Bibliography: leaves 93-95. / The primary objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between the sizes of South African unit trust funds, as measured by the market value of assets under management, and their respective risk adjusted returns. The study also seeks to determine the degree to which an identifiable range of asset sizes exists within which the risk adjusted fund returns are maximised. The results of the regression and ranking analysis, performed on a sample of South African unit trust funds over a ten year period, revealed that no statistically significant evidence was found to suggest that a relationship exists between fund size and total or risk adjusted return.

Includes bibliographical references. / This paper investigates the value relevance of accounting earnings and book value of equity to share price on the Johannesburg Security Exchange (JSE) market. The research was motivated by the results of different researchers on different markets which reveal that the value relevance of accounting earnings and book value has increased on emerging capital markets while it as decreased on developed capital markets.

I use two accrual measures (abnormal total accruals and abnormal total current accruals) to proxy for accrual quality and examine the relationship between accrual quality and market reaction at the revelation date (the date the bad news about firms' true financial performance was first revealed to the public), the announcement date (the date the filing of the lawsuits was announced to the public) and the subsequent five periods following these dates. I also examine how institutional investors influence the association between accrual quality and market reaction during these periods. Empirical results using abnormal total accruals as proxy for accrual quality suggest that firms with poorer accrual quality are associated with more negative market reaction at the litigation announcement date; results do not suggest a relation between accrual quality and the post-litigation drift. Results using abnormal current accruals as proxy for accrual quality fail to indicate any relationship between accrual quality and market reaction at the revelation dates, announcement dates and the following periods. Results do not suggest that institutional investors play a role in the association between accrual quality and market reaction at the revelation date, announcement dates, and the periods following these dates. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Accounting in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2013. / June 25, 2013. / Accrual Quality, Investor Sophistication, Litigation / Includes bibliographical references. / Bruce Billings, Professor Directing Dissertation; Thomas Zuehlke, University Representative; Richard Morton, Committee Member; Al Bathke, Committee Member.

I examine how an audit client's political contributions influence the auditor-client relationship. Prior research suggests opposing forces from political contributions on the auditor's assessment of audit risk. Prior research also suggests political contributions can increase a firm's social prestige and influence, which I conjecture can increase the client's bargaining power and influence with the auditor. I provide evidence that higher political contributions are associated with higher audit fees, a lower likelihood of a material weakness, a lower likelihood of an auditor switch, poorer accruals quality, and higher nonaudit fees than non-connected clients. Higher audit fees suggest greater audit risk, while longer audit tenure, poorer accruals quality, and higher nonaudit fees suggest a stronger auditor-client economic bond. The combination of higher audit risk, a stronger auditor-client economic bond, and fewer reported material weaknesses is most consistent with the notion that clients use their political clout and social prestige to weaken auditor independence. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Accounting in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Accounting. / Summer Semester, 2013. / June 19, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references. / Frank Heflin, Professor Directing Dissertation; Thomas Zuehlke, University Representative; Richard Morton, Committee Member; John Kenneth Reynolds, Committee Member.

While prior research suggests that firms have primarily switched from accrual to real earnings management strategies since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Cohen, Dey, and Lys 2008), SOX hereafter, there has been limited research on the effects that this switch might have on firm performance and market pricing. Accrual earnings management simply shifts income recognition without affecting cash flows, whereas real earnings management implies suboptimal decisions that directly affect the underlying cash flows. Thus, this shift in earnings management techniques could have important consequences for investors. Consistent with increased real earnings management post-SOX, I find that abnormal operating decisions are less informative about future ROA and have a more negative effect on firm value relative to pre-SOX. Alternatively, consistent with less accrual earnings management post-SOX, I find that discretionary accruals are more informative about future ROA. Further, there is less evidence of market mispricing relative to pre-SOX. Finally, I examine the net effect that SOX has had on earnings management and find evidence consistent with earnings management in the post-SOX period leading to lower future returns and firm performance. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Accounting in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / February 13, 2015. / Discretionary Accruals, Earnings Management, Real Earnings Management, Sarbanes-Oxley / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard M. Morton, Professor Directing Dissertation; Thomas W. Zuehlke, University Representative; Frank L. Heflin, Committee Member; Bruce K. Billings, Committee Member; Allen W. Bathke, Committee Member.

I use multimodal physiological measurements to examine changes in investor behavior over a series of gains and losses. Specifically, I examine what information more- or less-sophisticated investors emphasize and characteristics of their associated effort over a series of decision rounds as they choose whether to take a long or short position in a stock. Using eye tracking, I measure where attention is directed. Using GSR, pupillometry, and EEG data, I measure characteristics of the effort expended by investors as they evaluate the information available to them. I find that investors emphasize information that trends in the same direction as the decision they ultimately make. Additionally, overall effort levels are greater when investors make investment decisions under the influence of prior losses. I also document evidence that suggests the magnitude of a participant's change in effort is greater when they go from experiencing gains to losses than from losses to gains. I provide new insight into the process of investment decision-making and how framing and experience impact that process. This dissertation is one of the first examples in the accounting and finance literatures to make extensive use of eye tracking and introduces the use of GSR, pupillometry, and EEG measurements in investment decision-making research. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Accounting in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2014. / April 14, 2014. / Eeg, Eye Tracking, Framing, Gsr, Investment Decision Making, Pupillometry / Includes bibliographical references. / Gregory J. Gerard, Professor Directing Dissertation; Neil H. Charness, University Representative; Bud Fennema, Committee Member; Walter R. Boot, Committee Member.

Prior research suggests that individuals receiving higher than market wages reciprocate with higher than enforceable levels of effort. This study examines whether the effectiveness of these reciprocity-based rewards depends on a worker's skill level. My experimental results indicate that the effort-wage relation is significantly more positive when reciprocity concerns are present. High skill workers demonstrate a less positive effort-wage relation than other workers when reciprocity concerns are absent. However, the incremental influence of reciprocity is stronger for high skill workers than for other workers. My results contribute to a better understanding of the prevalence of flat-wage contracts in practice for positions that require high skill. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Accounting in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2014. / January 31, 2014. / Effort, Fairness, Gift Exchange, Reciprocity, Skill / Includes bibliographical references. / Allen Blay, Professor Directing Dissertation; David Cooper, University Representative; Martin Fennema, Committee Member; Gregory Gerard, Committee Member; Douglas Stevens, Committee Member.

Prior studies show that the market rewards companies that meet earnings and revenue reporting targets. While findings of earnings management are abundant, the extant literature does not show that managers can smooth revenue recognition without violating GAAP. This study investigates the use of order backlog to manage revenue reporting. My results show that managers use order backlog to report positive revenue growth, to smooth revenue reporting, and to meet analysts' revenue forecasts. Managers also use order backlog to limit the magnitude of large positive forecast surprises and in so doing delay revenue recognition. This study adds to the earnings management literature, which typically focuses on earnings, by showing that managers also manipulate reporting to meet revenue targets. An implication of this study is that more expansive order backlog disclosure requirements could bring greater transparency to this type of revenue manipulation. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Accounting in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2014. / December 5, 2013. / Earnings Management, Meet or Beat Analysts' Forecasts, Order Backlog, Revenue Management / Includes bibliographical references. / Frank L. Heflin, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jeffery S. Paterson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Thomas W. Zuehlke, University Representative; Richard M. Morton, Committee Member.

This study investigates whether labor union strength is associated with the quality of audits and internal control. Labor unions have reason to demand high quality audits and strong systems of internal control because they rely on financial information in collective bargaining negotiations. However, organized labor creates incentives for managers to provide lower quality audits and weaker internal control in order to hold greater influence over the content of the financial information that unions receive. I provide evidence that union strength is associated with higher audit quality and better internal control. Specifically, I find that union strength is associated with higher audit fees, fewer audit failures, and less material weaknesses. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Accounting in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 1, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references. / John K. Reynolds, Professor Directing Dissertation; Yingmei Cheng, University Representative; Allen D. Blay, Committee Member; Jeffrey S. Paterson, Committee Member.

Motivated by voluntary disclosure theory, I examine the relation between innate and discretionary accruals quality (AQ) and management's earnings forecast decisions. I argue that AQ provides an indication of the quality of managers' earnings-related information, as accruals that are of higher (lower) quality presumably arise from higher (lower) quality information. Further, I argue that the two components of AQ, innate and discretionary, have opposite relations with information acquisition costs, an important theoretical determinant of disclosure. Specifically, higher levels of innate AQ suggest managers bear low information acquisition costs, leading to a positive association with forecast activity. Conversely, higher discretionary AQ indicates greater information acquisition costs, yielding a negative theoretical association with voluntary disclosure. I find evidence consistent with these predictions. Further, improvements in innate AQ correspond to a higher (lower) likelihood of starting (stopping) a policy of forecasting and increases in forecast frequency, though I find no relation between changes in discretionary AQ and changes in forecasting policy. Finally, as predicted, innate AQ interacts with several previously identified determinants of forecasting, including institutional holdings, abnormal audit fees, product market competition, and litigation risk. Overall, my results are consistent with theory suggesting both information quality and information acquisition costs play important roles in managers' forecasting decisions. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Accounting in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / April 25, 2014. / Accruals Quality, Disclosure Costs, Information Quality, Management Forecast, Voluntary Disclosure / Includes bibliographical references. / Frank L. Heflin, Professor Directing Dissertation; Bruce K. Billings, Committee Member; Richard M. Morton, Committee Member; Jeffrey S. Paterson, Committee Member.