With the increasing call for accountability of significant marketing communication spending, quantifying and measuring the contribution of marketing communication to market performance is increasingly a requirement for sustainability in all management practices. In addition, the resource-based view (RBV) suggests that a firm's marketing communication creates intangible market-based assets and that these assets strengthen a firm's market and financial performance. Recent developments of the market-based assets theory focus on corporate reputation as an intangible market-based asset, suggesting that a favorable reputation is an intangible asset that increases a firm's performance. This study examined the effect of advertising and publicity on corporate reputation and market performance and hypothesized that a firm's advertising and publicity generated favorable corporate reputations and high levels of sales revenues in certain firms. Hypotheses were tested by a time-series analysis using the panel data of 18 companies over a 21-year period from 1985 to 2005. The results indicated that advertising and publicity have significant effects on corporate reputation for certain companies. Other variables, such as a firm's dividend yield to investors, market value, diversification, and profitability were significantly related to assessments of corporate reputation for certain companies, but the direction of the relationship varied from company to company. For example, as expected, low dividend yields induce high assessments of corporate reputation for certain companies. A firm's current market value also affects assessments of a firm's reputation. More diversified companies yield lower corporate reputations for certain companies. Regarding the relationship between marketing communication and sales revenues, advertising and publicity have significant effects on sales revenues for some companies. A firm's R&D expenditures, the focus of the firm, and firm size also showed a significant positive relevance to sales revenues for certain companies. / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Business / Master / Master of Philosophy

A synthetic hypothesis is constructed to account for the pattern of manufacturing profitability. The explanatory role of labour shortage, growing openness, union bargaining power and exchange rate changes is confirmed. Set in the context of institutional and policy changes, these factors provide a more satisfying description of the determinants of profitability than previous, frequently monocausal, explanations.

The primary objective of this dissertation is to show that corporate governance affects the value relevance of earnings in the presence of earnings management. The role of corporate governance is to reduce the divergence of interests between shareholders and managers. The role of corporate governance is more useful when managers have an incentive to deviate from shareholders’ interests. One example of management’s deviation from shareholders’ interests is the management of earnings through the use of accounting accruals. Corporate governance is likely to reduce the incidence of earnings management. Corporate governance is also likely to improve investors’ perception of the reliability of a firm’s performance, as measured by the earnings, in situations of earnings management. That is, corporate governance will be value relevant when earnings management exists. The results of this research support these propositions.In this thesis, the value relevance of earnings is measured using the earnings response coefficient. Earnings management is measured using the magnitude of abnormal accruals as estimated by the modified Jones (Dechow et al., 1995) model. A review of the corporate governance literature revealed nine attributes that were expected to impact on shareholders’ perception of earnings reliability due to their role in enhancing the integrity of the financial reporting process. The nine attributes represent three categories of corporate governance: 1) organisational monitoring; 2) incentive alignment; and 3) governance structure.Although not all corporate governance attributes suggested in the literature impact on investors’ perception of a firm’s performance, the primary proposition that corporate governance affects this perception when earnings are managed is supported. The primary contribution of the study is finding evidence supporting the moderating effect of earnings management on the relationship between corporate governance and the value relevance of earnings. These results validate Hutchinson and Gul’s (2004) claim that the role of corporate governance attributes in firm performance should be evaluated in concurrence with a firm’s organisational environment. Future research should control for corporate governance and earnings management, as indicators of earnings reliability, when using returns-earnings regressions to address a research question.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Robert Freeman. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1996. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-119). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1996. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-119). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The subscription economy — wherein firms offer products and services for recurring fees — has witnessed substantial growth in the last two decades. When valuing firms that rely on recurring revenue (hereafter recurring revenue firms), investors adopt valuation methods that prioritize future revenue over current performance, altering the earnings management incentives for these firms. I first document fundamental differences in recurring revenue firms: they tend to be smaller and younger, and they have greater revenue persistence, investment efficiency, and profitability. They experience more pronounced stock market reactions to revenue and earnings, but only when future revenue indicators (deferred revenue) are high. To align with growth-focused investor valuation methods, recurring revenue firms avoid premature revenue recognition to maintain a high level of deferred revenue. Instead, they cut discretionary expenses to meet earnings targets and excessively defer revenue to enhance their valuation. These insights underscore how earnings management incentives evolve in response to the changing economy.

Study project (MAcc)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Earnings per share and headline earnings per share are two popular performance measures, in spite of a number of shortcomings. This assignment argues that an additional performance measure ought to be disclosed in the financial statements, namely maintainable earnings. The objective of maintainable earnings is to give an indication of the core earnings of the company, excluding the effect of non-recurring items that are not expected to influence the financial results in future years. The reason for this performance measure is mainly based on the needs of the users of financial statements and the application that it finds in their analises. There is circumstancial evidence that shows that users want an indication of maintainable earnings per share. It is also argued that the disclosure of maintainable earnings is in the interest of the users of financial statements, as they do not necessarily have the knowledge or time to make the necessary calculations for themselves. The recommendations made are, among others, that non-recurring items be excluded from the calculation of headline earnings and that changes in accounting estimates be done retrospectively. Recommendations for comprehensive disclosure are also made to be of help in the evaluation of earnings. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Verdienste per aandeel en wesensverdienste per aandeel is twee gewilde prestasiemaatstawwe, ten spyte van 'n aantal tekortkominge. Hierdie werkstuk lewer 'n betoog dat 'n addisionele maatstaf in die finansiële state geopenbaar behoort te word, naamlik handhaafbare verdienste. Die doelstelling van handhaafbare verdienste is om 'n aanduiding te gee van die kernverdienste van 'n maatskappy, geskei van die effek van eenmalige items wat na verwagting nie die resultate in toekomstige jare sal beïnvloed nie. Die beweegrede vir so 'n maatstaf word in hoofsaak gebaseer op die behoeftes van gebruikers van finansiële state en die aanwending wat dit in hul analises kan vind. Daar is omstandigheidsgetuienis wat daarop dui dat gebruikers In aanduiding verlang van die handhaafbare verdienste per aandeel. Daar word ook In betoog gelewer dat die openbaarmaking van handhaafbare verdienste in die belang van gebruikers is, aangesien die moontlikheid bestaan dat gebruikers nie noodwendig die kennis of tyd het om self so In berekening te maak nie. Die voorstelle wat gemaak word, behels onder andere die uitsluiting van eenmalige items uit die berekening van handhaafbare verdienste en dat veranderinge in rekeningkundige ramings terugwerkend aangepas behoort te word. Daar word ook voorstelle gemaak vir omvattende openbaarmaking ten einde die oorweging van verdienste te vergemaklik.