Irene Tutticci, Keitha Dunstan and Scott Holmes
Aims to contribute to the understanding of the Australianstandard‐setting due process. Analyses submissions made on ExposureDraft 49 Accounting for Identifiable Intangible Assets…
Abstract
Aims to contribute to the understanding of the Australian standard‐setting due process. Analyses submissions made on Exposure Draft 49 Accounting for Identifiable Intangible Assets (ED49) as a case study of the strategies employed by lobbyists in their attempt to influence the accounting standard setters. Previous studies on respondents′ submissions have ignored the possibility that, in responding to exposure drafts, lobbyists are provided with a means of persuasion in excess of casting votes. Employs a form of content analysis to study the political process of standard setting. The results suggest that respondents on ED49 attempted to weight their lobby positions with the use of supporting arguments that utilized conceptual and/or economic consequences rationale and presented positions of differing strengths.
Details
Keywords
– This paper aims to examine the price-sensitivity of information under capital market disclosure regulation, the Australian continuous disclosure regulation (CDR).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the price-sensitivity of information under capital market disclosure regulation, the Australian continuous disclosure regulation (CDR).
Design/methodology/approach
The study tests the information content of continuous disclosures and identifies the firm characteristics that condition the price-sensitivity of information under CDR.
Findings
The study provides evidence that continuous firm disclosures are significantly associated with stock price adjustment to information. Further results are consistent with firm disclosure and its information content being determined by the economics of the firm.
Practical implications
The findings of the study support the introduction of ongoing and continuous disclosure regimes in a number of capital markets, and assist firms and regulators model the price-sensitivity of information under CDR.
Originality/value
The study highlights the sources of an informed market, and contributes to our understanding of the conditions under which the CDR reveals unexpected information. The results provide evidence of an association between firm disclosure and stock price synchronicity, consistent with managerial incentives to disclose information.
Details
Keywords
Michael Bradbury and Tom Scott
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether constituents respond to local government accounting data. Since 2006, New Zealand local authorities (councils) have been…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether constituents respond to local government accounting data. Since 2006, New Zealand local authorities (councils) have been required to disclose long-term accounting data relating to forecast operating revenue and expenses.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors test whether the difference between the actual operating expenditure as reported in the annual report and as forecasted is associated with electoral outcomes.
Findings
The authors find that accounting performance and the sign of accounting performance (i.e. expenditure over-runs) are associated with greater councilor re-election. Furthermore, accounting performance is also associated with greater voter turnout.
Originality/value
The production and disclosure of council planning data is based on the perceived accountability of the council to its constituents. The authors find that accounting, in an electoral context, has both information content and conveys good/bad news about accounting performance to voters.
Details
Keywords
Paul A. Griffin, David H. Lont and Yuan Sun
This study aims to examine the economic cost imposed by capital markets of section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 on conflict minerals (CM). The authors analyse a sample of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the economic cost imposed by capital markets of section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 on conflict minerals (CM). The authors analyse a sample of first-time CM disclosures made by US companies in 2010-2012.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors measure the market response to these disclosures and compare it to the response of a matched control sample of non-disclosers. An overall negative response could arise from regulatory costs, changes in management decision making, or customers' social concerns about CM. An overall positive response could reflect the benefits of disclosure transparency.
Findings
The authors find that the negative effects of the disclosures outweigh any positive effects. The authors also find more limited negative effects for the control sample, since they are likely to be future CM disclosers.
Research limitations/implications
Because companies' balance sheets do not report these negative effects, the results imply that investors price supply chain activities related to CM as an off-balance sheet liability.
Practical implications
The results agree with companies' assertions of a substantial cost to implement the CM provision. The authors estimate an aggregate loss of shareholder value for the sample of $6.5 to $13.1 billion.
Social implications
These results show that regulators' and stakeholders' demands for increased transparency can be costly to shareholders when the disclosures induce changes in management decision making and raise customers' social concerns about supply chain sustainability.
Originality/value
The study is the first to examine the economic effects of companies' initial disclosures about CM under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.