This study investigates the gender earnings gap among nurses in Denmark years 2004-2016. The data at hand will be from Luxembourg Income studies which provided 7078 observations. Furthermore, ordinary least squares method with gender as dummy variable will be conducted. The findings are a raw male-female annual wage gap of 13 percent. After adding control variables, the gap decreased to 7.4 percent. The remaining wage gap can be due to unobservable characteristics. However, discrimination cannot be discounted.

In 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued ASU 2011-05, which mandates that Comprehensive Income (CI) and Other Comprehensive Income (OCI) be reported in the performance statements (i.e., either in the income statement or a separate statement of comprehensive income) rather than in the previously-allowed equity statement. Using this issuance as an exogenous event, I examine whether the presentation of accounting information in different statements affects earnings management behavior. In particular, I investigate whether the required presentation of CI/OCI in the performance statements reduces earnings management through selective sales of available-for-sale (AFS) securities in the banking industry. I first document that prior to ASU 2011-05, banks presenting CI/OCI in the equity statements engage in more management of realized gains and losses on AFS securities compared to banks presenting CI/OCI in the performance statements. More importantly, employing a difference-in-differences design, I show a larger reduction in (though not complete elimination of) earnings management for banks mandated to switch the reporting position of CI/OCI, relative to a control group of banks voluntarily using performance statements prior to the mandatory adoption. Overall, this evidence suggests that mandated reporting of CI/OCI in the performance statements reduces banks’ earnings smoothing behavior.

Many corporate managers elect to adopt a new Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (SFAS) early instead of waiting until the mandatory adoption date. This study tests for evidence that managers use early adoption as an earnings management tool in a manner consistent with one or more positive accounting theories.

Real earnings management has been a subject of increasing debate ever since the passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley act in the united states. As research has pointed towards real earnings management increasing this has sparked discussions on whether real earnings management is damaging to companies, or if it is benefiting them, or if it lies somewhere in between. Forthis paper we wanted to examine how the financial incentives of a CEO would affect the usage of real earnings management. Are CEO’s being poorly motivated, and as a result harming their companies? To guide the paper,we decide to formulate our research question thusly: How do different forms of CEO compensation affect real earnings management? In this paper we attempt to find correlations between indicators of realearnings management and threedifferent forms of CEO compensation. For our indicators we follow to a paper by Roychowdhury, titled “Earnings Management Through Real Activities Manipulation”and calculate abnormal cash flow from operations, and abnormal production. These indicate usageof overproduction, reduction of discretionary expenses, and moving sales across periods (Roychowdhury, 2006). For forms of CEO compensation,we measure them as a ratio of total compensation. We track salary, bonuses, and stock ownership. In our results we can see that all three of these are significantly correlated to both of our real earnings management indicators. Bonuses have a positive correlation to abnormal production, and a negative correlation to abnormal cash flow from operations. Salary is positively correlated to both our indicators, and ownership is negatively correlated to both our indicators. Our final conclusion is that yes, the makeup of a CEO’s compensation has a significant effect on the usage of real earnings management within the company.

This research investigated whether earnings management of listed companies, have increased or decreased since the implementation of King II in 2003. This study assessed the extent of earnings management for certain sectors and for large and mid cap companies. The discretionary component of total accruals was used as proxy for earnings management – calculated by using the Modified Jones Model. The top-100 JSE-listed firms by market capitalisation were assessed, excluding the Financial, Mining and Resource Sectors. It was found that discretionary accruals has increased since 1996 and peaked in 2005 (see graph Figure 13). It was concluded with 89% certainty that discretionary accruals during “2003-2009” were higher than during “1996-2002”. Hence, the research suggests that accrual based earnings management is likely to have increased since 2003. However, the results were not statistically significant. Also, the cause of this increase could be due to many factors (not necessarily due to King II). Discretionary accruals were found to be higher for mid cap companies and for the retail sector. However, the analysis was not statistically significant. Discretionary accruals have fluctuated significantly over time and amongst companies. In order to identify which companies and sectors manage earnings the most, a more detailed micro-level investigation, using multiple detection models, is required. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Tidigare forskning visar på att analytiker i många fall begår fel vid framtagandet av estimat, samtidigt som deras estimat anses vara en proxy för vad marknaden förväntar sig. Denna studie avser att undersöka om analytiker är den främsta representanten för marknaden eller om Crowdsourcing, som en tillämpning av Wisdom of Crowds, kan representera marknaden bättre. Jämförelsen görs genom en multipel regression där 117 observationer används för att undersöka om konsensusestimat från crowdsourcing-tjänsten Pinpoint Estimates åstadkommer en större kursreaktion än analytikers konsensusestimat, givet ett visst oväntat resultat. Jämförelser görs även för träffsäkerhet där vi genom 123 observationer undersöker vilken grupps konsensusestimat som är mer träffsäker kontra utfallen. Studien finner indikationer på att Pinpointestimat representerar marknaden bättre samt att Pinpoint generellt är mer träffsäkra än analytiker.

Vi studerar om aktierekommendationer bidrar med mer precis information på marknaden genom att tolka och sprida innehållet i delårsrapporter som publiceras av företag. Vi studerar även om säljrekommendationer har ett högre informationsinnehåll än köprekommendationer och neutrala rekommendationer. Studien sker av företag listade på OMXS30 under perioden 2017-01-01 till 2019-12-31. I studien tillämpar vi en eventstudiemetod och studerar kumulativ onormal avkastning under ett tre-dagars eventfönster fokuserat runt publiceringen av delårsrapporter. Vi finner att de event där delårsrapporter ackompanjeras av samtida publicerade aktierekommendationer har en signifikant högre marknadsreaktion, givet en viss nivå i oväntat resultat, än event där det inte har publicerats en aktierekommendation. Resultatet visar att investerare värdesätter analytikernas arbete, vilket i samband med publicering av delårsrapporter är att tolka och sprida information. Genom att studera kumulativ onormal avkastning för negativa förändringar till säljrekommendationer jämfört med övriga rekommendationer finner vi inte stöd för tidigare studier som finner att säljrekommendationer har högre informationsinnehåll än övriga rekommendationer. / This paper aims to study whether stock recommendations help investors interpret the information content of earnings reports by processing the information as well as making the information more precise. We also investigate the information content of sell recommendations in contrast to buy recommendations as well as neutral recommendations. Our study object is firms listed on OMXS30 between 2017-01-01 and 2019-12-31. We base our study on the theory that higher information content causes a larger market reaction. By conducting an event study which focuses on earnings releases and whether a stock recommendation has been released in the same three day event window, we show that the release of a stock recommendation in connection with an earnings report leads to a higher earnings response coefficient. This result is along the lines of similar research which states that more precise, relative to previous information, newly published information leads to a larger price reaction. Previous research also shows that high processing costs leads to a slower price response. By comparing the abnormal returns of companies that get recommendation downgrades to sell with the abnormal returns of companies that get upgraded or unchanged recommendations we find no support in favor of previous studies which have shown that the information content of sell recommendations are higher than those of neutral or buy recommendations.

This dissertation investigates the interrelationships between a client's non-GAAP earnings disclosures, financial health (profit and loss status), and the external auditor's assessment of the client's going concern status. This dissertation comprises two essays. Essay 1 examines the informativeness and the quality of non-GAAP earnings disclosures in profit and loss firms separately. Using a large sample of non-GAAP earnings voluntarily disclosed by managers, I find that the informativeness and the quality of non-GAAP earnings vary in firms cross-classified by GAAP loss status and non-GAAP loss status. I also find that loss firms have higher quality non-GAAP exclusions relative to profit firms, although the expenses excluded by both profit and loss firms are associated with firms' future performance. Further, I posit and find that profit firms which voluntarily disclose non-GAAP losses have high-quality exclusions, while other non-GAAP reporting profit firms have low-quality exclusions. Having found that non-GAAP earnings in loss firms is opportunistic to some extent, I next study, in Essay 2, whether auditors understand the implications of low-quality non-GAAP reporting in these firms. Specifically, I examine 1) whether non-GAAP earnings disclosures are associated with the propensity of the auditor's going concern issuance to loss firms, and 2) whether non-GAAP earnings disclosures affect the accuracy of the auditor's going concern assessment. This is important because auditors often conduct audits of loss firms that disclose non-GAAP earnings, and the consequences of issuing wrong audit opinions can be severe. I find that the propensity of the auditor's going concern issuance is negatively associated with the magnitude of expense exclusions in loss firms, after controlling for determinants of going concern opinions that are derived from GAAP earnings. This finding suggests that auditors take into account information embedded in non-GAAP earnings when assessing clients' going concern status. Using bankruptcy outcome as a benchmark, I find that non-GAAP earnings disclosures could increase type II errors in auditors' going concern reporting. I further find that small size auditors and non-specialist auditors are more likely to be misled by non-GAAP reporting when making going concern decisions. In sum, my dissertation furthers our understanding of non-GAAP reporting and its implication for auditors' decision making for issuing going concern opinions.

Book entries are vehicles used in accounting to accommodate non-cash transactions, timing differences and provisions. The use of book entries is a normal activity in accounting and may have their origin in accrual accounting. The management of a company may apply creative accounting techniques in the form of earnings management, in particular, adopting the practices of income smoothing and taking the so-called ‘big bath’. These practices may result in the financial manager or accountant misusing book entries. This could then lead to information of a different integrity to that which would have resulted had these creative accounting practices not been performed in the company. The question addressed in this dissertation and for which an answer is sought, is whether there is any notable difference in the integrity issues of information supplied through the accounting process and created by real transactions (real events) as opposed to information created by book entries (artificial events). The hypothesis underlying this dissertation is: The integrity of information created by book entries is based on subjective opinions because it is based on future events therefore it is not the same as integrity of information created by real transactions that is based on historical events. The new science is concerned with new guidelines, amongst other things, regarding reality, observation, objectivity, predictions and relationships among events. These new guidelines could be seen as explaining certain aspects which is relevant to the field of accounting. The attributes of a book entry are not based on reality, but are based on subjective predictions of future transactions etc. Another similarity is that a book entry is often not objective but is based on subjective observation. Notable differences were observed in the integrity of the information emerging from a real, historical event and a future event. These differences were established through the application of two research methods, namely, the use of a questionnaire and the analysis of the financial statements of 30 companies listed on The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE). The influence of book entries on certain ratios was considered, and the ratios influenced by two major book entries, namely, depreciation provision and deferred taxation, differ substantially in interpretation when the two book entries are reclassified. The results of the questionnaire also indicate that a large proportion of the financial managers in practice believe that book entries substantially influence the integrity of information. / Dissertation (MCom Financial Management Sciences)--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Financial Management / unrestricted

Denna studie har empiriskt undersökt ägarstrukturens påverkan på resultatmanipulation inom den europeiska toppfotbollen. Studiens urval gjordes på 20 av de största fotbollsklubbarna i Europa med avseende på omsättning för perioden 2013-2019. En regressionsmodell upprättades för att studera hur ägarstrukturer påverkar resultatmanipulation. Till regressionsmodellen adderades tre stycken kontrollvariabler. Vid test av regressionsmodellen visades inget signifikant samband mellan storleken på ägarandel hos de tre största ägarnas gemensamma ägarandel. Modellen visade inte heller att fotbollsklubbarnas lönsamhet skulle påverka deras nivåer av resultatmanipulation. Regressionsmodellen kontrollerade även för antal styrelsemedlemmar, vilket visade sig ha en starkt signifikant positiv påverkan på resultatmanipulation. För fotbollsklubbarnas storlek, med avseende på totala tillgångar, visade de sig ha en starkt signifikant negativ påverkan på resultatmanipulation.