The focus of this research is mediation in workplace disputes between individuals; and the research population, those ACAS staff mediating in such disputes. The research questions ask what constitutes success, and how mediators achieve it. The theoretical framework is that of systems, a workplace dispute being a sub-system of the organisational system. Success is often defined in the mediation literature as a written agreement. Measures other than agreements, written or otherwise, are also mentioned. The literature identifies many variables leading to success. These have been grouped into those contributed by mediators, and those of a situational nature. The researcher adopted an interpretivist research paradigm and, primarily, the case study methodology, ACAS mediators being the case. A model predicting success in workplace mediation is outlined. Various research methods were used, in particular, participant and non-participant observation, focus groups, individual interviews, and reviewing records. Most mediators interviewed defined success as getting an agreement. They also identified indicators of likely success and reinforcers of agreements. Another important finding was that a so-called dispute impact approach to success resonated with mediators. Under that approach, success depends on what mediators seek to achieve: either to limit the dispute, or to settle it, or to address its root causes. The primary mediator variable leading to success was found to be the mediator’s experience; and the primary situational variable, the tractability of the particular dispute. Although success can be measured objectively, for instance by a written agreement, a relative measure such as the dispute impact approach provides a more nuanced gauge. Also, this thesis concludes, a systems approach is useful, not only when looking at the dispute to be mediated but also when considering the mediator, if s/he is part of an organisational system supplying mediation services. This system, in turn part of a wider economic/political system, shapes the key approaches to be adopted by the mediator, including the style of mediation and the time normally allocated to a case. Moreover, in this case study, it was found that the organisation (ACAS) gave less importance to mediation than to its other dispute resolution services.

Interprofessional working is an essential part of a health service delivery system. Effective delivery of health services relies on the contribution of health care professionals with different types of expertise. Interprofessional working occurs in all parts of the health system, but it occurs in different ways depending upon the organisational circumstances and the needs of service users. The aim of the study is to examine how health care professionals collaborate and to assess their perceptions of interprofessional working on health care delivery. This study discusses different sides of professional power, identity and autonomy between medical, nursing and allied health professionals. A power perspective of the theory of professions is followed in order to analyse different perceptions of professionals involved in this study. A qualitative research case study was used in this study. The fieldwork was conducted in three hospitals in Nepal by using a semi-structured interview schedule. Purposive sampling was used and, altogether, thirty-eight health care professionals participated in the research. The study suggests that interprofessional working is widely recognised and understood. Health care professionals also valued the relevance of interprofessional working despite the fact that it is a relatively new concept in Nepalese hospitals. This study finds that there were no significant differences found in interprofessional working practices between the three different hospitals in Nepal. It is also observed that interprofessional working is not sufficiently motivated amongst health care professionals and adequate support for it is lacking from all stakeholders. Nurses and allied health professionals are quite critical towards the role of medical professionals because they feel dominated and professionally isolated from the medical staff. In practice there appears to be various organisational, professional and interpersonal barriers such as lack of education on interprofessional care, interpersonal and communication skills. The study concludes with recommendations to improve interprofessional working in Nepalese hospitals.

This thesis examines the effect of weather events, monetary policy, and financialization on changes in global inventory, futures prices, spot prices, futures returns, and producers' equity returns of exchange-traded commodities. First, I investigate the relationship between temperature and precipitation anomalies on aluminium futures returns. Prior research only examines the effects of weather anomalies on soft commodities, although flooding, drought and temperature are also identified as disrupters to mining operations in both regulatory filings and media reports. However, I find no evidence of weather effects on aluminium futures returns. Instead, the evidence suggests that inventories provide enough buffer for weather events and that trading around such events is unlikely to yield abnormal returns. Second, I investigate the relationships between metal futures returns and global monetary policy and demonstrate that a multiplier ratio created to proxy for market liquidity and the effectiveness of unconventional monetary policy is positively related to the price of industrial metals. Contrary to prior research, there is little evidence of a relationship between real interest rates and industrial metals futures returns. These findings will enhance the ability of policymakers and other agents to determine whether the intended effects of quantitative easing are being transmitted to the markets. Third, I investigate the role of financialization in shaping the relationship between non-commercial speculation (hereinafter, speculation), trader concentration, and commodity futures returns. While prior studies variously find evidence of stabilising, reinforcing and destabilising effects of speculation upon returns, I show that speculation does not Granger-cause futures returns but that there is evidence of reverse causality from futures returns to speculation. Additionally, commodity futures returns respond to the publication of open interest information. Overall, financialization reduces the power of individual traders to set futures prices in a concentrated commodity market. These findings support a policy approach aimed at enhancing transparency rather than adding regulatory controls.

This thesis introduces two concomitant psychological perspectives, Regulatory Focus Theory and Regulatory Fit Theory to research in the field of audit judgment and decision making (JDM). The purpose of this thesis is to explore the applicability of the two theories in audit JDM research and to generate preliminary empirical results concerning their plausible implications. Regulatory Focus Theory (Higgins, 1997) provides a fundamental model of human cognition, emotion, and behaviour, as composed of two distinct self-regulation systems: promotion focus (concerned with nurturance needs) versus prevention focus (concerned with security needs). The developing theory has provided many remarkable insights into cognition and decision-making generally. It is proposed in this thesis that Regulatory Focus Theory has important implications for audit JDM, and that it may enrich the account of difference in audit judgment and cognition among auditors provided by prior research. Employing an audit task setting that involved judgment concerning investigation boundaries, this thesis reports evidence for the distinct effects of promotion focus versus prevention focus on cognition of temporal aspects of accounting information and on information processing styles in audit judgment. Participants represent a mix of accounting undergraduates, MBA students, and accounting practitioners. Compared with promotion- focused individuals, prevention-focused individuals over-discount the significance of accounting information distant in the past (five-years ago), while under-discount proximal (two-years ago) information. When information is processed procedurally rather than intuitively, differences in judgments among subjects with promotion versus prevention focus is significantly reduced. Higgins‘ later work looks at how strategic means serve one‘s regulatory focus dispositions and finds that certain strategic means or behaviours may better sustains or fit one‘s motivational state than others (Cesario, Higgins, and Scholer, 2008). The concept of regulatory fit has been applied by researchers in the field of consumer behaviour to study the effect of regulatory fit on the persuasiveness of advocacy messages (e.g., Avent and Higgins, 2006). This thesis proposes that the persuasion effect of regulatory fit can be applied to audit JDM and in particular to the persuasion aspects of the audit review process, and provides new evidence in support of the proposal. The persuasion effect of regulatory fit is examined in a scenario constructed to be analogous to audit. Accounting undergraduates assume a role as independent party to advice the committee of a student drama club on planning of activities for the current year based on review of accounting information in relation to revenue generation of the club. Experimental results reported in this thesis show the relevance of regulatory fit / misfit in audit judgment. Across three settings of regulatory fit induction: The experiments manipulated various sources of regulatory fit – fit from framings of messages received; fit from strategic means applied within the task; and finally fit from prior performance in a separate task. The thesis has demonstrated methods by which regulatory fit can be created from various sources in audit contexts and offered findings suggesting factors affecting audit judgment not yet covered in extant research, e.g., order of audit tasks and the strategic manner of audit tasks (eager versus vigilant).

‘Accounting has come to occupy an ever more significant position in the functioning of modern industrial societies’ (Burchell et al 1980: 5). Almost 40 years have elapsed since this comment was made and during that time the UK accounting profession has secured a fundamental presence in the neoliberal global economy, wielding great power. However, the scale and scope of accounting’s success has been gender asymmetrical; women accountants have not achieved commensurate success with men either in terms of ICAEW membership or Big 4 partner numbers. This thesis charts the role and performance of women in the UK accounting profession from 1870 to 2013, critically assessing the reasons why women fail to do as well as men.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-29T11:13:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_9161_Dissertacao_SILVIO_DEFESA_Final.pdf: 347115 bytes, checksum: 987d7d0860b6128eba9271adc0876a00 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09-04 / Este estudo tem por objetivo analisar a influência da composição de remunerações aos acionistas sobre a capacidade informacional dos lucros contábeis nas ações das empresas listadas na BM&FBOVESPA. A amostra foi composta por 172 ações de empresas negociadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo durante o ano de 2010 a 2014, com o total de 595 observações por variável. Os dados utilizados nesta pesquisa foram obtidos por meio de informações coletadas na base de dados do software Comdinheiro e site da BM&FBovespa. Em relação às informações principais, dividendos e juros sobre capital próprio a coleta foir realizada pontualmente nas demonstrações financeiras padronizadas e disponibilizas no site da Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM). Verificou-se ao longo do estudo que a remuneração total dos acionistas, os dividendos e a remuneração futura contribuem positivamente para a capacidade informacional dos lucros contábeis para explicar o retorno das ações das empresas listadas na BM&FBovespa. Além disso, constatou-se que no momento da divulgação das DFPs, os juros sobre capital próprio e as remunerações passadas não contribuem para capacidade informacional dos lucros contábeis, dado que já foram refletidos nos preços das ações. O lucro líquido mostrou-se positivo e estatisticamente significativo em todos os modelos, como a principal variável que impacta nos retornos das ações, este resultado é condizente com os achados de Ball e Brown (1968), Beaver (1968) e Sarlo Neto (2009). Sugere-se para pesquisas futuras, na relação das composições das remunerações aos acionistas e preços das ações, a análise considerando fatores como: regulamentação específica de setores, estrutura de propriedade e tipo de controlador. / This study aims to analyze the influence of the shareholders compensation composition on the informational capacity of accounting profits in the shares of companies listed on the BM & FBOVESPA. The sample was composed of 172 stocks of companies traded on the São Paulo Stock Exchange ranging the years of 2010 to 2014, with a total of 595 observations per variable. The data used in this research were obtained from information collected in a software database named Comdinheiro and the web site of BM & FBovespa. Regarding the main information, dividends and interest on equity, they were collected, promptly, in standardized financial statements available at the Brazilian SEC web site (CVM). It was found during the study that the total shareholders compensation, dividends and future compensation contribute positively to the informational capacity of accounting earnings for explaining the return of the shares of companies listed on the BM & FBovespa. In addition, it was found that at the time of release of the Cash Flow Statement, interest on equity and past salaries do not contribute to informational capacity of accounting profits, as they were already reflected in stock prices. Net income was positive and statistically significant in all models, as the main variable that impacts on stock returns, this result is consistent with the findings of Ball and Brown (1968), Beaver (1968) and Sarlo Neto (2009). It is suggested for further research on the relationship of the compositions of shareholders compensation and stock prices, the analysis considering factors such as specific regulatory sectors, ownership structure and type of controller.

Submitted by Elizabete Silva (elizabete.silva@ufes.br) on 2015-10-26T18:29:39Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) A ADOÇÃO DAS IFRS IMPACTA NO GERENCIAMENTO DE RESULTADOS EVIDÊNCIAS DO MERCADO DE CAPITAIS BRASILEIRO.pdf: 1086762 bytes, checksum: c1467dd175042006a953496b7603a337 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Morgana Andrade (morgana.andrade@ufes.br) on 2015-11-25T19:05:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) A ADOÇÃO DAS IFRS IMPACTA NO GERENCIAMENTO DE RESULTADOS EVIDÊNCIAS DO MERCADO DE CAPITAIS BRASILEIRO.pdf: 1086762 bytes, checksum: c1467dd175042006a953496b7603a337 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-11-25T19:05:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) A ADOÇÃO DAS IFRS IMPACTA NO GERENCIAMENTO DE RESULTADOS EVIDÊNCIAS DO MERCADO DE CAPITAIS BRASILEIRO.pdf: 1086762 bytes, checksum: c1467dd175042006a953496b7603a337 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Objetivou-se nesta dissertação identificar o impacto da adoção das IFRS no gerenciamento de resultados (proxy para a qualidade da informação contábil - QIC) das companhias abertas brasileiras não financeiras na BM&FBOVESPA. Em revisão da literatura especializada na temática, constatou-se que: (1) existe uma lacuna na investigação do gerenciamento de resultados no Brasil, visto que a maioria dos estudos se concentra no gerenciamento de resultados por accruals discricionários, havendo ainda poucos estudos sobre o gerenciamento de resultados por manipulações operacionais, assim como estudos que abordam ambas as formas de gerenciamento de resultados (MARTINEZ, 2013) e; (2) a qualidade da informação contábil (QIC) não é somente influenciada pelo padrão contábil, mas por pelo menos três fatores distintos: i) o ambiente legal e político em que as empresas estão inseridas, ii) o padrão contábil e; iii) os incentivos internos das companhias para a divulgação da informação contábil, sendo o primeiro fator mais relevante que os outros dois, inclusive por também influenciá-los (SODERSTROM; SUN, 2007). Assim, optou-se por mensurar as duas formas de gerenciamento de resultados e analisar o impacto nelas de três variáveis que se espera que capturem os efeitos dos três fatores que impactam na QIC, são elas: i) a regulação adicional de alguns setores da economia (primeiro fator); ii) as IFRS (segundo fator) e; iii) a presença das companhias nos segmentos especiais de listagem da BM&FBOVESPA (terceiro fator). Acredita-se que esta abordagem que avalia as IFRS em conjunto com demais fatores que impactam na QIC permita uma análise mais abrangente acerca do possível impacto das IFRS no gerenciamento de resultados. A população de interesse da pesquisa foram as companhias abertas não financeiras da BM&FBOVESPA e a amostra, coletada a partir da ferramenta Comdinheiro, contou com 1.619 observações empresa/ano para os modelos de accruals discricionários e com 1.592 observações empresa/ano para os modelos de manipulações operacionais. Para a operacionalização da pesquisa foram realizadas seis análises de regressão com correção robusta de White para dados em painel com efeitos aleatórios, cada regressão tinha como variável dependente uma métrica diferente para o gerenciamento de resultados das companhias, sendo que três buscavam capturar os accruals discricionários e outras três as manipulações operacionais. Os resultados sugerem que as IFRS não impactaram nas práticas de gerenciamento de resultados, seja por accruals discricionários ou por manipulações operacionais. A presença em setores regulados, no entanto, tende a exercer uma restrição à utilização do gerenciamento de resultados por accruals discricionários nas companhias, porém, não impacta no gerenciamento de resultados por manipulações operacionais. Em relação à presença nos segmentos especiais de listagem da BM&FBOVESPA, os resultados sugerem que nos últimos anos, quando o padrão contábil já era as IFRS, as companhias presentes em tais segmentos apresentaram menores valores absolutos de accruals discricionários e de manipulações operacionais. Conclui-se que as IFRS não foram capazes de diminuir o gerenciamento de resultados no Brasil possivelmente devido ao fraco ambiente institucional brasileiro (LOPES; WALKER, 2008), apresentando, inclusive, um teor formalístico que se caracteriza pela diferença entre a realidade prática e a proposta legal prevista para esta realidade (RIGGS, 1964, 1968). Além disso, contribuindo para literatura no Brasil, os resultados sugerem que as duas formas de gerenciamento de resultados são impactadas por fenômenos diferentes porque possuem incentivos e custos diferentes e, dessa forma, não devem ser tratadas como se respondessem aos mesmos incentivos. / This dissertation aimed to identify the impact of the IFRS adoption on earnings management (proxy for the earnings quality - EQ) of non-financial Brazilian companies on the Brazilian Securities, Commodities and Futures Exchange (Bolsa de Valores, Mercadorias e Futuros de São Paulo - BM&FBOVESPA). In reviewing the literature on the issue, it was found that: (1) there is a gap in the investigation of earnings management in Brazil, since most of the studies focuses on earnings management by discretionary accruals, there are few studies on earnings management by operational manipulations, as well as studies on both earnings management forms (MARTINEZ, 2013) and; (2) the earnings quality (EQ) is not only influenced by accounting standards, but by at least three distinct factors: i) the legal and political environment in which companies operate, ii) the accounting standards and; iii) internal incentives of the companies for the disclosure of accounting information, being the first factor more relevant than the others two, including by also influence them (SODERSTROM, SUN, 2007). Thus, it chose to measure both forms of earnings management and analyze the impact on them of three variables that are expected to capture the effects of the three factors that impact the EQ, they are: i) the additional regulation of some sectors of the economy (first factor); ii) IFRS (second factor) and; iii) the presence of companies in the special segment of BM&FBOVESPA listing (third factor). It is believed that this approach which assesses the IFRS together with other factors that impact the EQ allow a more comprehensive analysis on the possible impact of the IFRS on earnings management. The population of interest of the research was the non-financial public companies of BM&FBOVESPA and the sample, collected from the Comdinheiro tool, included 1,619 firm/year observations for models of discretionary accruals and 1,592 firm/year observations for models of operational manipulations. In order to implement the research were carried out six regression analyzes with White robust correction for panel data with random effects, each regression had as a dependent variable a different metric for earnings management of companies, and three sought to capture the discretionary accruals and three other the operational manipulations. The results suggest that IFRS had no impact on earnings management practices, either discretionary accruals or operational manipulations. The presence in regulated sectors, however, tends to have a restriction on the use of earnings management by discretionary accruals in companies, however, does not impact on earnings management by operational manipulations. Regarding the presence in the special segment of BM&FBOVESPA listing, the results suggest that in recent years, when the accounting standard was already IFRS, companies present in these segments had lower absolute values of discretionary accruals and operating manipulations. It is concluded that the IFRS were not able to decrease the earnings management in Brazil possibly due to poor Brazilian institutional environment (LOPES; WALKER, 2008), showing even a formalistic aspect which is characterized by the difference between the practical reality and Legal proposal planned for this reality (RIGGS, 1964, 1968). Also contributing to the literature in Brazil, the results suggest that both forms of earnings management are affected by different phenomena because they have different incentives and costs and, therefore, should not be treated as if they respond to the same incentives.

Submitted by Maykon Nascimento (maykon.albani@hotmail.com) on 2015-08-20T18:19:45Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) A relacao entre o nivel de evidenciacao socioambiental e os fatores da sustentabilidade de empresas do setor eletrico brasileiro.pdf: 1626820 bytes, checksum: 8f29f069802127301247a4c9f888d905 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Patricia Barros (patricia.barros@ufes.br) on 2015-08-21T14:25:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) A relacao entre o nivel de evidenciacao socioambiental e os fatores da sustentabilidade de empresas do setor eletrico brasileiro.pdf: 1626820 bytes, checksum: 8f29f069802127301247a4c9f888d905 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-08-21T14:25:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) A relacao entre o nivel de evidenciacao socioambiental e os fatores da sustentabilidade de empresas do setor eletrico brasileiro.pdf: 1626820 bytes, checksum: 8f29f069802127301247a4c9f888d905 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / O Relatório Anual de Responsabilidade Socioambiental (RARS) das empresas do Setor Elétrico Brasileiro (SEB) é um importante canal de comunicação entre as organizações e os diversos interessados. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a relação entre o Nível de Evidenciação Socioambiental e os Fatores Econômicos, Ambientais e Sociais da Sustentabilidade. A pesquisa classifica-se como quantitativa-descritiva, cuja coleta de dados apresenta-se como análise documental. A análise foi realizada em 108 empresas concessionárias de energia elétrica que publicaram o RARS no ano de 2012. O primeiro resultado relevante foi à validação mediante o teste Alpha de Crombach dos índices utilizados para medir o Nível de Evidenciação Socioambiental das empresas pesquisadas. Em seguida identificou-se que as empresas evidenciaram mais indicadores sociais que ambientais, e que algumas empresas ainda enquadram-se nos níveis “Regular e Baixo” de evidenciação socioambiental, o que reforça a tese que somente por meio de regulação, as empresas realizarão divulgações completas. Em relação às principais práticas de evidenciação socioambiental, constatou-se que estão voltadas a publicitar as políticas socioambientais desenvolvidas pelas empresas, e as interações socioambientais negativas são pouco evidenciadas pelas empresas. Em relação à investigação principal da pesquisa, foi constatada uma relação positiva e significativa entre o Nível de Evidenciação Ambiental, Social e Socioambiental e Fatores Econômicos da Sustentabilidade, e entre Nível de Evidenciação Social e Fatores Sociais da Sustentabilidade. E que a Pressão dos Stakeholders é relacionada positivamente e significativamente com o Nível de Evidenciação Socioambiental. / The Annual Social and Environmental Responsibility Report (RARS) of companies in the Brazilian Electric Sector (SEB) is an important channel of communication between the organizations and stakeholders. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of environmental disclosure and economic, environmental and social sustainability factors. The research is classified as quantitative descriptive, in which data collection is presented as documental analysis. The analysis was performed in 108 companies electric utilities that published the RARS in 2012. The first important result was the validation by the Cronbach's alpha test of the indices used to measure the level of Environmental Disclosure of the companies surveyed. Then it was found that companies showed more social indicators that environmental, and some companies still fall within the levels "Regular and Low" social and environmental disclosure, which reinforces the thesis that only through regulation, companies will hold disclosures complete. Regarding the main practices of environmental disclosure, it was found that are aimed to publicize the social and environmental policies pursued by companies, and the negative socio-environmental interactions are poorly evidenced by the companies. Regarding the main research study, a positive and significant relationship between the level of Environmental Disclosure, Social and Environmental Factors and Economic Sustainability was found, and between Level of Social Disclosure and Social Sustainability Factors. And the pressure of stakeholders is positively related and significantly with the level of Environmental Disclosure.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-29T11:13:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_9384_Dissertacao_Adelzira_Final_REV06.pdf: 953191 bytes, checksum: 15ccfe390ed46e4a90f46af62bb1b2aa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-18 / CAPES / A evidenciação das informações contábeis consiste em um processo estratégico da gestão empresarial, pois fornece inúmeros serviços aos diversos usuários das informações. A produção e a divulgação dessas informações refletem os aspectos normativos que regem a contabilidade das empresas, bem como os objetivos dos gestores responsáveis pelo processo contábil. O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar os fatores que explicam o nível de disclosure das empresas S.A. de capital fechado com sede no Estado do Espírito Santo, relacionando-o com as características contábil-financeiras e os possíveis incentivos/obrigações econômicos existentes. Para tanto, foram analisadas as empresas S.A de capital fechado que publicaram suas demonstrações em Diário Oficial e/ou em Jornais de grande circulação. Foram utilizados modelos de regressão linear múltiplas, além de modelos de regressão logística. Os resultados demonstram que grande parte dos achados da teoria do disclosure em estudos empíricos de empresas de capital aberto, também se aplicam ao rol de empresas S.A. de capital fechado. Por exemplo, verificou-se que empresas auditadas por Big four apresentam níveis de disclosure maiores. A variação grau de disclosure pode ser explicada pelo setor no qual a empresa está inserida. Em setores mais complexos, que demandam maior volume de capital investido o nível de disclosure tende a ser maior. Constatou-se também que existe uma correlação positiva entre nível de disclosure e idade da empresa, revelando que empresas mais maduras tendem a divulgar mais. / Financial information disclosure has been a key (strategic) process in business management. Both production and distribution of information are under normative issues that head companies’ accounts as well as the goals followed by accounting process managers. This study aims to identify the factors that explain the level of mandatory disclosure of anonymous private companies located in Espírito Santo State. To this end, this work analyzed private companies that published their balance accounts in either “Diário Oficial” of Espírito Santo State. A disclosure index was developed to measure the level of compliance of firms to the different levels of obligations they were subject to. Multiple linear regression models as well logistic regression models were employed. The Management Report and the Comprehensive Income Statement were the reports with lowest levels of compliance. Regarding determinants of disclosure, results are similar to observed in research about voluntary disclosure of public companies, when observed leverage, big four auditing company and age. However, the usual relationship of size with disclosure was not present in this research about mandatory disclosure.

This thesis presents new empirical evidence on three important aspects of financial reporting by banks. The thesis consists of an introductory chapter that explains how the three issues are related to each other, three empirical chapters and a final summary chapter. The first empirical chapter studies the effects of accounting conservatism on the pricing of syndicated bank loans. I provide evidence that banks more timely in loss recognition charge higher spreads for the same loan provision. I go on to consider what happens to this relationship during the financial crisis. During the crisis, banks more timely in loss recognition increase their spreads to a lesser extent than banks less timely in loss recognition. The policy implication is that banks more timely in loss recognition exhibit more prudent and less pro-cyclical debt pricing behaviour. The second empirical chapter examines the relationship between the value relevance of fair value gains and losses and bank risk in an international bank sample. One possibility is that, as risk increases, the scope for subjectivity in fair value estimates increases thereby potentially rendering the numbers less useful. However another possibility is that the relevance of faithfully reported fair value gains and losses increases as risk increases. The study provides evidence that the value relevance of fair value gains and losses is positively associated with bank risk prior to the crisis. During the crisis there is also evidence of a similar positive relationship, but it is not possible to draw firm conclusions for reasons discussed in the chapter. My research also shows that the fair value gains and losses of banks that elect to use the fair value option for assets that could have been accounted for using amortized costs are more value relevant and persistent. This study provides information to policy makers on the situations when fair values are most useful to investors. The third empirical chapter examines if the market rationally prices the loan loss provisions, and the reported fair value gains and losses of US banks. The chapter models the discretionary components of loan loss provisions and fair value gains and losses, and tests if the discretionary components are priced differently from their non-discretionary counterparts. The results provide little evidence that the market misprices operating cash flows, non-discretionary loan loss provisions, or fair value gains and losses (discretionary or otherwise). However there is evidence of significant mispricing of discretionary loan loss provisions. The lack of evidence on the mispricing of fair value gains and losses is consistent with the finding on the value relevance of fair value gains and losses in the second empirical chapter.