本研究主要探討借殼上市公司之財報品質是否與差異一般上市公司有明顯差異，分析中國借殼上市公司財務報表品質是否較其他公司差，並進一步驗證借殼上市規則修訂是否對公司之財報品質造成顯著影響。研究樣本以2005年至2015年在美國紐約證券交易所(NYSE)、全美證券交易所(AMEX)與那斯達克證券市場(NASDAQ) 159家借殼上市公司為研究對象，並以相同產業、相同公司規模配對159家一般上市公司。本研究以裁決性應計項目作為財報品質的代理變數，並將借殼上市公司拆分成中國借殼上市公司及非中國之借殼上市公司，再加入規範修訂因子，藉以衡量中國借殼上市公司於修訂借殼上市相關規範後財報品質提升幅度是否大於非中國之借殼上市公司。實證結果顯示借殼上市的財務報表品質明顯差於配對公司，且中國借殼上市公司的財務報表品質明顯劣於非中國之借殼上市公司。在加入借殼上市規則修訂因子後，借殼上市公司財報品質改善幅度明顯大於配對之一般上市公司；比較中國借殼上市公司、非中國之借殼上市公司及配對公司在借殼上市規則修訂前後本身財報品質變化，發現三類公司前後財務報表品質皆有顯著提升，然而在提升幅度上中國借殼上市公司與非中國之借殼上市公司並無顯著差異。 / Based on a study sample consisting of 159 reverse merger firms and their matching U.S. public companies (according to industry and firm size) listed in NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ from 2005 to 2015, we study the impacts of the 2011 listing-rule revision on the financial reporting quality of reverse merger firms in the US. More important, using discretionary accruals as the proxy of financial reporting quality, we ask if the financial reporting quality of Chinese reverse merger firms is worse than the non-Chinese reverse merger firms. Our empirical results show that the financial reporting quality of reverse merger firms is out-performed by their matching U.S. counterparts, and the financial reporting quality of Chinese reverse merger firms is, in general, inferior to the non-Chinese reverse merger firms. Post the 2011 listing-rule revision, we find that the financial reporting quality of reverse merger firms is better than their matching U.S. firms after controlling for the regulatory factor; in particular, we find that the China reverse merger firms, the non-Chinese reverse merger firms, and the matching U.S firms, all exhibit significant improvements in their financial reporting quality. However, this incremental gain in financial reporting quality seems indifferent between the China reverse merger firms and the non-Chinese reverse merger firms.

Dissertation interfaces two current accounting issues: International Financial Reporting Standards and financial reporting quality. Theoretical framework begins with historical development and contemporary position of IFRS. It is followed by financial accounting quality where overview of methods is used for assessment of accounting quality. The literature underpinning represents the final part of theoretical part. Dissertation examines publicly traded Czech companies on Prague stock exchange and together their financial statements are presented under Czech accounting standards and later on switched on International Financial Reporting Standards. Final sample consists of 15 companies (222 firm-year observations) during period 1993-2013. World accepted models were adjusted before its application to be more convenient for Czech environment. Research results show that there are only limited improvements in financial reporting quality in IFRS period, only some companies are models applicable and therefore law and professional environment play significant role within quantitative methods.

Non-audit services provided by audit firms have been a popular scientific topic within the fields of audit and accounting research over the past decades. Numerous researchers have attempted to provide a theoretical contribution by examining different ways of measuring the concepts of audit quality and financial reporting quality. The resulting consequences are mixed results and a lack of consensus among researchers from both research fields. The two, in other situations, rather distinctive research fields of audit quality and financial reporting quality, have, in several cases, been confounded without analytical reflection regarding their differences. In parallel to the scientific progress, regulatory bodies have noticed the increasing trend of non-audit services and how they constitute larger portions of the audit firm’s annual revenues. Their responses have been legal restrictions, both in the US and Europe, in order to cease the trend. The purpose of this thesis is to make a pronounced investigation regarding the relationship between non-audit services and financial reporting quality in Swedish private firms. Furthermore, it will also be of interest to examine if this proposed relationship is moderated by the presence of the four global market-leading audit firms or not. The study is based on a deductive approach and a quantitative research strategy, to collect and analyze data from annual reports. To fulfill the purpose of the study, the data is analyzed by conducting binary and multinomial logistic regression tests. The results suggest that there is an association between certain types of non-audit services and financial reporting quality. Specifically, services that are unrelated to tax have proven to be statistically significant positively correlated with financial reporting quality. No evidence was found supporting a moderating effect by the characteristics of audit firms, suggesting that the choice of an audit firm is irrelevant for attaining high financial reporting quality when purchasing non-audit services. The study’s theoretical contribution is the novelty arising from the combination of studying non-audit services’ impact on financial reporting quality within a Swedish setting on private firms. The study also provides empirical contribution by using a proxy for financial reporting quality rarely used in previous research. The findings are of practical importance since they suggest that firms potentially benefit in their financial reporting by purchasing these kinds of services, which contradicts past actions made by regulatory bodies.

本研究以財報重編為財報品質之代理變數，探討自由現金流量是否對內部股權結構與財報品質的關係具有調節效果，期望藉助對於自由現金流量調節效果之了解，以利報表閱讀者更適當地解讀財報訊息，瞭解財報之品質。 實證結果顯示，自由現金流量對內部股權結構與財報品質間確實具有顯著的調節效果，尤其是董、監持股率與董事兼任經理人這兩項因素對於財報品質之關係，很受到自由現金流量之影響。自由現金流量本身與財報重編呈顯著負相關，自由現金流量愈高，財報重編的可能性愈低。但自由現金流量所引發的代理問題，反而可能對董、監持股率、董事兼任經理人與財報品質間的關係產生負面的調節效果，即財報重編的可能性顯著提高。但自由現金流量對於經理人持股率與財報品質間的關係不具有顯著的調節效果。 / This study examines whether free cash flow has the moderating effect on the relation between ownership structure and financial reporting quality, using financial restatements as a proxy for financial reporting quality. This study tries to interpret earnings information more appropriately through more understanding on the moderating effect of free cash flow. The study shows that free cash flow exactly has the moderating effect on the relation between ownership structure and financial reporting quality, especially for stocks holding ratio by directors and supervisors and CEO duality. Firms having more free cash flow are less likely to restate statements. However, free cash flow might trigger agency problem, which might having negative moderating effects, causing higher possibilities to restate statements. Otherwise, the finding of this study shows that there is no significantly moderating effect on the relation between managerial ownership and financial reporting quality.