investigate whether the format of internal control weakness (ICW) disclosures required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 influences perceptions of nonprofessional investors. Using a 2 x 2 between-participants experiment, we examine two facets of ICW disclosure formats: ICW presentation salience (high versus low) and ICW disaggregation type (disaggregated versus aggregated). We hypothesize and find evidence of an interactive effect between presentation salience and disaggregation type, such that investors perceive ICWs as less negative when they are saliently disclosed and this effect is enhanced when the material weakness is disaggregated into its individual control deficiencies. We also find evidence of moderated mediation such that high salience of ICW disclosures has a positive indirect effect on investing judgments through management trust, but only when the ICW is disaggregated into its individual control deficiencies.

The Impact of SOX Section 404 Internal Control Quality Assessment on Audit Delay in the SOX Era

2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Ettredge ◽  
Chan Li ◽  
Lili Sun
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Impact Factors ◽  
Section 404 ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Control Quality ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Specific Material ◽  
The Impact

This study analyzes the impact of internal control quality on audit delay following the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) (SOX). Unlike prior studies of audit delay that obtain information about internal control strength via surveys, or use fairly crude proxies for internal control quality, our study employs external auditor assessments of internal control over financial reporting (ICOFR) that are publicly disclosed in SEC 10-K filings under SOX Section 404. Thus, the empirical evidence provided in this study is both timely and reliable (i.e., not subject to small sample bias or weak proxies). Consistent with our expectation, we find that the presence of material weakness in ICOFR is associated with longer delays. The types of material weakness also matter. Compared to specific material weakness, general material weakness is associated with longer delays. Additional analyses indicate that companies with control problems in personnel, process and procedure, segregation of duties, and closing process experience longer delays. After controlling for other impact factors, this study also documents a significant increase in audit delay associated with the fulfillment of the SOX Section 404 ICOFR assessment requirement. This suggests that Section 404 assessments have made it more difficult for firms to comply with the SEC's desire to shorten 10-K filing deadlines. Our finding thus supports and helps explain the SEC's decisions in 2004 and 2005 to defer scheduled reductions in 10-K filing deadlines (from 75 days to 60 days) for large, accelerated filers.

SOX Section 404 Material Weakness Disclosures and Audit Fees

2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Raghunandan ◽  
Dasaratha V. Rama
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Section 404 ◽  
Control Material ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
The Mean

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Auditing Standard No. 2 (PCAOB 2004) require management and the auditor to report on internal controls over financial reporting. Section 404 is arguably the most controversial element of SOX, and much of the debate around the costs of implementing section 404 has focused on auditors' fees (Ernst & Young 2005). In this paper, we examine the association between audit fees and internal control disclosures made pursuant to section 404. Our sample includes 660 manufacturing firms that have a December 31, 2004 fiscal year-end and filed the section 404 report by May 15, 2005. We find that the mean (median) audit fees for the firms in our sample for fiscal 2004 is 86 (128) percent higher than the corresponding fees for fiscal 2003. Audit fees for fiscal 2004 are 43 percent higher for clients with a material weakness disclosure compared to clients without such disclosure; however, audit fees for fiscal 2003 are not associated with an internal control material weakness disclosure (in the 10-K filed following fiscal 2004). We also find that the association between audit fees and the presence of a material weakness disclosure does not vary depending on the type of material weakness (systemic or non-systemic).

Perceptions of Investment Risk Associated with Material Control Weakness Pervasiveness and Disclosure Detail

2010 ◽  
Vol 85 (5) ◽  
pp. 1787-1807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob M. Rose ◽  
Carolyn Strand Norman ◽  
Anna M. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Fortune 500 ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Investment Risk ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Material Control ◽  
Nonprofessional Investors ◽  
Trust In Management ◽  
Expected Benefits ◽  
Different Levels

ABSTRACT: This research examines whether investors adjust their assessments of investment risk in response to material control weakness disclosures, the pervasiveness of material control weaknesses, and the detail of explanation provided regarding the pervasiveness of material control weaknesses. Findings from a laboratory experiment with 97 nonprofessional investors, a second experiment with 53 nonprofessional investors, and surveys of 47 investors and 28 Fortune 500 directors confirm prior archival findings that investors adjust their investment risk assessments in response to material weakness disclosures. More importantly, we find evidence of an interactive effect of material control weakness pervasiveness and disclosure detail that is counter to the expected benefits of expanded disclosure desired by corporate directors. When material weakness disclosures include specific and detailed discussion of the pervasiveness of control weaknesses, investors increase assessments of investment risk for less pervasive weaknesses and decrease assessments of risk for more pervasive weaknesses. Results indicate that these findings are driven by different levels of investor trust in management.

The Persistence in the Association between Section 404 Material Weaknesses and Financial Reporting Quality

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma-Riikka Myllymäki
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Control Problems ◽  
Section 404 ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
History Of

SUMMARY This study examines whether Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Section 404 material weakness (MW404) disclosures are predictive of future financial reporting quality. I find evidence that for companies with a history of MW404s, the likelihood of misstatements in financial information continues to be significantly higher for two years after the last MW404 report compared to companies without a history of reported MW404s. The magnitude of the effect decreases non-linearly with decreasing speed. The findings further imply that the reason for the misstatement incidences is the unacknowledged pervasiveness of control problems. In particular, it appears that in many cases, the future misstatements are unrelated to the MW types disclosed in the last MW404 report, suggesting that some MW types are unacknowledged and, hence, control problems are even more pervasive than what was identified. Overall, the findings of this study highlight the importance of discovering and disclosing material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting.

scholarly journals From Phishing To Advanced Persistent Threats: The Application Of Cybercrime Risk To The Enterprise Risk Management Model

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Enterprise Risk Management ◽  
Management Model ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Advanced Persistent Threats ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Enterprise Risk

This paper examines the issues of cybercrime in the context of risk to organizations.  In particular, it considers the control frameworks most commonly used by U.S. public companies to benchmark their internal controls over financial reporting.  It discusses the market for stolen identities, looking at the sources from which many of those identities are stolen.  It reviews the available internal control frameworks and explains how a firm’s risk of cybercrime might be classified as a material weakness under Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404.  It models how the use of COSO’s Enterprise Risk Management model could improve an organization’s chances of avoiding a serious incident.

The Disclosure of Material Weaknesses in Internal Control after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weili Ge ◽  
Sarah McVay
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Foreign Currency ◽  
Revenue Recognition ◽  
Return On Assets ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Specific Material ◽  
Business Complexity

This paper focuses on a sample of 261 companies that disclosed at least one material weakness in internal control in their SEC filings after the effective date of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Based on the descriptive material weakness disclosures provided by management, we find that poor internal control is usually related to an insufficient commitment of resources for accounting controls. Material weaknesses in internal control tend to be related to deficient revenue-recognition policies, lack of segregation of duties, deficiencies in the period-end reporting process and accounting policies, and inappropriate account reconciliation. The most common account-specific material weaknesses occur in the current accrual accounts, such as the accounts receivable and inventory accounts. Material weakness disclosures by management also frequently describe internal control problems in complex accounts, such as the derivative and income tax accounts. In our statistical analysis, we find that disclosing a material weakness is positively associated with business complexity (e.g., multiple segments and foreign currency), negatively associated with firm size (e.g., market capitalization), and negatively associated with firm profitability (e.g., return on assets).

The Association between IT Material Weaknesses and Earnings Management

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Heninger ◽  
Eric N. Johnson ◽  
John R. Kuhn
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Financial Condition ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Material Weaknesses

ABSTRACT In this paper, we examine the relationship between (1) information technology-related internal control material weaknesses (ITMWs) as reported by public companies between 2004 and 2012, and (2) earnings management. Prior research suggests that companies with internal control deficiencies are more likely to manage earnings; however, no study has specifically examined the incremental effect of ITMWs on earnings management tendencies. Based on a sample of 268 firm-years of ITMWs disclosed by U.S. public companies in their annual SEC filings (pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002), we find a significant positive association between ITMWs and income-increasing abnormal accruals. In addition, we find a positive relation between poor financial condition and material weaknesses in these companies. These results are robust with respect to two control samples of firms with non-IT-related-only material weaknesses (non-ITMWs) and firms with no material weakness disclosures. Implications of these findings for investors, regulators, and future research are discussed.

Internal Control Quality and Bank Risk-Taking and Performance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Baugh ◽  
Matthew Ege ◽  
Christopher G. Yust
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Downside Risk ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Bank Risk ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Control Quality ◽  
Interest Income ◽  
Upside Risk ◽  
And Performance

Using a sample of bank-years from 2005 to 2017, we examine the effect of internal control quality on future risk-taking and performance. We find that banks that disclose a material weakness in internal controls have higher risk-taking and worse performance in the future, including having a higher (lower) likelihood of experiencing large losses (gains). These findings suggest that weak controls increase (reduce) downside (upside) risk-taking or conversely that strong controls increase (reduce) upside (downside) risk-taking. Path analyses suggest that 22.3 to 43.7 percent of the effect of internal control quality on future performance is through risk-taking. Additionally, material weaknesses are negatively associated with total asset, loan, interest income, and non-interest income growth, suggesting that internal control quality affects both core and non-core activities of banks. Overall, results suggest that strong internal controls improve bank risk-taking, in part through asymmetrically reducing downside risk-taking while facilitating upside risk-taking, ultimately improving bank performance.

scholarly journals Causal mediation analysis with multiple causally non-ordered mediators

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masataka Taguri ◽  
John Featherstone ◽  
Jing Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Mediation Effects ◽  
Mediation Analyses ◽  
Intermediate Variable ◽  
Causal Mediation ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual

In many health studies, researchers are interested in estimating the treatment effects on the outcome around and through an intermediate variable. Such causal mediation analyses aim to understand the mechanisms that explain the treatment effect. Although multiple mediators are often involved in real studies, most of the literature considered mediation analyses with one mediator at a time. In this article, we consider mediation analyses when there are causally non-ordered multiple mediators. Even if the mediators do not affect each other, the sum of two indirect effects through the two mediators considered separately may diverge from the joint natural indirect effect when there are additive interactions between the effects of the two mediators on the outcome. Therefore, we derive an equation for the joint natural indirect effect based on the individual mediation effects and their interactive effect, which helps us understand how the mediation effect works through the two mediators and relative contributions of the mediators and their interaction. We also discuss an extension for three mediators. The proposed method is illustrated using data from a randomized trial on the prevention of dental caries.

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