The relationship of accounting comparability between the profit value relevance and book value

This research tries to investigate the comparability between the profit value relevance and book value of the listed firms in Tehran Stock Exchange. The research sample was selected by using the systematic removal sampling method by applying the research variable, 138 variables, during 2012-2019. Furthermore, this research has two hypotheses. This research is applied and the method is correlational based on nature and content. The research was conducted in the framework of deductive-inductive reasoning and panel analysis was used to analyze the hypotheses. The results of hypothesis testing showed that value relevance of profit and value relevance of book value increase with accounting comparability. Youtube link: https://youtu.be/lGbO2Co0Tyk

The relationship between management attributes and accounting comparability

Purpose This study aims to concern about the relationship between management managerial attributes (management entrenchment, narcissism and overconfidence of the chief executive officer, board effort and real and accrual earnings management) and comparability of financial statements listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange. In other words, this paper aims to answer the question that “whether managerial attributes contribute significantly to the comparability of financial statements or not”. Design/methodology/approach The multivariate regression model is used for hypothesis testing. The hypotheses were examined using a sample of 768 listed observations on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2012–2017 and by using from the multivariate regression pattern based on panel data techniques and the random-effects model. Findings The obtained results show a significant and negative relationship between management entrenchment, real and accrual earnings management, comparability and the relationship between management narcissism, overconfidence and board effort and comparability of financial statements is positive and significant. Originality/value As the present study is the pioneer study on such topics in the emerging markets, it provides valuable information concerning the intrinsic and acquired features of the management for users, analysts and legal institutions with a considerable impact on the comparability of financial statements. Moreover, this study’s results contribute significantly to the development of science and knowledge in this field and fill the gap in the literature.

Accounting comparability and cash flows versus accruals

Purpose This study aims to examine whether accounting comparability between two firms, as measured by De Franco et al. (2011), reflects closeness in the amounts of cash flows and accruals between the firms. Design/methodology/approach Using 278,452 pair-year observations over the years 2003–2019, the author evaluates the research question using regression models. Findings Closeness in cash flows and closeness in accruals both increase accounting comparability and the effect of closeness in cash flows is greater. The effect of closeness in earnings is greater than the combined effects of closeness in cash flows and accruals. Earnings quality strengthens, while product closeness weakens, the effects of closeness in earnings and closeness in cash flows. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to empirically test the link between the closeness in earnings components and accounting comparability. This study is also the first to examine cash flows versus accruals in the context of accounting comparability.

The Relation Between Accounting Comparability and Firm Productivity

Using a comprehensive sample of U.S. manufacturing firms from 1992 to 2015, I test for the association between accounting comparability and firm productivity. I posit that increased accounting comparability facilitates learning from peer firms ultimately increasing firm productivity. Results show that accounting comparability is positively related to firm productivity and that one channel for this relation is improvement in inventory management. In cross-sectional analysis, I find that the relation between accounting comparability and firm productivity is stronger when (a) peer firms exhibit higher productivity and provide more informative filings; (b) subject firms exhibit higher product similarity with peer firms and face stiffer competition, and (c) subject firms operate in industries characterized by higher accounting quality.

Choice between Acquisition and Joint Venture Based on Financial Statement Comparability

This study examined the relationship between target firms’ financial statement comparability and bidder firms’ boundary decisions. The study used initial public offering (IPO) firms as target firms to test the impact of asymmetric information and signaling on investing bidder firms’ boundary decisions, such as joint ventures or acquisitions. In the IPO market, as an experimental setting, bidder firms are unfamiliar with issuing firms because they have little information about them prior to the IPO. This study argues that IPO firms with higher accounting comparability show lower information asymmetry. Consistent with this argument, we found that IPO firms’ accounting comparability has a positive probability of becoming a target for either a joint venture or acquisition, or an acquisition instead of a joint venture. This study contributes to the literature, financial statement comparability, and joint venture and acquisition decisions to measure the degree to which information asymmetry affects corporate investment strategy using a unique experimental setting of IPO firms.

Accounting Comparability and Cash Holdings in Vietnam

The management of cash requires careful considerations to allow firms to benefit from proper resource allocations while mitigating agency issues. Accounting comparability can play an important role in tackling information asymmetry and agency cost, thus enabling managers to hoard more cash. This research aims to investigate the link between accounting comparability and cash holdings in an emerging market. Using a sample of listed firms in Vietnam from 2010 to 2019 and System Generalized Method of Moments, the study finds that comparability is positively associated with corporate cash holdings, confirming the value of the former as an effective governance mechanism. Additionally, we find a non-linear impact of comparability on cash holdings; in other words, comparability specifically enhances cash holdings for firms with high levels of comparability. We further document that cash holdings improve firm performance only for firms with high levels of comparability. Such evidence implies that only firms with high levels of financial statement comparability show commitment to tackle agency cost and information asymmetry.

Top institutional investors and accounting comparability

This study examines the relation between firm pair’s sharing of a top institutional investor (i.e., an institutional investor with the largest shareholding) and accounting comparability. Using data from Compustat, CRSP, and Thompson Reuters over the 1993–2017 period, the study finds that firm pairs that share the top institutional investor exhibit higher accounting comparability than other firm pairs. In addition, firm pairs whose top institutional investors are monitoring institutions (regardless of whether they are the same institutions) exhibit greater comparability than other firm pairs whose top institutional investors are non-monitoring institutions. Collectively, the study contributes to existing research on accounting comparability and large institutional investors by showing that the sharing of top institutional investors is an important determinant of accounting comparability

The Impact of Financial Statement Comparability on Earnings Management: Evidence from Frontier Markets

This paper examined whether financial statement comparability constrains opportunistic earnings management in frontier market countries. Using a large sample of 19 frontier market countries, and an accounting comparability method that maps comparability across several accounting standards, the results show that enhanced financial comparability constrains accruals earnings management (AEM). Contrary to developed markets and novel to this study, a significant relationship between financial comparability and real earnings management (REM) was not found. For greater robustness, AEM and REM were also tested on both International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopting and non-adopting countries. The results suggest IFRS adoption constrains AEM, yet exhibited no impact on constraining REM. Additionally, the use of BigN auditors failed to conclusively show an ability to moderate EM. When combined, the results suggest that frontier markets engage in less REM than expected. It is also noted that the legal roots (civil vs. common law) play a significant role in constraining earnings management. Common law countries exhibited lower AEM when comparability increased; this significance was not found in countries that were rooted in civil law. Contributions from this study show that findings from developed markets cannot be generalised to frontier markets.

Accounting comparability, financial reporting quality and audit opinions: evidence from Iran

PurposeType of audit opinion is important for all stakeholders. Firm-specific characteristics have a direct impact on the type of audit opinion. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between accounting comparability (as a micro level characteristic), financial reporting quality (as a macro level characteristic) and audit opinions.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a multivariate regression analysis to tests it hypotheses to a sample of firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during 2015–2019. To measure accounting comparability, the authors use De Franco et al. (2011) model, and Hutton et al. (2009) model to measure financial reporting quality. The authors use type of audit opinion, and auditor's remarks (explanatory notes) as the measure for audit opinions.FindingsThe authors find a negative association between accounting comparability, and the proxies for audit opinion. The authors also find that a negative association between financial reporting quality and audit opinions. These results suggest that higher accounting comparability, and higher financial reporting quality (proxied by earnings quality) increases auditor tendency to issue unmodified audit opinion.Originality/valueTo the authors' best knowledge, this is the first study that empirically examines the association between accounting comparability, financial reporting quality and audit opinion. This study provides empirical support for the theoretical views on the association between financial reporting quality and audit opinion. The results could be of interest of both auditors and managers, especially in emerging capital markets, who seek to improve financial reporting quality.