Business Commons^™

The Impact Of Unions On Information Asymmetry, Caroline Burke

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prior literature documents a positive association between union power, calculated using industry-level union data, and information asymmetry. Prior literature also finds a mitigating effect from employee ownership on the negative association between union power and voluntary disclosure. Using a sample of company observations for fiscal years 2008 through 2010, I examine the effect of company-specific measures of employee unionization on market-based measures of information asymmetry (proxied for by insider trading activity, analyst following, and analyst dispersion). I also examine whether employee ownership impacts the effect of company-specific measures of employee unionization on my market-based measures of information asymmetry. I find …

Audit-Related Services And Audit Quality: Evidence From Benefit Plan Audits, Jaclyn Prentice

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following study examines a material but less understood component of the public audit marketplace, namely the provision of “audit-related” services to financial statement audit clients. I use the benefit plan audit service setting to examine the company and benefit plan characteristics associated with auditor selection and the impact of audit-related services on financial statement audit quality. I provide market evidence of distinct shifts in the use of the same audit firm for the financial statement audit and other audit-related services over time as well as characteristics of the choice of auditors. I then test whether having the same audit …

Does Assurance Matter? Evidence From U.S. Financial Institutions, Ashley Warwick Douglass

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, I explore the determinants and consequences of the level of assurance that a bank selects. Using a sample of small, privately held U.S. (United States) financial institutions (banks), I find that two differing types of banks are more likely to purchase more assurance. First, larger banks that are experiencing growth purchase relatively more assurance than other banks. Second, more complex banks with lower returns on assets, losses, and higher leverage are more likely to purchase an audit than a lower level of assurance. This may indicate the influence of regulators on banks’ assurance purchasing decisions. I also …

Do Analysts Understand Momentum? Evidence From Target Prices, Benjamin Carl Anderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Target prices are analysts’ forecasts of a firm’s stock price. Although target prices can be used to help market participants make investment decisions, much is still unknown about how analysts make these forecasts. Because prior literature documents momentum in stock returns, in this paper, I examine whether target prices reflect the information in returns over the six months prior to the target price announcement date. I find that target prices systematically underestimate the persistence of these six month returns. I further find that the forecasted return in target price revisions is more pessimistic following periods of very good stock performance …

The Determinants And Consequences Of Disclosure Committee Adoption, Lyle Roy Schmardebeck

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

After the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission recommended that companies voluntarily adopt disclosure committees to aid in preparing company disclosures. In this paper, I investigate the determinants and consequences of disclosure committee adoption. I find that companies with material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting and less readable 10-K filings are more likely to adopt disclosure committees. In consequences analyses, using a propensity score matched control sample and a difference-in-differences research design, I find that 10-K filings are longer and less readable after disclosure committee adoption. However, consistent with institutional theory, I …

Does Analyst Experience Affect Their Understanding Of Non-Financial Information? An Analysis Of The Relation Between Patent Information And Analyst Forecast Errors, Taiwhun Taylor Joo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines whether analyst experience affects the relation between patent information and analyst forecast errors. U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles require that firms expense all in-house research and development (R&D) costs. This means that even when R&D activities produce intangible assets with future economic benefits, firms cannot capitalize R&D costs as assets. Consequently, financial statements are largely deficient in the information they provide regarding the output of R&D activities. However, patent information is one type of non-financial information about R&D output that is publicly available.

Using updated patent data, I confirm the results of prior studies that find a …

The Determinants And Consequences Of Ceo Cheap Stock In Ipos, Michael Dennis Stuart

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The term "cheap stock" describes undervalued stock options granted to CEOs and other key employees prior to initial public offerings (IPOs). Pre-IPO firms have incentives to issue cheap stock as compensation because it results in lower compensation expense on the income statement and in large cash windfalls to CEOs subsequent to the IPO. Because cheap stock results in an overstatement of earnings, the Securities and Exchange Commission frequently challenges the valuations of these grants, which makes cheap stock a key accounting issue in many IPOs. Using a sample of firms that completed IPOs between 2004 and 2007, I investigate the …

Fair Value Measurements, Nathan Hatch Cannon

2013

This dissertation consists of two empirical studies that investigate fair value measurement issues currently facing the accounting profession--one from the perspective of the auditor, and the other from the perspective of the financial statement user. The results of each study are described below.

This first study examines experienced auditors' descriptions of specific client experiences in which auditing fair value measurements (FVMs) was particularly challenging. Based on a field survey of high-level engagement team personnel from several large firms, we identify a number of key issues currently facing the profession in auditing FVMs. First, when asked about challenges faced in auditing …

Changes In Auditing: A Three Part Investigation, Denise R. Hanes

2013

This dissertation consists of three studies investigating changes in auditing. This abstract summarizes each study, including purpose, methodology, and findings.

The first study synthesizes the extant literature examining geographically distributed work arrangements in other disciplines such as management and social psychology. Focusing on communication and coordination, knowledge sharing, work design, and social identity in geographically distributed teams, I identify opportunities for future research to expand our understanding of how geographically distributing audit work impacts auditors, the audit process, and audit quality.

My second paper explores a key contributor to the success of geographically distributed work highlighted in my literature review: …

Detecting Deception In Client Inquiries, D. Kip Holderness Jr.

2013

Auditors frequently gather information by conducting client inquiries (Bennett and Hatfield 2013; Hirst and Koonce 1996; Trompeter and Wright 2010). When clients are attempting to hide frauds and irregularities, auditors need to be alert during inquiries to verbal and nonverbal cues emanating from clients that might be indicative of intentional deception. This dissertation consists of two studies investigating the detection of deception in client inquiries. The first study provides a summary of extant literature examining deception detection, with an emphasis on those studies that have implications for client inquiries. I propose several avenues for future research that will contribute to …

Determinants And Consequences Of Risk Management Committee Formation, Chris Hines

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the determinants and consequences of financial institutions voluntarily forming risk management committees (RMCs). Specifically, I determine whether RMCs are related to a change in risk outcomes, an increase in profitability, a change in hedging and trading derivative structures, and greater financial reporting quality during the post-committee formation period compared to a control group. I use a sample of financial institutions that form a RMC in any year from 1994 through 2008 and a control sample of financial institutions that do not form a RMC during the sample period. The results provide evidence to suggest that financial institutions …

Examining Revenue Management Practices In Las Vegas Casino Resorts, Arun Tanpanuwat

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The overall goal of this study was to examine Revenue Management (RM) practices in Las Vegas casino resorts. A great deal of research has been done on RM in the hospitality industry. The academic research has examined RM in hospitality in general, but not specifically in casino resorts, which gain their revenue from both rooms and resort amenities. Moreover, the academic literature often show high-level mathematic-based solutions or statistical applications, but not necessarily pragmatic techniques for practitioners. This qualitative study investigates the extent to which the essential fundamentals of any RM system are implemented successfully by casino RM professionals and …

Learning The “Craft Of Auditing”: Applications Of The Cognitive Apprenticeship Framework, Kimberly D. Westermann

2011

This dissertation consists of three studies examining component(s) of the cognitive apprenticeship (CA) model applied to on-the-job learning in auditing. This abstract summarizes each study, including purpose, methodology, and findings. The first study provides descriptive evidence on the importance and pervasiveness of CA as a model of on-the-job learning (OTJL) in auditing, investigates changes in its use over time, and assesses factors that promote or hinder auditors’ learning through apprenticeship. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 relatively new and more experienced audit partners at a Big 4 firm, seeking their impressions about past and current OTJL practices in public accounting. …

Two Essays On The Accounting Treatment For Information Technology Expenditures, Kimberly Swanson Church

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current accounting measurement and reporting system is ill-equipped to provide intangible investment information that is decision useful for stakeholders in the information economy. Potentially relevant intangible items are not reported on the balance sheet, since current standards mandate the immediate expensing of these intangible items. Presumably FASB's uncertainty with the fundamental issues of extent and timing of future benefits to the firm has led to concerns with relevance, reliability, and objectivity of capitalizing some intangibles, which results in potential long term value generating expenditures being immediately expensed on the income statement. Prior research has demonstrated extent and timing of …

Culture Effects In The Ethical Decision-Making Process Of Latin American Accountants, Silvia Lopez Palau

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Despite the amount of accounting ethics research conducted over many years, two significant problems remain unsolved. First, there is a need to create accurate measurement instruments capable of predicting behavior within a theoretical framework of ethical decision-making. Second, it is important to develop ways to make measurements appropriate for application in other cultures or countries. Thus, the purpose of this study is twofold. The first objective is to develop a scale to measure the ethical evaluations, judgments, and intentions of Latin American accountants. The second goal is to determine the effects of national culture and gender on the results posited …

United States Gaap Versus International Accounting Standards: Convergence Or Divergence. Evidence From Form 20-F, Kendra Jo Huff

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Numerous accounting standards and practices affect the financial statements analyzed by investors and creditors thus bringing into question the comparability of such statements. Firms operating internationally often apply accounting methods and practices accepted by other global firms and investors. Comparability increases, or harmonization occurs, as firms converge toward a few accepted methods or when the number of methods applied decrease. This study analyzes the comparability of profits based on U.S. principles versus International Accounting Standards and other foreign accounting principles. The data for the analysis consisted of the reconciliation items and profits reported in Form 20-F filed by foreign corporations …

An Empirical Analysis Of Taxpayers' Attitudes And Behavioral Intentions Regarding Compliance With Federal Income Tax Laws, Stanley Wayne Hays

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze variables that potentially affect taxpayers' attitudes about income tax compliance. Phase one of the study focused on the relationships between four groups of variables and ethical perceptions of compliance behaviors. The four groups of variables follow: demographic variables such as age, education, and household income; personal characteristic variables such as idealism, relativism, conservatism, and religiosity; situational variables including an overall attitude about paying federal income taxes and impressions of the effectiveness of a number of law changes intended to make the IRS more responsive; and, consequential variables comprised of five dimensions of …

Expectation-Performance Gap: Professional Liability Associated With Certain Auditor Behaviors, Sidney Paul Glandon

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is threefold: (i) to establish hypotheses relating financial liability to certain auditor behaviors discussed in the independence literature, (ii) to empirically validate that the presence of these behaviors will increase auditor financial liability over the normal audit situation, and (iii) attempt to explain the differences in subjects' perceptions for each of the behavioral scenarios studied.

A survey instrument was developed and administered to three groups of subjects: an impaneled jury, bankers, and CPAs. The instrument contained a vignette describing an annual audit situation where the company filed for bankruptcy subsequent to the issuance of the …