The main objectives of this study are to: (1) investigate empirically the extensiveness of the Cypriot and Greek corporate mandatory disclosure practices; (2) examine the relationship between each of a number of specific corporate characteristics and the Cypriot and Greek corporate mandatory disclosure practices; (3) assess whether the variations in the extensiveness of Cypriot and Greek corporate mandatory disclosure practices can be explained by the selected corporate characteristics together; and (4), compare the results found for Cyprus with those found for Greece. The corporate characteristics examined, which are used as proxies of agency, political and other costs, are: company size, age, profitability, liquidity, industry type, listing status and auditor type. The study begins with the provision of background information about the Cypriot and Greek accounting environments which reveals that companies in the two countries operate within substantially different accounting environments. The study continues with a synthesis of the conceptual framework for corporate financial disclosure that identifies the variables that are likely to affect the research problem. A review of the corporate disclosure literature identifies a gap in the literature, which the study aspires to fill, and establishes the background for choosing the appropriate methodology to be used in the study. To investigate the extensiveness of the Cypriot and Greek corporate mandatory disclosure practices, the 1996 corporate annual financial statements (CAFSs) of 50 Cypriot and 74 Greek companies were collected. Extensiveness was defined as the quantity and quality of mandatory information disclosed in CAFSs and was measured by applying a country—specific disclosure measuring instrument against the CAFSs of the sample companies from each country. The relationship between the extent of corporate disclosure and the selected corporate characteristics was examined by using both bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses for each of the two countries. The results of the empirical analyses have led to four main conclusions. First, the Cypriot and Greek corporate mandatory disclosure practices, on the whole, appear to be extensive. Second, Cypriot public companies which are more profitable, are classified as conglomerates or whose shares are listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE), tend to disclose significantly more extensive mandatory information in their 1996 CAFSs. Third, Greek listed companies which are smaller, are classified as conglomerates or manufacturing, or whose shares are listed on the main market of the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), tend to disclose significantly more extensive mandatory information in their 1996 CAFSs. Finally, on the basis of the comparative analyses undertaken, it can be concluded that although the influence of listing status and industry type on Cypriot and Greek mandatory disclosure practices is similar, the influence of company size is different. In contrast to Cyprus and most evidence reported in previous studies, company size has a negative influence on the extent of Greek corporate mandatory disclosure practices. This difference can be explained by theoretical, environmental, empirical and other considerations. For example, it can be attributed to the distinctive nature of the highly politicised Greek accounting environment and can be explained by political cost theory. Another possible explanation may be that Greek large companies disclose fewer details in their CAFSs but: (1) use other communication media to disclose mandatory information; or (2), use mandatory and voluntary disclosures as substitutes and replace the disclosure of less extensive mandatory information with more extensive voluntary disclosure. There are several possible policy implications that arise out of the above conclusions. The first implication is that improvements in Cypriot and Greek corporate mandatory disclosure can be made. Another policy implication is that corporate stakeholders who rely on CAFSs to get useful information should be wary of Cypriot companies which are less profitable, are classified as non—conglomerates or are not listed on the CSE; and Greek companies which are larger, are classified as others or are listed on the parallel market of the ASE. This is because these companies have been found to disclose less extensive mandatory information. The third policy implication arising out of the conclusions of the study is that it is possible that different predictions about the disclosure of corporate information may be derived from the political cost theory, depending on the environment within which the theory is examined. This is because although it is usually claimed that politically sensitive companies may disclose more extensively in order to reduce their political costs, the opposite may be true in the case of countries with specific environmental characteristics (similar to those existing in Greece in 1996): politically sensitive companies may disclose less extensively.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T18:39:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aderbal Alfonso Hoppe.pdf: 533134 bytes, checksum: 9f8b83dfeea68bfdd9549643a8c701d8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-11-14 / At the close of the financial statements at December 31, 2010, corporate accounting practices in Brazil underwent the largest transformation in their history, in aligning with international accounting standards. This process generated differences in accounting practices between those accepted under tax legislation and those accepted under economic sector regulatory environments. The electric power distribution sector, in providing a public service, is regulated by a Granting Authority. The two main methods of regulation and inspection used by the Granting Authority are: i) to establish tariff practices so that through this mechanism there is control over levels of revenue and costs; and ii) to establish accounting practices through the Electrical Sector Accounting Manual. Concession agreements are standardized with similar economic and financial characteristics, which in turn, generate similar accounting events. This work is intended to analyze the differences in accounting practices between corporate financial statements and regulatory financial statements. To achieve this objective a conceptual review of the corporate and regulatory accounting practices was performed, including the economic and financial characteristics of the main examples of these differences in accounting practices. It was concluded through analysis of corporate and regulatory balance sheets at December 31, 2011, that despite the fact that corporate and regulatory accounting practices are formalized and mandatory for the balance sheet at that base date, there were inconsistencies, or a lack of application, of the accounting practices required under regulatory accounting. Accordingly, while it is evidently a positive notion to prepare and disclose regulatory financial statements that reconcile with accounting practices, at this stage this requires more detail and supplementary information in regulatory financial statements, as well as the complete adoption of regulatory accounting practices by all electric power distributors / No encerramento das demonstrações contábeis societárias de 31 de dezembro de 2010, a contabilidade societária no Brasil completou a maior transformação de sua história pelo processo de harmonização para as normas internacionais de contabilidade. Esse processo gerou diferenças de práticas em relação às aceitas pela legislação tributária e pelo ambiente de regulação de setores econômicos. O setor de distribuição de energia elétrica, por ser de prestação de serviço público, é regulado pelo Poder Concedente. Dois dos principais meios de regulação e fiscalização usados pelo do Poder Concedente são: i) determinar a tarifa prática e que por meio deste mecanismo há o controle de níveis de receita e custos; e ii) determinar práticas contábeis por meio do Manual de Contabilidade do Setor Elétrico. Os contratos de concessão são padronizados, com características econômicas e financeiras semelhantes e que, por consequência, gerando eventos contábeis semelhantes. Esse trabalho tem como objetivo analisar as diferenças de práticas contábeis entre as demonstrações contábeis societárias e regulatórias. Para o alcance deste objetivo foi feita uma revisão conceitual sobre as práticas contábeis societárias e regulatórias, incluindo as características econômicas e financeiras dos principais eventos de diferenças de práticas contábeis. Conclui-se por das análises dos balanços societários e regulatórios de 31 de dezembro de 2011, que apesar das práticas contábeis societárias e regulatórias estarem formalizadas e com aplicação obrigatória nos balanços da referida data-base, observou-se que há divergências de aplicação ou falta de aplicação de práticas contábeis requeridas na contabilidade regulatória. Com isso, observa-se que se montra positiva a intenção de preparar e divulgar as demonstrações contábeis regulatórias que conciliem com as práticas contábeis. Entretanto, mas que ainda está em estágio que requer um detalhamento e complemento das informações nas demonstrações contábeis regulatórias, bem como, que ocorra a completa adoção das práticas contábeis regulatórias por todas as distribuidoras de energia elétrica

Within the worldwide business community, many analysis tools and techniques have evolved to assist in the evaluation and encouragement of financial health and fiscal viability. However, in the educational community, such analysis is uncommon. It has long been argued that educational institutions bear little resemblance to, and should not be treated like, businesses. This research identifies an educational environment where educational institutions are, indeed, businesses, and may greatly benefit from the use of business analyses. The worldwide effort of Education for All (EFA) has focused on primary education, particularly in less developed countries (LDCs). In Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda increased its primary school enrollments from 2.7 million in 1996 to 7.6 million in 2003. This rapid primary school expansion substantially increased the demand for secondary education. Limited government funding for secondary schools created an educational bottleneck. In response to this demand, laws were passed to allow the establishment of private secondary schools, operated and taxed as businesses. Revenue reports, filed by individual private schools with the Uganda Revenue Authority, formed the database for the financial analysis portion of this research. These reports, required of all profitable businesses in Uganda, are similar to audited corporate financial statements. Survey data and national examination (UNEB) scores were also utilized. This research explored standard business financial analysis tools, including financial statement ratio analysis, and evaluated the applicability of each to this LDC educational environment. A model for financial assessment was developed and industry averages were calculated for private secondary schools in the Mukono District of Uganda. Industry averages can be used by individual schools as benchmarks in assessing their own financial health. Substantial deviations from the norms signal areas of potential concern. Schools may take appropriate corrective action, leading to sustainable fiscal viability. An example of such analysis is provided. Finally, school financial health, defined by eight financial measures, was compared with quality of education, defined by UNEB scores. Worldwide, much attention is given to education and its role in development. This research, with its model for financial assessment of private LDC schools, offers a new and pragmatic perspective.