The purpose of this study is to examine a two-part hypothesis. The first part is that underdepreciation is the cause of serious financial problems which have beset investor-owned electric utilities in recent years. The second part is that depreciation adjusted for changes in the general level of prices would do much to alleviate these problems.

This thesis examines the work of Robert Eisner of Northwestern University concerning the appropriate measure of the federal government budget deficit. Eisner proposes specific adjustments to be incorporated into the calculation of the federal budget deficit in order to account for the effects of inflation. These adjustments effect the federal budget deficit via the effect of inflation on the level of federal debt outstanding and the interaction between this debt and the deficit. The focus of this study is a comparison of the Quantity theory and the Income-Expenditure theory of national income determination (in the tradition of Friedman and Meiselman, 1963) using Eisner’s adjusted measure of the deficit for the period 1955 - 1984. This comparison is made between adjusted and unadjusted deficits as measured by the National Income and Product Accounts and as measured by the Cyclically Adjusted (or High Employment) budget. / Master of Arts

No description available.

Typical accounting studies attempting to explain accounting method choice employ positive theoretical hypotheses and test for association between adoption method or adoption timing and economic measures that focus upon specific firm stakeholders. Such studies addressing the adoption and impact of SFAS 87, "Employer's Accounting for Pensions," yield mixed and contradicting results. Various researchers have suggested that traditional economic analysis often fails to capture important explanatory variables and is far too simplistic. The purpose of this study is to expand analysis by evaluating a particular accounting choice by means of three different characterizations. SFAS 106, "Employers' Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions," allows management to choose between two very different methods of adopting the standard. The principal question explored in this study is: why did managers of firms that employ defined benefit postretirement plans for benefits other than pensions choose to adopt SFAS 106 using a particular method? The research question is explored by means of three different characterizations: 1) a traditional economic characterization; 2) a sociopolitical characterization); and 3) a joint decision characterization. Logit methodology is used with method of SFAS 106 adoption as the binary dependent variable of interest. Results indicate that all three characterizations are important in understanding the SFAS 106 adoption method choice. Further, each characterization adds separate information toward comprehension of the choice, supporting the notion of the complexity of accounting choice issues.

[Truncated abstract] The primary aim of this study was to examine, and compare, the value relevance and any bias associated with the reporting of intangible assets in Australia and the US over the ten-year period 1994 to 2003. The study adopts a disaggregated form of the Feltham and Ohlson (1995) valuation model and associated linear information models (LIMs) to allow goodwill and identifiable intangible assets to be separately examined using unbalanced panel regression analysis. The results for the Australian sample suggest that the adaptation of the Feltham and Ohlson (1995) valuation model used in this study is particularly useful in examining Australian equity securities. For example, the pooled sample analysis results in an adjusted R2 of 71%, which is consistent with similar US studies by Ahmed, Morton and Schaefer (2000) and Amir, Kirscenheiter and Willard (1997). Further, the results from the disaggregated Feltham and Ohlson (1995) valuation models suggest that the information presented with respect to intangible assets (both goodwill and identifiable intangible assets) under Australian GAAP is value relevant. However, the results from the valuation models also suggest that (for the average Australian company) the market believes goodwill is reported conservatively and identifiable intangible assets aggressively. ... As noted earlier, the increasing importance of intangible assets in the `new-economy’ suggests that (wherever possible having regard to the measurement difficulties) all intangible assets should be recognised in financial statements to maximise the value relevance of those statements. It should be noted, however, that there was some evidence to suggest that certain Australian companies (that is, those not consistently reporting positive abnormal operating earnings) might be reporting goodwill and/or identifiable intangible assets aggressively and this is an area that standard setters might need to carefully consider in future. I trust that the findings presented in this study will prove helpful to both researchers and those involved with formulating international accounting standards in this particularly difficult area of intangible assets. I also hope the results will help to allay any fears regulators (and others) might have that providing managers with accounting discretion will (necessarily) lead to biased reporting practices; based on the findings of this study for the majority of Australian and US companies, any such fears appear unwarranted.

Prior to the issuance of Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 8 (SFAS No. 8), there was a marked inconsistency in the area of accounting for foreign currency translation. Though designed to make the diverse accounting practices of multinational corporations (MNCs) more compatible, SFAS No. 8 was the subject of a great deal of criticism, eventually leading to the issuance of Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 52 (SFAS No. 52). SFAS No. 52 differs from SFAS No. 8 on objectives and method of translation, and on accounting treatments of translation adjustments. This dissertation provides an empirical examination of the security market reaction to the accounting policy change embodied in SFAS No. 52, and its impact on the volatility of reported earnings of MNCs. The effects of the issuance and early adoption of SFAS No. 52 on security return distributions were determined by both cross-sectional comparisons of cumulative average residuals (CAR) between MNCs and domestic firms and between early and late adopters, and by time-series tests on CAR of MNCs. Two volume analyses were performed to test the effects of SFAS No. 52 on security volume. The first analysis was adjusted to remove the effects of the marketwide factors on volume, and the second analysis was unadjusted for the market influences. Four nonparametric tests were used in testing the effects of SFAS No. 52 vis-a-vis SFAS No. 8 on the volatility of reported earnings of MNCs. The findings of this study led to the following conclusions: (1) SFAS No. 52 had significantly affected security returns of MNCs, but had no significant effects on security volume of MNCs; (2) the early adoption of SFAS No. 52 had no effects on security returns and volume of early adopters as opposed to late adopters; and (3) SFAS No. 52 did not have any significant effects on the volatility of reported earnings of MNCs. However, the impact of exchange adjustments on MNCs* earnings under SFAS No. 52 was significantly affected by the size of foreign operations and industry classifications.

Individual differences among humans are apparent in many environments and situations. Educators should be concerned about whether such differences are systematic to such an extent that they significantly affect the effectiveness of various pedagogical methods and training approaches. This paper investigates one type of individual difference - learning style - which may vary across cultures and which may be relevant for both accounting education and audit practice. Learning style is defined as an individual orientation to learning, utilizing four basic modes of learning to various degrees. Learning style measures were obtained from Norwegian and United States accounting students with varying experience levels. The learning styles for the US students were compared to data obtained in prior research and were found to be generally consistent with these studies. The Norwegian sample was compared to both the current United States results and prior research and was found to be significantly different from the US learning style preferences. Implications of these differences for both education and practice are explored.

The Securities and Exchange Conunission (1974) has stated that the one of the fundamental underpinnings of federal securities law is the external auditor opinion of registrant financial statements. The SEC believes that the corporate practice of voluntary auditor change may be perceived by the investing public as attempted opinion shopping. The monitoring hypothesis of Jensen and Meckling (1976), on the other hand, posits that companies may change auditors in an attempt to control net agency costs. The objective of this dissertation is determine if the monitoring hypothesis is descriptive of the phenomenon of voluntary auditor change. The monitoring hypothesis posits that changes in net agency costs are related to the change in auditor quality at the time of an auditor change. and that both changes in agency costs and change in auditor quality are related to the market reaction to the auditor change. Auditor changes from 1980 to 1986 for New York Stock Exchange and American Stock Exchange companies were analyzed. The results indicate that changes in agency costs are related to change in auditor quality, as measured by the difference, from the old auditor to the new, in the auditor's share of the industry audit fees for the company that is changing auditors. Significant variables that measure changes in agency costs aregrowth in company sales, change in long-term compensation plans, and change in the dividend payout ratio. The results also indicate that changes in agency costs are related to market reaction to a change in auditors, but that the change in auditor quality is not. Variables that are significant in explaining the relationship are change in the debt ratio, change in the holdings of the largest stockholder, and prior receipt of a qualified opinion or disclosure of a disagreement between the company and the previous auditor. The results provide strong support for the monitoring hypothesis and weak support for the opinion shopping hypothesis. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this research is to identify common characteristics of commercial banks that are likely to engage in large dollar volumes of OBS financial instruments. Four financial instruments examined are standby letters of credit, letters of credit, interest rate swaps, and loan sales.

This research tests for persistence in tax generated earnings changes. Earnings persistence is indicated by the capitalization of earnings by securities markets. This research disaggregates accounting earnings and examines the security markets’ evaluation of the relative permanence or transience of the component of earnings resulting from revenue law changes. Two proxies for tax generated earnings changes are evaluated though an examination of earnings response coefficients. The results indicate that tax generated earnings changes are not expected to persist beyond two accounting periods, and may reflect the ability of firms to manage tax earnings. / Ph. D.