Firm Equity Investment Decisions and U.S. GAAP and IFRS Consolidation Control Guidelines: An Empirical Analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison K. Beck ◽  
Bruce K. Behn ◽  
Andrea Lionzo ◽  
Francesca Rossignoli
Keyword(s):  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Investment Behavior ◽  
Strategic Investment ◽  
Equity Investment ◽  
Bright Line ◽  
Accounting Scandals ◽  
Control Concept ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT It is asserted in the literature that rules-based accounting standards leave room for transaction structuring and that numerous accounting scandals have been linked to companies structuring transactions to avoid bright-line rules. Prior research suggests that bright-line accounting standards motivated companies to avoid the equity method or consolidation accounting by keeping their equity ownership percentages below the key thresholds of 20 percent and 50 percent. However, in recent years, much has changed regarding U.S. GAAP and IFRS principles, especially in terms of the guidelines surrounding business combinations and the concept of control. Now, given the similarity of the U.S. GAAP and IFRS equity investment accounting standards and their more recent emphasis on the control concept, one would not expect either U.S. GAAP or IFRS firms to engage in transaction-structuring behavior, holding concentrated ownership percentages at, or right below, 50 percent. Our study extends prior research by investigating whether this phenomenon (of investment percentages being concentrated right at 50 percent or just below) exists in today's FASB and IASB reporting environments and if so, why? Using ownership data from 2004–2008, we investigate whether firms engage in strategic investment behavior in the vicinity of the 50 percent ownership threshold within the U.S. GAAP and IFRS reporting environments. Interestingly, our univariate results indicate that despite a shift in the accounting standards to a more principles-based definition of control, U.S. GAAP-compliant and IFRS-compliant companies continue to behave in a manner indicative of purposeful transaction structuring around the 50 percent threshold, as evidenced by an unusually heavy concentration of investment at or below 50 percent. This finding could mean that U.S. GAAP- and IFRS-compliant companies (and their auditors) are continuing to anchor to the old bright-line guidance regarding consolidation accounting. We supplement our univariate tests with a regression analysis to examine potential incentives that could explain this investment behavior. We find that leverage has a significant positive marginal effect—increased leverage is associated with a greater likelihood of choosing to keep the investment level at or below 50 percent. Data Availability: The ownership data for this study were obtained from the Bureau van Dijk OSIRIS Ownership database. Data will be made available in accordance with the American Accounting Association's data integrity policy.

Mandatory IFRS Adoption and the U.S. Home Bias

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 729-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inder K. Khurana ◽  
Paul N. Michas
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Home Bias ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Portfolio Holdings ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
Stock Portfolios ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The U.S

SYNOPSIS This paper examines whether mandatory IFRS adoption at the country level lowers U.S. investors' propensity to overweight domestic stocks in their common stock portfolios (generally referred to as home bias). We find that, on average, U.S. home bias decreases for countries that mandate IFRS adoption, after controlling for country-fixed effects. We also find that the reduction in the U.S. home bias after the mandatory adoption of IFRS is greater for countries with larger differences between IFRS and their domestic accounting standards, for countries with a stricter rule of law and a common law legal origin, and in countries with greater incentives to report high-quality financial information. Overall, our results indicate that a common set of global accounting standards matters for portfolio holdings of U.S. investors and that U.S. investors regard the enforcement of standards to be a key factor in making investments outside the U.S. Data Availability: Data are publicly available.

Lobbying of the IASB: An Empirical Investigation

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Bowe Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Capital Market ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Recent Change ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Board Members ◽  
International Accounting Standards ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT This paper provides evidence on how the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) generates accounting standards in the presence of lobbyists with differing preferences. I develop hypotheses regarding the associations between attributes of lobbyists and their lobbying activity, and their lobbying success. I find that lobbying success is positively related to the ability of the lobbyist to provide information to the IASB; however, this success is dependent on the credibility of the lobbyist. I also find evidence that lobbying success is associated with the impact that the lobbyists have on the viability of the IASB, measured by their financial contributions and the size of the capital market in their home country. However, this association is not present when I look only at cases where lobbyists disagree with IASB proposal drafts. This evidence is useful in evaluating the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) recent considerations regarding the adoption of IFRS by the U.S., as well as the recent change in the structure of the IASB that requires a defined geographic mix of board members by the year 2012. Data Availability: All data are publicly available from sources indicated in the paper.

Concepts-Based Education in a Rules-Based World: A Challenge for Accounting Educators

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth N. Ryack ◽  
M. Christian Mastilak ◽  
Christopher D. Hodgdon ◽  
Joyce S. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Data Availability ◽  
Classification Task ◽  
Moderation Analysis ◽  
Bright Line ◽  
Classroom Experiment ◽  
Accounting Judgments ◽  
Lease Accounting ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT In this paper we discuss the challenges of teaching U.S. GAAP and IFRS side by side. We then focus on one particular challenge of teaching both the more detailed U.S. standards and the less specific IFRS: the likelihood that students will “anchor” on the precise rules in U.S. GAAP when applying the less specific guidelines under IFRS. As a part of this discussion, we report on a classroom experiment designed to test for the presence of anchoring on U.S. GAAP rules when applying IFRS in a lease classification task. Our results indicate that students do anchor on the U.S. GAAP bright-line values for lease accounting when classifying leases under IFRS, primarily when U.S. GAAP rules provide an acceptable quantification of IFRS' less precise guidelines. We do not find that teaching order (i.e., teaching U.S. GAAP first versus IFRS first) directly affects anchoring or lease classification. However, a moderation analysis suggests the interaction between teaching order and anchoring may affect lease classification. Our results suggest that, where possible, instructors may wish to teach principles-based accounting prior to rules-based accounting to mitigate potential anchoring by students and its effect on their accounting judgments. Data Availability: Contact the authors.

THE END OF BETTERMENT ACCOUNTING: A STUDY OF THE ECONOMIC, PROFESSIONAL, AND REGULATORY FACTORS THAT FOSTERED STANDARDS CONVERGENCE IN THE U.S. RAILROAD INDUSTRY, 1955–1983

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan R. Heier ◽  
A. Lee Gurley
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Interstate Commerce Commission ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Railroad Industry ◽  
Tax Legislation ◽  
Industry Standards ◽  
Securities Industry ◽  
Arthur Andersen ◽  
The U.S

On January 26, 1983, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) announced that it would require all railroads under its regulatory jurisdiction to change from Retirement-Replacement-Betterment (RRB) accounting, to a more theoretically sound depreciation accounting for matching revenues and expenses. The change was needed because RRB did not allow for the recapture of track investment, leaving the railroads with limited capital to replace aging track lines. Over the previous three decades, it had become painfully obvious to everyone that the industry's economic woes were the result of archaic accounting procedures that lacked harmony with the rest of American accounting standards, but the ICC was reluctant to change until new tax legislation in the early 1980s forced the issue. The decision was a culmination of a debate that started in the mid-1950s when Arthur Andersen, with the help of the securities industry, began an effort to harmonize railroad and industry standards using arguments that mirror those supporting the international accounting harmonization efforts of the early 21st century.

Why Not Allow FASB and IASB Standards to Compete in the U.S.?

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald A. Dye ◽  
Shyam Sunder
Keyword(s):  
Network Externalities ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Standard Setting ◽  
Regulatory Competition ◽  
Regulatory Body ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
The Status ◽  
Informative Signals ◽  
The U.S

This paper discusses arguments for and against introducing competition into the accounting standard-setting process in the U.S. by allowing individual corporations to issue financial reports prepared in accordance with either FASB or IASB rules. The paper examines several arguments supporting the status quo, including (1) the FASB's experience and world leadership in making accounting rules; (2) the increased risk of a “race to the bottom” under regulatory competition; (3) the inability of most users of financial reports to understand the complex technical issues underlying accounting standards; (4) the possibility that IASB's standards will be diluted to gain international acceptance, allowing additional opportunities for earnings management; (5) the risks of the IASB being deadlocked or captured by interests hostile to business; (6) the costs of experimentation in standard setting; and (7) economies from network externalities. Arguments examined on the other side include how competition will (1) help meet the needs of globalized businesses; (2) increase the likelihood that the accounting standards will be efficient; (3) help protect standard setters from undue pressure from interest groups; (4) allow different standards to develop for different corporate clienteles; (5) allow corporations to send more informative signals by their choice of accounting standards; (6) protect corporations against capture of regulatory body by narrow interests; and (7) not affect network externalities at national or global scales.

The true and fait view concept: the palette of controversial points (of “worth banning” to “worth keeping”)

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
Yana Ustinova
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Accounting Scandals ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Changes Over Time

Dynamic changes and observed crisis phenomena in the economy, as well as high-profile accounting scandals of recent decades and subsequent revisions of accounting standards, necessitate a critical assessment of the conceptual framework for preparing financial statements that are adequate to the real state of affairs. At the same time, the accumulated practice of applying the true and fair view concept revealed some shortcomings. In this situation, the center of attraction of researchers' interest is the question of whether this concept meets the modern challenges of accounting, whether it is advisable to preserve and develop it. The aim of the article: an overview of the main research trends describing the significance of this concept for the current state of accounting, an assessment of the stages of their development. The analysis was carried out through research of scientific publications. The result was the identification of the main researching areas of the true and fair view concept, an analysis of their changes over time, an overview of the current increment of scientific knowledge, and the factors that led to such an increment for the last few years. In the course of the work, the areas of emerging scientific interest, as well as areas of maintaining scientific interest, were noted from the position of enriching theoretical and practical knowledge about the applicability of the concept. Special attention was drawn to the following issues: the relationship between overrides from accounting standards and the quality of financial statements, options for interpreting the concept by various groups of users of financial statements in settings of the legal and socio-cultural context differences, the role of auditors in assessing of the compliance with this concept. In conclusion were called the arguments of supporters to recognize this concept as worthy of banning, as well as the arguments of supporters to recognize this concept as worthy of keeping. Prospective directions of future scientific research in this direction were proposed.

The Role of Web Assurance Seals in Nonprofit Giving

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-148
Author(s):  
Joseph Canada ◽  
Erica E. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Charitable Contributions ◽  
The Public ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Donor Support ◽  
The U.S ◽  
The Web

ABSTRACT Using a sample of the 2,000 largest nonprofit organizations in the U.S., we document that the use of web assurance seals is not as commonplace as for-profit e-commerce websites. In particular, we find that only about 14 percent of sample organizations invest in web assurance seals. Those that do provide web seals are larger, less efficient, and spend more on fundraising and information technology. Interestingly, however, our size result weakens for the very largest organizations in our sample. In addition to our contribution to the web assurance literature, we also contribute to donations research in identifying another feature important to donors in the decision to give. Specifically, we find a positive relationship between web seals and donations, indicating that providing this type of assurance attracts more donor support. We believe this is particularly interesting given the relatively few organizations adopting this type of signal in the marketplace for charitable contributions. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.

An Empirical Analysis of Employee Responses to Bonuses and Penalties

2020 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 395-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim A. Van der Stede ◽  
Anne Wu ◽  
Steve Yu-Ching Wu
Keyword(s):  
Employee Turnover ◽  
Selection Effect ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Confidentiality Agreement ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Bonuses And Penalties ◽  
Employee Responses ◽  
Chip Manufacturer

ABSTRACT We examine how employees respond to bonuses and penalties using a proprietary dataset from an electronic chip manufacturer in China. First, we examine the relative effects of bonuses and penalties and observe a stronger effect on subsequent effort and performance for penalties than for bonuses. Second, we find that the marginal sensitivity of penalties diminishes faster than that of bonuses, indicating that the marginal effect of a bonus may eventually exceed that of a penalty as their value increases. Third, we find an undesirable selection effect of penalties: penalties increase employee turnover, especially for skillful and high-quality workers. These results may help inform our understanding of the observed limited use of penalties in practice due to their bounded effectiveness and possible unintended consequences. Data Availability: The confidentiality agreement with the company that provided data for this study precludes the dissemination of detailed data without the company's consent.

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