Since 2005, publicly traded European companies are required to prepare their consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This is the result of the so-called “IAS-Regulation” of the European Parliament and of the European Council (Regulation (EC) No. 1606/2002) which formulates two objectives directly related to financial reporting: (higher) comparability and transparency of financial statements. With regard to transparency, researchers often rely on proxies to measure the quality of financial statements. In this dissertation, I follow this approach and examine the quality of IFRS financial statements relying on different proxies, such as value relevance, the degree of earnings management, and disclosure quality. The four papers in this dissertation cover research questions related to the determinants and consequences of managerial discretion in the three most important components of financial statements: the balance sheet, the income statement, and the notes. In summary, this dissertation answers important questions concerning the quality of accounting under IFRS which have remained unanswered – and in some cases even unasked – until now. Therefore, this dissertation has a material impact on the understanding of accounting quality under IFRS.

Since 2005, publicly traded European companies are required to prepare their consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This is the result of the so-called “IAS-Regulation” of the European Parliament and of the European Council (Regulation (EC) No. 1606/2002) which formulates two objectives directly related to financial reporting: (higher) comparability and transparency of financial statements. With regard to transparency, researchers often rely on proxies to measure the quality of financial statements. In this dissertation, I follow this approach and examine the quality of IFRS financial statements relying on different proxies, such as value relevance, the degree of earnings management, and disclosure quality. The four papers in this dissertation cover research questions related to the determinants and consequences of managerial discretion in the three most important components of financial statements: the balance sheet, the income statement, and the notes. In summary, this dissertation answers important questions concerning the quality of accounting under IFRS which have remained unanswered – and in some cases even unasked – until now. Therefore, this dissertation has a material impact on the understanding of accounting quality under IFRS.:1 Accounting Quality under IFRS – Essays on Value Relevance, Earnings Management and Disclosure Quality: An Overview … 1 1.1 Introduction … 2 1.2 Overview of the Manuscripts … 4 1.3 Principal Research Contributions … 13 References … 16 2 Discretion in the Accounting for Defined Benefit Obligations - An Empirical Analysis of German IFRS Statements … 19 2.1 Introduction … 21 2.2 Literature Review … 25 2.3 Research Approach … 29 2.4 Results … 38 2.5 Conclusion … 45 References … 54 3 The Association between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Earnings Quality - Evidence from European Blue Chips … 59 3.1 Introduction … 61 3.2 Literature Review and Hypothesis Development … 63 3.3 Research Design … 70 3.4 Results … 79 3.5 Conclusion … 88 References … 101 4 Reexamining OCI Pricing - Empirical Analysis of Reporting Location Changes due to IAS 1 (rev. 2007) … 105 4.1 Introduction and Background … 107 4.2 Literature Review … 111 4.3 Research Approach and Hypotheses Development ...114 4.4 Results … 121 4.5 Conclusion … 130 References … 150 5 Short-term and Long-term Effects of IFRS Adoption on Disclosure Quality and Earnings Management … 155 5.1 Introduction … 157 5.2 Institutional Background: The Development of the German Accounting Environment … 161 5.3 Related Literature and Hypotheses Development … 164 5.4 Research Design … 175 5.5 Results … 186 5.6 Conclusion … 195 References … 209

Untersuchungsziel: Untersucht wurden Auswirkungen einer ambulanten orthopädischen Rehabilitation nach der Implantation einer Hüft- bzw. Knieendoprothese auf die individuelle Lebensqualität. Um zu erkennen, ob Zusammenhänge von individuellen Parametern wie Geschlecht, Alter, Bildungsstand und dem Rehabilitationsverlauf bzw. –ergebnis bestehen, wurden medizinisch-funktionelle und psychosoziale Daten erhoben, sowie ergänzende Variablen durch Schichtenindices und mittels eines strukturierten Interviews erfasst. Methode: Systematische Datenerhebung von medizinisch funktionellen (Gelenkbeweglichkeit, Muskelkraft) und psychosozialen (Aktivitäten des täglichen Lebens) Daten von n=60 Pat. mit Knie-TEP und n=61 Pat. mit Hüft-TEP zu vier Messzeitpunkten (Anfang Reha=t0, Ende Reha=t1, 6 Monate nach Reha= t2 und 24 Monate nach Reha= t3) und strukturiertes Interview zur Erfassung von soziodemographischen Merkmalen, Motivation und Behandlungszuversicht. Analysemethoden: Signifikanzanalyse und Berechnung der Effektstärke (Cohens d) der Veränderungen zwischen t0 – t1 für abhängige Stichproben (getrennt nach Indikation), Längsschnittdarstellung der funktionellen und psychosozialen Parameter mit deskriptivstatistischen Analysen getrennt nach Indikation und Geschlecht. Ergebnisse: Für beide Indikationen ergaben sich hohe Effekte für Verbesserungen der funktionellen Parameter und mittlere (teilhabebezogen) bzw. hohe (aktivitätsbezogen) Effekte bei den psychosozialen Parametern am Ende der Rehabilitation. Die teilstandardisierten Rehabilitationsmaßnahmen wirken sich indikations- und geschlechtsbezogen unterschiedlich aus. Unter Beachtung der psychophysischen Leistungsvoraussetzungen und sozialen Rahmenbedingungen ist die ambulante Rehabilitation gut geeignet für Patienten im höheren Lebensalter. / Study objective: Effects of an outpatient orthopedic rehabilitation after the implantation of a hip or knee replacement on the individual quality of life were studied. In order to analyze the existence of significant relationships between individual parameters such as gender, age, education and the rehabilitation outcome medical-functional and psychosocial data were collected, and additional layers of indices and variables by using a structured interview were applied. Method: Systematic data collection from medical functional (joint mobility, muscle strength) and psychosocial (activities of daily living) data of n = 60 patient with total knee replacement and n = 61 patient with total hip replacement to four time points (beginning of rehabilitation = t0, end rehab = t1, t2 = 6 months after rehabilitation and 24 months after discharge = t3) and structured interview for socio-demographic characteristics, motivation and confidence in treatment Analysis: Significance analysis and calculation of effect size (Cohen''s d) of the changes between t0 and t1 for dependent samples (separated by indication), longitudinal section view of the functional and psychosocial parameters with descriptive-statistical analyses apart from indication and sex Results: For both indications high effects of improvement in functional parameters, mean effects (participatory based) and high (activity-related) effects on the psycho-social parameters at the end of rehabilitation could be identified. The semi-standardized rehabilitation measures had shown differences by indication just like gender. In accordance with the psychophysical performance conditions and social environment outpatient rehabilitation is well suited for patients in advanced age.

Diese kumulative Dissertation besteht aus drei eigenständigen Arbeiten aus dem Bereich der Rechnungslegungsforschung. Die erste Arbeit ist eine Befragungsstudie von 137 internationalen Rechnungslegungsforschern über die Fair-Value-Orientierung von 28 lokalen Rechnungslegungssystemen. Anhand der Umfrageergebnisse war es möglich, einen internationalen Fair-Value Score zu bilden. Dieser zeigt, dass das portugiesische, slowenische und das russische Rechnungslegungssystem am meisten und das österreichische, deutsche und italienische Rechnungslegungssystem am wenigsten Fair-Value orientiert ist. Die zweite Arbeit untersucht die Determinanten der Wahl von Rechnungslegungssystemen mittels eines Prinzipal-Agenten-Models. In dem Model kann ein risikoneutraler Entrepreneur (Prinzipal) mit einem Anreiz zur Konsumglättung zwischen zwei Rechnungslegungssystemen wählen. Das Rechnungslegungssystem wird genutzt, um eine effiziente vertragstheoretische Lösung mit dem Manager herbeizuführen und um Informationen über das Unternehmen für Kapitalmarktteilnehmer bereitzustellen. Die Modellergebnisse zeigen, dass der Entrepreneur eher gewillt ist das Fair-Value-orientierte Rechnungslegungssystem zu wählen, wenn die Bedeutung von Eigenkapitalmärkten steigt, die Opportunitätskosten des Managements steigen, die Produktivität des Managements sinkt und die Qualität des Enforcements von Rechnungslegungsregeln abnimmt. Die empirischen Ergebnisse bestätigen größtenteils die theoretischen Erwartungen. Die dritte Arbeit untersucht, ob die verpflichtende Einführung der IFRS bei gleichzeitiger Anpassung des Enforcements zu einer Verbesserung der Ergebnisqualität geführt hat. Die empirischen Ergebnisse sind uneinheitlich und können daher den vermuteten Effekt nicht bestätigen. / This cumulative PhD-thesis consists of three papers within the field of empirical accounting research. The first paper provides descriptive evidence on the fair value orientation of existing local GAAP systems by surveying the perception of 137 international accounting academics about the fair value orientation of 28 local GAAP systems. The survey results enable us to rank countries’ local GAAP systems by their fair value orientation. The score ranking shows that Portuguese, Slovenian and Russian GAAP are the top three and Austrian, German and Italian GAAP are the bottom three of the fair value orientation. Furthermore, we are able to show that the fair value orientation of IFRS is higher than any of the 28 local GAAP systems. The second paper investigates the determinants of financial accounting regime choice in a principal agent setting. The model considers a risk-neutral entrepreneur who needs financial accounting information for contracting with a managerial agent and for communicating the firm value to a risk-averse secondary capital market. The comparative static results indicate that the preference of the entrepreneur for a fair value accounting regime increases with the relative importance of the secondary capital market and the opportunity costs of the managerial agent, while it decreases with the overall quality of the accounting signal, the effectiveness of the enforcement process and managerial productivity. Empirical evidence, which is based on country-year and country-level and US time series analysis, provides support for most of the theoretical predictions. The third paper investigates whether earnings quality effects are more pronounced post mandatory IFRS adoption in countries that substantially changed their enforcement system of accounting standards in comparison to countries that already had a strict enforcement system in place. The empirical analysis gives inconclusive results for the earnings quality measures.