Auditor Choice and the Informativeness of 10-K Reports

This study provides new evidence on the influential role of external auditors in enhancing the informativeness of form 10-K annual reports to shareholders. Specifically, we find that the client’s choice of a Big 4 auditor (PwC, EY, KPMG, and Deloitte) versus a non-Big 4 auditor contributes to cross-sectional variations in 10-K disclosure volume. We also document that the benefit of enhanced disclosures provided by Big 4 auditors is more pronounced for audit clients with poorer accrual quality and those with higher information asymmetry. Furthermore, we introduce the portion of 10-K length unexplained by operating complexity and observable client characteristics as a new proxy for audit firm effort. Specifically, we find that abnormally long disclosures are associated with higher audit fees and longer audit report lag, which implies that an incremental level of audit effort can be inferred from the discretionary component of 10-K disclosures. As audit effort is costly, a greater volume of 10-K disclosures can be expected to be associated with an improvement in the quality of financial reporting. Overall, our findings show that auditors play more than a simple attestation role in the financial reporting process, and that the quality of financial reporting in a company’s 10-K annual report is a joint product of the effort and decisions of both a company’s managers and its auditors.

Earnings Quality and Foreign Investors in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

This study aims to measure the earnings quality (EQ) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries using a sample of 1827 firm-year observations from 2008 to 2016 by using nine EQ measures. These measures are persistence, predictability, value relevance, earnings response coefficient (ERC), smoothness, earnings surprise, accrual quality, loss recognition timeliness and conservatism. The study also examines the effect of these nine EQ measures on attracting foreign investors. Data are collected from Capital IQ database, and some other data are calculated manually from the capital markets and firms in each country. In this quantitative research, the sample is analysed by using descriptive statistics, correlation, and generalized least squares (GLS) regression to verify the hypotheses and analyse the effect of EQ measures on attracting foreign investors. Findings show distinct effects on attracting foreign investors in different countries. Persistence, predictability, ERC, and accrual quality have a positive effect in Oman, whereas value relevance and ERC have a positive effect in Kuwait. Predictability, accrual quality, ERC, and conservatism negatively affect the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Finally, loss recognition timeliness, smoothness, and earnings surprise do not have any effect in all GCC countries.

KUALITAS INFORMASI AKUNTANSI SEKTOR INDUSTRI SEBELUM DAN SELAMA PANDEMI COVID-19: STUDI NEGARA-NEGARA ASEAN

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the quality of accounting information in terms of accrual quality and value relevance. This study uses a sample of companies listed on stock exchanges in five ASEAN countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, for the period 2009-2020. OLS pooled regression model was estimated with panel data. The results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted earnings quality, but not on value relevance of accounting information quality. Enforcement of accounting and auditing standards can reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in improving earnings quality. However, investor protection is not adequate to improve the quality of accounting information during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Effect of Accrual Quality and Operating Cash Flows on Future Cash Flows in the Basic Industry and Chemical Sectors

This study aims to analyze the effect of accrual quality and operating cash flow on future cash flows. Accrual quality in this study is measured by the accruals-working capital approach, referring to Dechow and Dichev [1] and Francis et al. [2], cash flow is measured by the ratio of operating cash flows to assets. The population of this research is the Basic Industry and Chemical sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the period 2014-2018. The samples were determined using purposive sampling which resulted in 144 firms year came from 32 companies. The results of this study showed that there is a significant positive effect the accrual quality and operating cash flow on future cash flows. Management should manage the company's operating cash flow efficiently, and simultaneously improve the quality of the company's accruals which will be a positive signal for investors creditors.

How Governance and Firm Internationalization Affect Accrual Quality

This study investigates the impact of country, corporate-level governance; and firm internationalization on the accrual quality of 120 firms listed in Pakistan, Japan, Hong Kong and India. The findings of the robust panel-corrected standard error estimator show that firm internationalization positively influences accrual quality. At the same time, country-level governance affects the business environment, like taxes, laws and regulatory settings, business-friendly and unfriendly environment. Corporate governance is insignificant to accrual quality. We also found that the capable board of directors and frequent meetings of board members signal the multinationals companies to go for internationalization.

Analisis Pengaruh Kualitas Akrual, Persistensi Laba,dan Perataan Laba Terhadap Informasi Asimetri

This study aims to examine the effect of accrual quality, profit persistence and income smoothing to asymmetric information (Empirical Study on Manufacturing Companies Textile and Garment Subsector Registered in Indonesia Stock Exchange 2011 -2015). The population in this study are 17 companies. The sample technique used is purposive sampling and sample size of 9 companies. The model used in this research is panel regression using Eviews 8 application. Result of research: accrual quality, earnings persistence have not significant effect to asymmetry information. While income smoothing have significant effect to asymmetry information. Accrual quality, profit persistence and income smoothing are equally influential but very weak against asymmetric information. Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji pengaruh kualitas akrual, persistensi laba dan perataan laba terhadap informasi asimetri. Pendekatan penelitian yang digunakan pada penelitian ini yaitu kuantitatif asosiatif. Yang merupakan penelitian dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh ataupun juga hubungan antara dua variabel atau lebih secara sistematis, terencana dan terstruktur dengan jelas sejak awal.Populasi dalam penelitian ini sebanyak 17 perusahaan manufaktur subsektor tekstil dan garment., dengan menggunakan data skunder tahun 2011-2015. Teknik pengambilan sampel dengan menggunakan tekniki purposive sampling sehingga dihasilkan jumlah sampel sebanyak 9 perusahaan dengan total observasi 45 laporan keuangan perusahaanTeknik analisis data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah regresi panel. Pada penelitian ini membuktikan hasil penelitian bahwa kualitas akrual tidak berpengaruh terhadap informasi asimetri; juga membuktikan bahwa persistensi laba tidak memiliki pengaruh signifikan terhadap informasi asimetri. Sedangkan perataan laba memiliki pengaruh signifikan terhadap informasi asimetri. Dan secara simultan kualitas akrual, persistensi laba dan perataan laba secara bersama-sama berpengaruh namun sangat lemah terhadap informasi asimet. Sehingga dapat disimpulkan bahwa hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan variabel kualitas akrual dan persistensi laba tidak memiliki pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap informasi asimetri sedangkan perataan laba berpengaruh negatif signifikan terhadap informasi asimetri yang berarti semakin kecil perusahaan melakukan perataan laba semakin besar kemungkinan adanya informasi asimetri. Kata Kunci:Kualitas Akrual, Persistensi Laba, Perataan Laba, Informasi Asimetri

IPO Underpiricing, Konservatisme Akuntansi, dan Sentimen Investor

The significant increase of stock price compared to its IPO price is difficult to explain. Companies which issue their stock are impossible to set underpriced IPO voluntarily, while investors who buy an overpriced stock are only they who are not rational or lack of information. Conservative financial statements and high accrual quality provide an opportunity for all investors to be able to estimate the fair price of IPO shares so that the disagreement among investors is not too wide and price fluctuations due to speculation are not too high in the secondary market. Using Indonesia Stock Exchanges, the results show that influence of accounting conservatism and accrual quality are stronger in the 30 holding period after the IPO because the uncertainty of financial statement information led to wider speculation opportunities in the long period. The rise in stock prices after IPO is also influenced by investor’s sentiment and market conditions Keywords: IPO, underpricing, accounting conservatism; accrual quality, investor sentiment