Firm closeness or comparability is an important concept to investors. Knowing that two firms have been historically close and observing an information announcement by one of the firms gives the investor cues as to the future performance of the other firm. Furthermore, from a methodological point of view, researchers commonly control for firm--group closeness by using industrial classification schemes such as the SIC. To the extent that these schemes group dissimilar firms, the advantage of using these schemes is undermined. This paper more formally examines the comparability concept and develops two new measures of firm--group accounting closeness. Both measures are based on the co--movement of accounting fundamentals. I provide insight regarding the extent to which the SIC and GIC schemes group similar firms. Furthermore, a trading strategy utilizing information in the measures is developed and tested. Results indicate that, when industry closeness is high enough, abnormal returns in the range of 1-3% over a 1-3 day window can be earned around leader information announcement dates. Finally, I contribute to the contagion/information transfer literature, most notably Gleason et al. (2008), by showing that the contagion effects of accounting information announcements are increasing in the closeness of the industry.

<p>Innan år 2005 kunde svenska börsnoterade koncerner välja mellan att tillämpa internationella regler eller nationella regler för sin koncernredovisning. Efter år 2005 är däremot svenska börsnoterade företag ”tvingade” att använda internationella regler för upprättandet av finansi-ella rapporter. Studien syftar till att teoretiskt redogöra för de olika sätt som minoritetsintres-set redovisas på i svenska börsnoterade koncerners finansiella rapporter, innan respektive efter övergången till IFRS. Argument för olika tillvägagångssätt att redovisa minoritetsintres-set på har kartlagts, vägts och förklarats med avseende på vilket förhållande dessa argument har till varandra.</p><p>Inom koncernredovisningen finns två olika perspektiv som kan tillämpas vid upprättandet av en koncerns konsoliderade rapporter, vilka är moderföretagsperspektivet och enhetsperspektivet. Dessa två perspektiv härstammar från två teorier, ägarteorin och enhetsteorin. Sverige har traditionellt tillämpat ett moderföretagsperspektiv i sin redovisning, medan de internationella reglerna förespråkar ett enhetsperspektiv. Minoritetsintresset redovi-sas olika beroende på vilket perspektiv som används. Enligt moderföretagsperspektivet redovisas minoritetsintresset som en skuld och enligt enhetsperspektivet som eget kapital.</p> / <p>Before 2005, Swedish groups were allowed to choose between international or national rules for their group accounting. After 2005, Swedish groups listed on the stock exchange are forced to apply international rules for their group accounting. This study aims to describe different accounting treatment of a minority interest in Swedish groups financial reports, be-fore and after implementing IFRS. Standpoints for accounting the minority interest have been identified and explained.</p><p>There are two different perspectives that can be applied in the group accounting, and these are the proprietary perspective and the entity perspective. These perspectives derive from two theories, the proprietary theory and the entity theory. Traditionally, Sweden has applied the proprietary perspective, while the international rules advocate an entity perspective. Depend-ing on which perspective the group accounting follows, the minority interest will be accounted for in different ways. Eithe</p>

<p><strong>Abstract </strong></p><p>The development towards an international accounting standard implies that Swedish groups of companies that are not quoted on the stock exchange can use a parent company perspective or an entity perspective while making their group accounting. The purpose of this study is to describe and explain the motives behind the groups of companies choice of perspective and to show how these motives agrees with the effect it has on the profit and loss account and on the balance sheet.</p><p>The study includes four fictitious groups of companies based on real groups of companies. Every group of companies includes 1-3 subsidiary companies, where at least one is owned by the parent company with 51-70 %. Some assumptions were made before the consolidation.</p><p>Relevant key numbers have been calculated according to both perspectives and then compared. A total of three semi structured interviews have been carried out two with representatives for the real groups of companies and one with a chartered accountant. The purpose was to clarify the motives that are behind the choice of perspective.</p><p>The conclusion is that the choice of perspective is not an active choice for the group of companies in the study, there are therefore no active motives. The entity perspective provides better results on two out of the three examined key numbers, but the difference is only marginal. The change of perspective is a problem in theory but not in reality.</p><p><em>Keywords: parent company perspective, entity perspective, key numbers, group accounting, group of companies </em></p>

Innan år 2005 kunde svenska börsnoterade koncerner välja mellan att tillämpa internationella regler eller nationella regler för sin koncernredovisning. Efter år 2005 är däremot svenska börsnoterade företag ”tvingade” att använda internationella regler för upprättandet av finansi-ella rapporter. Studien syftar till att teoretiskt redogöra för de olika sätt som minoritetsintres-set redovisas på i svenska börsnoterade koncerners finansiella rapporter, innan respektive efter övergången till IFRS. Argument för olika tillvägagångssätt att redovisa minoritetsintres-set på har kartlagts, vägts och förklarats med avseende på vilket förhållande dessa argument har till varandra. Inom koncernredovisningen finns två olika perspektiv som kan tillämpas vid upprättandet av en koncerns konsoliderade rapporter, vilka är moderföretagsperspektivet och enhetsperspektivet. Dessa två perspektiv härstammar från två teorier, ägarteorin och enhetsteorin. Sverige har traditionellt tillämpat ett moderföretagsperspektiv i sin redovisning, medan de internationella reglerna förespråkar ett enhetsperspektiv. Minoritetsintresset redovi-sas olika beroende på vilket perspektiv som används. Enligt moderföretagsperspektivet redovisas minoritetsintresset som en skuld och enligt enhetsperspektivet som eget kapital. / Before 2005, Swedish groups were allowed to choose between international or national rules for their group accounting. After 2005, Swedish groups listed on the stock exchange are forced to apply international rules for their group accounting. This study aims to describe different accounting treatment of a minority interest in Swedish groups financial reports, be-fore and after implementing IFRS. Standpoints for accounting the minority interest have been identified and explained. There are two different perspectives that can be applied in the group accounting, and these are the proprietary perspective and the entity perspective. These perspectives derive from two theories, the proprietary theory and the entity theory. Traditionally, Sweden has applied the proprietary perspective, while the international rules advocate an entity perspective. Depend-ing on which perspective the group accounting follows, the minority interest will be accounted for in different ways. Eithe

Abstract The development towards an international accounting standard implies that Swedish groups of companies that are not quoted on the stock exchange can use a parent company perspective or an entity perspective while making their group accounting. The purpose of this study is to describe and explain the motives behind the groups of companies choice of perspective and to show how these motives agrees with the effect it has on the profit and loss account and on the balance sheet. The study includes four fictitious groups of companies based on real groups of companies. Every group of companies includes 1-3 subsidiary companies, where at least one is owned by the parent company with 51-70 %. Some assumptions were made before the consolidation. Relevant key numbers have been calculated according to both perspectives and then compared. A total of three semi structured interviews have been carried out two with representatives for the real groups of companies and one with a chartered accountant. The purpose was to clarify the motives that are behind the choice of perspective. The conclusion is that the choice of perspective is not an active choice for the group of companies in the study, there are therefore no active motives. The entity perspective provides better results on two out of the three examined key numbers, but the difference is only marginal. The change of perspective is a problem in theory but not in reality. Keywords: parent company perspective, entity perspective, key numbers, group accounting, group of companies

The overall importance of capital market communication has increased hand in hand with the development of the economic importance of the capital market it-self. Equity investors use various information sources, such as management reports, consolidated financial statements, investor relation presentations, and web pages, to prepare and assess investment decisions. This cumulative dissertation consists of four manuscripts that analyses different group accounting related aspects of the capital market communication. The first two manuscripts are classified as contributions to the understanding of current IFRS topics in capital market communication. These manuscripts are case-based instructional resources and deal with group accounting decisions on financial instruments and consolidation issues. The second part of the dissertation comprises empirical analyses on financial KPI reporting across different parts of capital market communication. The manuscripts provide empirical analysis of the consistent use of financial KPIs across the different parts of capital market communication, the determinants of consistent KPI reporting and the value relevance.:I. Group Accounting in the Field of Tension Between Capital Market Communication and IFRS – Overview of the Dissertation 1 Introduction 2 Overview and Findings of the Manuscripts II. The Success Story of International Additives Producer AG – A Case Study on Categorization of Investments under IFRS 1 Manuscript – The Case 2 Teaching Notes 3 Suggested Case Solutions III. The Hardest Cycle Climb at TCC – A Financial Instruments Case 1 Case 2 Case Learning Objectives and Implementation Guidance 3 Teaching Notes IV. Determinants of Consistent Capital Market Communication: Evidence from Germany 1 Introduction 2 Regulatory Framework for KPI Disclosure 3 Literature Review and Hypotheses Development 4 Research Design 5 Results and Discussion 6 Conclusion V. The Capital Market Relevance of Consistent Key Performance Indicator Reporting: Preliminary Evidence from Germany 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review and Hypotheses Development 3 Data Collection and Variable Measurement 4 Results and Discussion 5 Conclusion, Limitations and Future Research