Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on August 17, 2009). At head of title: University of Alberta. "Fall 2009." A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in accounting, School of Business. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 1996. / Title from web page (viewed on Mar. 4, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-147).

Research report--Massey University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-115)

M.Comm.

This thesis investigates whether firms use real activities manipulation for income-decreasing earnings management purposes. Managers can use different tools to manage earnings. Given that managers have the authority to apply their own judgment in the preparation of financial reports and to make decision about business activities of their incumbent companies, the opportunity to manipulate earnings is twofold: the first is to manipulate financial reports using accounting techniques and the second is to manipulate underlying transactions. After the introduction of new regulations that were meant to restrict accounting choice as a response to high-profile accounting scandals at the turn of the century, there has been growing literature on the use of real activities manipulation for earnings management. While more control over financial reporting can potentially reduce earnings management through accounting choice, as real activities manipulation concerns non-accounting decisions of management, tighter accounting standards are not able to restrict manipulation of activities. This shift toward real activities manipulation is supported by empirical evidence. Whilst prior studies indicate that managers have incentives for both income-increasing and income-decreasing earnings management, the overwhelming majority of authors have concentrated on income-increasing attempts. However, one would expect that real activities manipulation would also be used for income-decreasing purposes. This study links two lines of research in the area of earnings management; downward earnings management and earnings management through real activities manipulation. Using a large sample of US firms for the period 2002-2011, the present thesis examines whether and how real activities manipulation is used for income-decreasing earnings management. To this end, firms that substantially outperformed their last year performance, or suspect firms, which are considered as more likely to exhibit income-decreasing earnings management are compared with the rest of the sample in terms of various measures of real activities manipulation. The results indicate that firms with extra earnings by the end of third quarter of fiscal year manage earnings downward by means of real activities including sales, production and discretionary expenses. The results are generally robust to a number of sensitivity tests.

KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in

The objective of this research report was to determine which internal controls are perceived, by internal auditors, to be contributing to the effectiveness of an internal control structure. The Committee for Sponsoring Organisations (COSO) integrated internal control framework was used as a basis for the questionnaire construction and respondents were asked to rate the perceived control effectiveness of each of the components of internal control. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the basic meaning of the data. The questionnaire was completed by following a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) which was sent to two internal auditors in audit firms. Thirty one responses were obtained; all the respondents have experience in the evaluation and assessment of internal control systems. This research showed that control elements as outlined in COSOs integrated internal control framework, if implemented, could contribute to the effectiveness of the internal control system.

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