Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2009. / Title from title screen (site viewed September 08, 2009). PDF text: 109 p. : col. ill. ; 886 K. UMI publication number: AAT 3352412. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

This study analyzes the impact of self-esteem (high vs. low), situational characterization ("negotiate" vs. "ask"), and gender (men vs. women) on the likelihood an individual initiates negotiation (n = 140). Self-esteem was primed with a prompt and the participants were told they could either "negotiate" or "ask" for more money after completing two tasks. A main effect of situational characterization was found such that negotiation was more likely in the "negotiate" condition than in the "ask" condition. Neither self-esteem nor gender produced significant results. A significant interaction showed that men were more likely to negotiate in the "ask" condition, but there were no gender differences in the "negotiate" condition. Finally, gender differences in anticipated future earnings were found. Men held considerably higher expectations for average salary 5 years after graduating from college than women. These results have important implications for training students to negotiate for the salaries they deserve and moving closer to closing the gender wage gap.

abstract: When managers provide earnings guidance, analysts normally respond within a short time frame with their own earnings forecasts. Within this setting, I investigate whether financial analysts use publicly available information to adjust for predictable error in management guidance and, if so, the explanation for such inefficiency. I provide evidence that analysts do not fully adjust for predictable guidance error when revising forecasts. The analyst inefficiency is attributed to analysts' attempts to advance relationship with the managers, analysts' compensation not tie to forecast accuracy, and their forecasting ability. Finally, the stock market acts as if it does not fully realize that analysts respond inefficiently to the guidance, introducing mispricing. This mispricing is not fully corrected upon earnings announcement. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Accountancy 2012

This thesis adopts three stepwise perspectives to look at earnings inequality. It applies Czech data from two surveys, Microcensus and Living Conditions, covering the period 1988-2008, and European dataset EU-SILC 2008 and 2009 for international comparisons. The first essay "Personal Earnings Inequality" analyzes personal earnings distribution in the Czech Republic since the early transition from communism, using relative distribution method. The trend of "hollowing of the middle" was confirmed in the early transition, but this phenomenon later subsided. Earnings polarization was apparent for all sex and education subgroups between 1988 and 1996. In international comparison, earnings of men and highly educated are more homogenous than earnings of their counterparts in most analyzed countries. The second essay "Gender Wage Gap" quantifies the structure of gender wage gaps in four Central-East European countries (CEE), using the Heckman regression model and Oaxaca- Blinder decomposition. The observed gender wage gap is substantially higher in the Czech Republic and Slovakia than in Hungary and Poland. A relatively small but positive part of the observed gender wage gap can be explained by gender differences in characteristics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with a high contribution of job...

Prior research shows returns are positive when firms meet or beat analysts’ consensus forecasts but negative when firms miss. Past studies also show managers frequently cut R&D expenses in order to meet the consensus forecast. Despite these findings, there is limited evidence about how the market responds when firms beat the forecast by cutting R&D. This study shows the stock market penalizes firms that use R&D cuts to manage earnings and exacts a discount to the market reward if beating the forecast requires cutting R&D. The discount is only partial and firms are still better off doing so in the short run. Furthermore, this study shows the R&D cuts used to manage earnings are concentrated in specific industries and are likely temporary, as firms tend to increase R&D spending in the subsequent period. Investors appear to recognize these short-term cuts and treat them similar to accruals. / 10000-01-01

Despite extensive research on price and earnings estimations, there are still puzzling results that have not been resolved. One of the puzzles in price estimation is that multiples using earnings forecasts outperform multiples using the residual income model (Liu, Nissim and Thomas, 2002). This puzzle undermines the validity of theory-based valuation models, which are originated from valuation theory and have been developed over the century. The first two projects of this thesis address this puzzle and explain mathematically how the pricing error of a multiple is determined by the correlation coefficient between price and a value driver. The projects then demonstrate that the puzzle in Liu, Nissim and Thomas (2002) is caused by the bad selection of residual income models and, in fact, the majority of residual income models (i.e. well-chosen residual income models) actually outperform multiples using earnings forecasts in pricing error. When models are examined in terms of future return generation, residual income models again outperform multiples using earnings forecasts, providing evidence that theory-based valuation models are superior to rule-of- thumb based multiples in price and intrinsic value estimations. The third project addresses an issue in earnings estimation by cross-sectional models. Recently, Hou, van Dijk and Zhang (2012) and Li and Mohanram (2014) introduce cross-sectional models in earnings estimation and argue that their cross-sectional models produce better earnings forecasts than analyst forecasts. However, their models suffer from one fundamental problem of cross-sectional models: the loss of firm-specific information in earnings estimation (Kothari, 2001). In other words, cross-sectional models apply the same coefficients (i.e. the same earnings persistence and future prospects) to all firms to estimate their earnings forecasts. The third project of this thesis addresses this issue by proposing a new model, a conditional cross-sectional model, which allows the coefficient on earnings to vary across firms. By allowing firms to use different earnings coefficients (i.e. different earnings persistence and future prospects), the project shows that a conditional cross-sectional model improves a cross-sectional model in all dimensions: a) bias, accuracy and earnings response coefficient; b) unscaled and scaled earnings estimations; and c) across all forecast horizons. The thesis contributes to the price and earnings estimations literature. First, the thesis addresses the decade-old puzzle in price estimation and rectifies the previous misunderstanding of valuation model performance. By demonstrating the superiority of theory-based valuation models over rule-of-thumb based multiples, the thesis encourages further development of theory-based valuation models. Second, in earnings estimation, the thesis provides future researchers a new model, which overcomes the fundamental problem of cross-sectional models in earnings estimation while keeping their advantages. In sum, the thesis improves the knowledge and practices of price and earnings estimations.

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Brian C. Briggeman / Many cooperatives are growing at an exceptional rate. Cooperative growth has been fueled by producer consolidation, a highly competitive marketplace and new opportunities through rising global demand. However, growth at an exceptional rate may be unsustainable and could potentially cause significant financial stress. Cooperatives could get so caught up in growing that they could create problems, or “grow broke.” The sustainable growth rate (SGR) is a financial metric used by many businesses to address this potential growth problem and can be used by cooperatives to ensure their long-run success. Thus, the objective of this research is to better understand the SGRs of cooperatives, provide baseline SGRs, determine key attributes of higher growth rate cooperatives and key indicators of SGR changes. The SGR relates to the retained earnings growth of a cooperative. Boosting a cooperative’s retained earnings can be done by manipulating the four levers of growth to attain higher retained earnings. These financial decisions will also boost a firm’s SGR. Increased retained earnings lends more flexibility to expand through organic growth or acquisitions. The SGR provides little information if not compared to actual growth results across time and across industry standards. Actual growth rates are measured by the year-over-year change in sales as Higgins (1977) details. By determining the difference between actual sales and the SGR, the sustainable growth challenge (SGC) is found. The SGC is a straightforward way to see how far a firm is straying from the SGR and, over time, see where the correction was made to converge to the SGR. If a business has a negative SGC, then actual growth rates exceeded SGR, which means outside financing is necessary to fund growth. If SGC is positive, then the firm is not meeting their growth target and potentially not capturing their full value for their owners. (Higgins, 1977) A seemingly unrelated regression approach is used to analyze the interrelationships of the four levers of growth using panel data from the CoBank Risk Analyst database of Midwest cooperatives’ financial and operating information. Breaking cooperatives into “large” and “small” designated groups will aids determining factors of boosted retained earnings. The cooperatives are also grouped based on regional location as well as the percentage that farm supply sales make up total sales. The drivers of SGR in today’s cooperatives will be examined—higher profit margin, or lower patronage—to determine which factors are more practical for specific cooperative size and type. In addition, the size of cooperative that faces the largest SGC and whether that sector also has a higher or lower SGR is of interest to this research. (“CoBank Risk Analyst Database,” 2017) Econometric results identify the most useful levers to boost the SGR, change the SGC or both. Profit margin is the key driver of sustainable growth; however, operating efficiency and leverage are key factors as well. When a growth challenge is present, leverage is most often used and the biggest contributor to changes in the SGC. Cooperatives of each size, location and region grow and are affected by growth challenges. This study will help cooperative directors understand the financial decision repercussions on growth and growth challenges.

No description available.

A key incentive for accounting research is to provide evidence on the usefulness of earnings in making economic decisions. Of particular interest over the last two decades is the issue of the quality of financial reporting, specifically the quality of earnings, given the number of global financial scandals reported during that period. The quality of earnings is driven by the choices, estimates and judgments that the accounting standards make available to managers in order to portray the firm’s economic position and performance in a timely and credible manner. However, this leeway in financial reporting also creates opportunities for earnings management. The objective of this thesis is firstly to establish whether earnings manipulation has had the ability to predict cross-sectional returns in South Africa during the 2007-2014 period. In other words, the purpose of this thesis is to find evidence whether the market reacts to earnings management practices, as measured by accruals, and rewards high earnings quality companies with higher equity returns (a process known as the accrual anomaly). The timeframe selected for the research encompasses the global financial crisis, a period in which accounting manipulation incentives are likely to be strong. Secondly, this study attempts to establish the presence of the accrual anomaly amongst growth and value firms. The motivations for earnings management of the former are expected to be strong. Securities are allocated to portfolios according to accruals and the subsequent equity returns are analysed cross-sectionally to establish the existence of the accrual anomaly and hence assessing the usefulness of earnings manipulation in predicting equity returns. To provide evidence for the presence of the accrual anomaly amongst growth and value shares, securities are independently allocated to portfolios according to their book-to-market ratio and accruals and a cross-sectional analysis is performed on their subsequent equity returns. In order to increase the robustness of the tests, two measures of accruals are used: a balance sheet approach and a cash flow measure. Evidence is provided for the presence of the accrual anomaly among South African listed companies for the balance sheet measure of accruals but not the cash flow approach. Whilst the accrual anomaly is significantly present in a growth-neutral-value construct, statistical significance is not established when growth and value shares are considered individually.