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Fudenberg and Tirole (1995) argue that concern about job security creates an incentive for managers to smooth earnings. Consistent with their model, Defond and Park (1997) show that managers smooth earnings in consideration of both current and future relative performance. To provide a more direct evidence of anticipating smoothing and job security, we hypothesize that the extent of income smoothing will vary with managers' job security concerns as proxied by the level of the investment opportunity set or growth opportunities. Our results confirmed our predictions.

Based on the idea that insiders (i.e., managers and controlling shareholders) engage in earnings management to mask their diversion and rent seeking activities from outsiders, this paper presents international evidence supporting both a “diversion hypothesis” where earnings management is decreasing in economic freedom, and a “penalty hypothesis” where earnings management is increasing in human development.

The paper presents the results of an empirical study in which bank loan officers evaluated a loan application which were accompanied by financial statements based on either accrual accounting or modified cash basis of accounting (MCBOA). The loan officers first decided whether to grant the loan and determined an interest rale. Second, they evaluated the financial statements information on the basis of three quality attributes: Overall reliability, freedom from clerical errors and freedom from the effects of fraud. The results verified a functional fixation hypothesis by showing that the loan officers examining the financial statements of the same company using either accrual information or MCBOA showed clear preference for the company when faced with accrual information. A conditioning factor is used to explain the results.

The American Accounting Association (AAA) Committee on Accounting and Auditing Measurement (1991) had recommended that value added be considered for mandatory disclosure in the US in addition to the income and cash flow statements. This study examines empirically the relative merits of derived performance indicator numbers from value added reporting, accrual accounting and cash flow accounting. The results show that the derived performance indicator numbers based on net value added had lower variability and higher persistency than corresponding numbers based on either earnings or cash flows of 673 US firms for the 1981–1990 period. These results and other related considerations argue strongly in favor of the recommendation of the AAA Committee.

This study investigates the usefulness of net value added in explaining stock returns of a sample of US firms. The results provide evidence that current and past levels of net value added or current and past levels of changes in net value added are associated with stock returns. A case may be made for the disclosure of value added information by US firms.

Summarizes previous research on the links between multinationality and earnings persistence and presents a study which applies the autoregressive, integrated, moving‐average time series model to 1990‐1999 data on the largest US multinationals. Explains the methodology and presents the results, which show a negative relationship between the level of multinationality and earnings persistence measures. Puts this down to a negative link between multinationality and performance; and reduced risk through international diversification and profit stabilization.

The paper investigates the link between a firm's overall disclosure quality and its corpoate reputation. The results show that the measure of corporate reputation is positively related to the disclosure measure, after controlling for market and accounting signals indicating the size of assets, market assessment of the value of the assets in place and rate of return on assets.

This paper examines how accounting quality, as measured by earnings opacity, affects the stock market wealth effect, which in turn is shown to be linked to economic growth. Stock market wealth effect is negatively affected by earnings opacity. The data also indicate that the exogenous component of the stock market wealth effect — the component defined by earnings opacity‐ is positively associated with economic growth. The direct effect of earnings opacity on economic growth is, as expected negative, but insignificant.

CEO compensation is shown to be not only related to size and performance but also to personal attributes. CEO compensation is found to be positively related to the number of years as a CEO and to the interaction of age and tenure and negatively related to tenure and to the interaction of age and number of years as a CEO.

Outlines the valuation models of Ohlson (1995) and Feltham and Ohlson (1995), which relate share prices to accounting data, and develops a version which substitutes net value added for earnings. Tests it on 1978‐1995 US data and shows that it is better than the conventional model at explaining price. Recommends that future capital market research should consider net value added as an alternative to earnings for wealth measurement.