The purpose of the study was to examine how first-line managers in municipal elderly care perceive their leadership role. This was put in relation to the level of discretion in work related tasks, employed by the first-line managers in order to increase knowledge about what requirements exist in leadership. The study used a qualitative method and in total, six interviews were conducted with first-line managers in municipal elderly care. We have used a hermeneutic approach and a qualitative thematic analysis. Theories applied are street-level bureaucracy and role theory. The results show that the first-line managers would have a more positive experience of their assignment if they are given clearer information about what their assignment means. Overall, the study shows that the first-line managers perceive their mission as positive and important, but that it includes many assignments, and high variance. The first-line managers in the study describe that they meet expectations, in their professional role from for example employees, management, political decisions and residents. The first-line managers have described that they have managerial discretion within their own branch, but one of the managers feel that she did not have enough managerial discretion. We believe that the margins of discretion do not have a negative impact on their ability to practice good leadership. / Syftet  med  studien  var  att  undersöka  hur  enhetschefer  verksamma  inom  kommunal äldreomsorg uppleversin roll irelation till uppdragets innehåll samt att undersöka deras handlingsutrymme,  för  att  öka  kunskapen  om  vilka  förutsättningar  som  finns  i ledarskapet. I studien användes en kvalitativ metod och sammanlagt genomfördes sex intervjuer  med  yrkesverksamma  enhetschefer  inom  kommunal  äldreomsorg.  Vi  har använts oss av en hermeneutisk ansats och en kvalitativ tematisk analys. Teorier som applicerats är gräsrotsbyråkrati samt rollteori. Den tidigare forskning som använts till studien innefattar rollen som enhetschef,den offentlig organisationen, enhetschefens handlingsutrymme samt enhetschefens förutsättningar i arbetet. Studiens resultat visar att  enhetscheferna  skulle  ha  en  mer  positiv  upplevelse  av  sitt  uppdrag  om  de  gavs tydligare information kring vad deras uppdrag faktiskt innebär. Överlag visar studien att enhetscheferna upplever sitt uppdrag som positivt och viktigt, men att det innefattar många uppdrag och är omväxlande.Enhetscheferna i studien beskriver att de möter förväntningar  från  många  håll  i  sin  yrkesroll,  från  exempelvis  medarbetare,  ledning, politiska   beslut   och   vårdtagare.   Enhetscheferna   har   beskrivit   att   de   har   stort handlingsutrymme i sin egen verksamhet, men en av enhetscheferna upplever att hon inte hade tillräckligt mycket utrymme. Generellt sett anser vi att handlingsutrymmet inte har en negativ påverkan gällande deras möjligheter i ledarskapet.

Sedan år 2005 måste samtliga svenska börsnoterade företag presentera sin finansiella information samtredovisningen av densamma i enlighet med standarden IFRS. Detta har resulterat i att företagsledningenssubjektiva tolkningar, något som skapat möjligheter för ledningen att påverka redovisningen. Detta kanförklaras genom Agency Theory och Positive Accounting Theory, vilka beskriver att ledningen antas ageraopportunistiskt, i syfte att maximera sin egennytta. Ledningen tenderar att manipulera företagsredovisning, varav goodwill kan användas som en resultatjusterare.Denna studie belyser hur ledningens handlingsutrymme påverkar företags redovisning av goodwill,betingat av den organisatoriska nivån. Studiens hypoteser formas utifrån organisationsnivåns olikafaktorer, vilka även testas för att se hur faktorerna påverkar företags redovisning av goodwill. För attundersöka studiens syfte används en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi och därmed kvantitativforskningsdesign, vilket präglas av en deduktiv ansats. Insamling av data har åstadkommits via företagsårsredovisningar, något som sedan sammanställts.Studiens resultat indikerar att ju högre skuldsättning och starkare ägarkoncentration, desto mindregoodwill redovisar ledningen. Har företag en låg skuldsättning och svag ägarkoncentration leder det tillökat handlingsutrymme och därmed en potentiellt högre andel redovisad goodwill.Studien bidrar till insikt kring hanteringen av goodwill och att ledningens handlingsutrymme har enpotentiell inverkan på redovisningen av goodwill. Dessutom tillför studien kunskap för vilka faktorer sompåverkar företags redovisningsval. Avslutningsvis bidrar uppsatsen till ökade möjligheter att jämförastudiens resultat med tidigare studier, vilket kan resultera i att ägarna kan få mer kännedom om hur debäst reducerar ledningens handlingsutrymme och dess opportunistiska beslut. / Since year 2005 all Swedish listed companies has to present their financials and accountingaccording to the standard IFRS. This has allowed the management to make subjectiveinterpretations, which in turn has elaborated opportunities to influence the accounting. Thosepossibilities can be explained by Agency Theory and Positive Accounting Theory, which presumethe management acting opportunistically, in order to maximize self-interest. Management tend tomanipulate companies accounting, whereof goodwill can be used as an adjuster of results.The thesis disambiguate how management discretion affect companies accounting of goodwill,contingent of the organizational level. The thesis hypothesis elaborates thru factors of theorganizational level, which are also tested in order to see how the variables affect businesscorporations accounting of goodwill. A positive research philosophy is used in order to analyze thethesis purpose. The data collection has been accomplished using the company's annual reports.The thesis results indicates that the higher debt and stronger concentration of ownership, the lessamount goodwill is accounted. If companies has a lower debt and weaker concentration ofownership, it increases management discretion and thereby a potentially higher amount of goodwill.The thesis contribute to knowledge about managing goodwill and that management discretion hasa potentially impact on the accounting of goodwill. Finally, the thesis contributes to increasedopportunities to compare the thesis results with previous studies, which may result in the ownersbeing able to get more knowledge of how they best reduce management discretion and itsopportunistically decisions.

Du fait de biais dont souffrent les dirigeants d’entreprises lorsqu’ils prennent des décisions d’acquisition, le M&A a une longue tradition de ne pas générer des retours positifs pour les acheteurs. Au travers de 3 essais, notre recherche explore l’impact de récentes évolutions de l’environnement économique et social, incluant 1) le déploiement des normes IFRS, 2) le développement des comités de conseil d’administration ou de surveillance, et 3) la publication de la Loi NRE, sur la performance M&A des acquéreurs en France. Analysant les rendements anormaux générés au moment où une acquisition est faite, nous trouvons que la performance M&A ne s’est pas améliorée, principalement du fait que les principaux changements intervenus ont laissé un important pouvoir discrétionnaire au management mais aussi parce l’adoption de nouvelles pratiques de marché ont pu être intégrées par les investisseurs dans leur évaluation de résultats d’acquisition. Nous trouvons aussi que les stratégies RSE ont un impact négatif. Cependant, nous trouvons que la mise en place de comités de conseil et l’entrée en vigueur de la Loi NRE, qui ont pu conduire à une transparence accrue de l’information, ont eu un impact positif. / Because management suffers from biases when making acquisition decisions, M&A has been having a longstanding reputation for providing acquirers with no or limited returns. Through 3 essays, our research explores the impact of recent evolution in business environment, including 1) the implementation of IFRS regulations, 2) the development of board committees popularized following SOX regulations, and 3) the implementation of the NRE Law, on acquirers’ M&A performance in France. Analyzing abnormal returns generated at the time of an acquisition is made, we find that M&A performance has not overall improved, mainly because most the changes reviewed can be assumed to leave a significant space for managerial discretion but also because new business practices become market standards integrated by investors when valuing acquisition outcomes. We also find CSR strategies to have a negative impact on M&A performance. We however find that the implementation of a board committee and the enforcement of the NRE Law in France, that may lead to more information transparency, have had a positive impact.

[pt] A dissertação é composta por três artigos independentes, uma introdução unificada, um referencial teórico (junto com nossa revisão sistemática) e uma discussão geral. No primeiro artigo, revisamos a crescente literatura sobre discricionariedade contábil. Com base na literatura anterior, definimos a discricionariedade contábil como a latitude permitida pelas regras contábeis para que os contadores exerçam seus julgamentos por meio de um conjunto de escolhas e estimativas contábeis, que influenciam diretamente o resultado contábil de uma empresa. Aplicando uma metodologia de mapeamento sistemático na literatura existente, encontramos evidências de quatro correntes principais de literatura: 1) discricionariedade gerencial, 2) escolha contábil, 3) gerenciamento de resultados e 4) impairment de goodwill. Cada um desses fluxos indica possíveis oportunidades para os gerentes exercerem poder discricionário sobre as práticas contábeis, moldando a qualidade dos relatórios contábeis e, em última análise, moldando como os mercados financeiros reagem às informações contábeis. A partir de uma amostra inicial de mais de 1.000 documentos, analisamos e discutimos detalhadamente 69 artigos, dos quais identificamos fatores relacionados às regras contábeis que potencialmente fornecem ou restringem o oportunismo gerencial, os incentivos econômicos para que as empresas usem a discrição contábil e os mecanismos que potencialmente limitam o uso indevido do poder discricionário. As descobertas são relevantes para profissionais, reguladores, pesquisadores acadêmicos e gerentes corporativos, pois ajudam a entender a literatura existente sobre o tema e potencialmente melhorar as práticas contábeis. Por fim, sugiro caminhos interessantes para pesquisas futuras. O segundo artigo estende essa literatura construindo um índice de discricionariedade contábil (IAD) para empresas listadas e explorando, usando um modelo de diferenças em diferenças e amostras pareadas, como mudanças no fornecimento de discricionariedade contábil afetaram o gerenciamento de resultados em 43 países durante 2003-2007, quando vários países adotaram as IFRS. Os resultados empíricos mostram que as variações do IAD estão positivamente associadas ao gerenciamento de resultados por accruals e negativamente relacionadas às estratégias de gerenciamento de resultados reais. O terceiro artigo teve como objetivo construir um índice de discrição contábil em nível de país (ADI) contemporâneo que mede o nível de discricionariedade contábil que as regras contábeis permitem para empresas privadas em 35 países. Embora os regulamentos e regras contábeis forneçam um fator essencial no comportamento gerencial na preparação de relatórios financeiros, a literatura regulatória sobre relatórios contábeis negligenciou amplamente a análise da discricionariedade contábil no nível da regra (nível GAAP). Assim, a contribuição para a literatura contábil foi construir a ADI para investigar diferenças sistemáticas na discricionariedade contábil entre os países. Validamos o índice internamente (ou seja, usando alfa de Cronbach, Lambda 4 de Guttman e análise fatorial) e externamente (com análises em nível de país e empresa) e demonstramos que ele tem variabilidade significativa entre países. Por fim, contribuímos para a literatura fornecendo uma medida objetiva de discricionariedade contábil em diferentes países. Argumentamos que entender a variabilidade no nível de país na discricionariedade contábil é crucial para entender a discricionariedade gerencial geral no nível da empresa. / [en] This dissertation consists of three independent articles, a unified introduction, a theoretical framework (in the same chapter of the first article), and a general discussion. In the first article, we review the growing literature on accounting discretion. Drawing from previous literature, we define accounting discretion as the latitude allowed by accounting rules for accountants to exercise their judgments through a set of choices and accounting estimates, which directly influence a company s profits and losses. First, applying a methodology of systematic mapping on the extant literature, we found evidence of four main streams of literature: 1) managerial discretion, 2) accounting choice, 3) earnings management, and 4) goodwill impairment. Each of these streams indicates possible opportunities for managers to exert discretion over accounting practices, shaping the quality of accounting reporting and, ultimately, shaping how financial markets react to accounting information. Drawing from an initial sample of more than 1,000 documents, we analyze and discuss in detail 69 articles, from which we identified factors related to accounting rules that potentially provide or restrict managerial opportunism, the economic incentives for firms to use accounting discretion, and mechanisms that potentially limit the misuse of discretion. The findings are relevant for practitioners, regulators, academic researchers, and corporate managers as they help understand the extant literature on the topic and potentially improve accounting practices. Finally, we suggest exciting avenues for future research. The second article extends this literature by constructing an index of accounting discretion (IAD) for listed firms and exploring, using a differences-in-differences and paired-samples model, how changes in the provision of accounting discretion affected earnings management in 43 countries during 2003-2007, when several countries adopted IFRS. The empirical results show that IAD variations are positively associated with accruals-based earnings management and negatively related to real earnings management strategies. The third article aims to build a contemporary country-level accounting discretion index (ADI) that measures the level of accounting discretion that accounting rules allow for private companies in 35 countries. Although accounting regulations and rules provide an essential factor in managerial behavior in preparing financial reports, regulatory literature on accounting reports largely neglected the analysis of accounting discretion at the regulatory level (GAAP level). So, the contribution to the accounting literature was to build the ADI to investigate systematic differences in accounting discretion across countries. We validate the index internally (i.e., using Cronbach s alpha, Guttman s Lambda 4, and factor analysis) and externally (with country and company-level analyses) and demonstrate that it has significant cross-country variability. We contribute to the literature by providing an objective measure of accounting discretion across different countries. We argue that understanding country-level variability in accounting discretion is crucial to understanding overall managerial discretion at the firm level.

本論文包含台灣壽險業資產配置國際化及匯率避險兩個主題。首先，探討台灣壽險業積極向主管機關申請核准提高國外資產配置比率，與美國投資人偏好投資自己國家資產不一致的現象，是台灣壽險業資產配置不得不的策略，或是國際化的迷思? 以25家壽險公司2004 年至2008年財務資料實證結果發現，國外資產納入投資組合對壽險業投資績效有利。如果將樣本公司依據所有權區分為本資公司與外資公司，資料顯示，本資公司國際資產配置較為積極，惟其報酬績效與外資公司差異並不顯著。研究亦發現，2008年美國次貸風暴顯著負向影響台灣壽險公司國外投資報酬，即提高國外資產配置雖可提高報酬，惟匯率風險、信用風險及系統風險暴露亦相對提高，建議壽險公司於追球較高報酬同時，應同時加強風險管理。另實證亦發現，資產規模愈大公司之投資報酬率相對較遜，建議於追求保費市占率成長時，應重視投資報酬績效的實質提升。 第二部分探討2004年至 2008年台灣壽險業國外投資匯率風險管理策略對投資績效影響。以整體產業觀察，匯率避險對投資報酬率有正面效果；本資公司避險策略相較外資公司積極，報酬率亦相對較優；股票上市公司有財報揭露股價波動之壓力，經理人有較強誘因採取避險策略，投資報酬率相較優於股票未上市公司，惟差異並不顯著。實證結果支持Glen and Jorion (1993) and Campbell et al. (2010)避險可以降低匯率風險提升投資報酬績效之研究結論，2006年實施之34號會計公報，顯著影響本資公司與上市公司之避險行為。 / In this study, we study two essays on international asset allocation and the currency hedging problem for Taiwan life insurer industry. In the first essay, we investigate the high percentage of foreign investments placed by Taiwan life insurers and how this phenomenon is at odds with the bias for investing at home common among American investors. The holdings of 25 Taiwan life insurance companies, between the years 2004 and 2008, are scrutinized with a view towards evaluating home bias and its financial impact. We find that foreign investment has proven profitable for the life insurance industry. However, if the life insurance industry is divided into two categories according to its ownership structure, i.e., domestic-owned and foreign-owned companies, and that while the performance of investments made by domestic-owned life insurers differs from that of foreign-owned life insurers, the difference is insignificant. We also found that global financial turmoil in 2008 had a massively negative impact on the foreign investments of Taiwan life insurance companies and firm size and return on investment is negative correlated, suggesting that life insurers should focus on enhancing investment performance and risk management. In the second essay, we examine the currency hedging strategy and its impact on the performance of Taiwan life insurance industry investments from 2004 to 2008. We find that currency hedging strategies have yielded positive results, overall, for the industry. However, if the life insurance industry is divided into two categories according to its ownership structure, i.e., domestic-owned and foreign-owned companies, the results show that the currency hedging strategies employed by the domestic-owned companies enjoy advantages over those of foreign-owned firms. If the sample is further divided into those publicly listed on the TAIEX and others, our results show that a hedging strategy has positive effects on listed company. Our findings support the work in Glen and Jorion (1993) and Campbell et al. (2010), which reveal that hedging strategies improve foreign investment returns and can reduce currency risks in comparison to non-hedging strategies. Our empirical results indicate that SFAS No. 34 has a significant effect on currency hedging behavior among domestically owned and listed companies.