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Research Collection School Of Accountancy

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Full-Text Articles in Accounting

The Impact Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act On Clients’ Audit Opinion Shopping Behavior, Jong-Hag Choi, Heesun Chung, Catherine Heyjung Sonu, Yoonseok Zang Jun 2016

The Impact Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act On Clients’ Audit Opinion Shopping Behavior, Jong-Hag Choi, Heesun Chung, Catherine Heyjung Sonu, Yoonseok Zang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study investigates whether the tendency for audit clients to engage in opinion shopping becomes weaker after the enforcement of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). While Lennox (2000) provides evidence that U.K. firms successfully engage in opinion shopping, there is limited evidence on the mitigating effect of SOX on opinion shopping. Using observations collected from the period before and after the enforcement of SOX (year 2001, 2004 and 2005), we find that, for our sample period, firms are likely to switch (retain) their incumbent auditors when the likelihood of receiving a going concern opinion is lower (higher) from a successor auditor, …


The Influence Of Ethical Leadership On Managerial Performance: Mediating Effects Of Mindfulness And Corporate Social Responsibility, John J. Williams, Alfred E. Seaman Jun 2016

The Influence Of Ethical Leadership On Managerial Performance: Mediating Effects Of Mindfulness And Corporate Social Responsibility, John J. Williams, Alfred E. Seaman

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

In a continuing world of corporate misdeeds and unscrupulous decision making, much of the management and academic literatures points to the incomplete knowledge of the consequences of ethics leadership. One of the bastions of ethics gatekeeping in the firm is the CFO but remarkably scant information can be found on their perceptions concerning ethics leadership. This study addresses this void by examining mindfulness and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives as new mediating linkages in comprehending the influence of ethics leadership on managerial performance. Findings reveal that ethical leadership is positively associated with CSR initiatives which, in turn, operate to enhance …


Consequences To Directors Of Shareholder Activism, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin, Suraj Srinivasan May 2016

Consequences To Directors Of Shareholder Activism, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin, Suraj Srinivasan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using a comprehensive sample for 2004–2012, we examine the impact of shareholder activist campaigns on the careers of directors of targeted firms. We find that activism is associated with directors being almost twice as likely to leave—and performance-sensitivity of turnover being higher over the subsequent two-year period. Our evidence suggests that director turnover occurs even without shareholder activists engaging in, let alone winning, proxy contests and, in contrast to most prior research, director election results matter. Overall, our evidence suggests that shareholder activism, even in the absence of proxy fights, is associated with greater accountability for independent directors.


The Downside Of The Network Ties Between Ceo/Cfos And Auditors Through External Directorships: Evidence From Auditor Selection And Subsequent Audit Quality, Jaeyoon Yu, Byungjin Kwak, Myung Seok Park, Yoonseok Zang May 2016

The Downside Of The Network Ties Between Ceo/Cfos And Auditors Through External Directorships: Evidence From Auditor Selection And Subsequent Audit Quality, Jaeyoon Yu, Byungjin Kwak, Myung Seok Park, Yoonseok Zang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study examines whether the professional ties of Chief Executive Officers/Chief Financial Officers (CEO/CFOs) to auditors through external directorships affect auditor selection and subsequent audit quality. Professional ties to auditors arise when the CEO/CFO of a firm (referred to as the home firm) serves as an outside director of another firm that hires an auditor (a connected auditor). Using a sample of firms with auditor switches over the period 2003-2012, we find that home firms are more likely to appoint connected auditors. Furthermore, utilizing a difference-in-differences approach, we find that home firms appointing connected auditors experience a significant decline in …


Why Hedge? Extent, Nature, And Determinants Of Derivative Usage In U.S. Municipalities, Saleha Khumawala, Ranasinghe, Tharindra, Claire J. Yan May 2016

Why Hedge? Extent, Nature, And Determinants Of Derivative Usage In U.S. Municipalities, Saleha Khumawala, Ranasinghe, Tharindra, Claire J. Yan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using a hand-collected dataset of over 300 observations of large U.S. cities and counties, this paper investigates the extent, nature and determinants of derivatives usage in the municipal sector. Over half of our sample entities engage in derivative transactions and a vast majority of these transactions are intended to manage interest rate risk. Swaps, by far, are the most popular derivative instrument. In terms of the determinants of derivative usage, we find that the propensity to use derivatives as well as the extent of derivative usage is higher for municipalities that are larger and more financially constrained. We do not …


Financial Health And Corporate Performance: A Comparison Of Manufacturing Companies In China And India, See Liang Foo, Shaakalya Pathak May 2016

Financial Health And Corporate Performance: A Comparison Of Manufacturing Companies In China And India, See Liang Foo, Shaakalya Pathak

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The People’s Republic of China (China) and India are two leading economies in Asia Pacific. This study examines the relationship between the financial health, as measured by the Altman Z-Score, and corporate performance, as measured by the Return on Equity (ROE), of listed manufacturing companies in these two markets. A linear regression was conducted between these variables to determine the magnitude and direction of their relationships. The trends of Z-Scores over a fourteen-year period are also analysed. The analysis covers the period from 2000 to 2013 (inclusive) and yielded a statistically positive correlation between ROE and the Z-Score for both …


The Effect Of Ceo Stock-Based Compensation On Pricing Of Future Earnings, Bobae Choi, Jae Bum Kim May 2016

The Effect Of Ceo Stock-Based Compensation On Pricing Of Future Earnings, Bobae Choi, Jae Bum Kim

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper examines whether CEO stock-based compensation has an effect on the market’s ability to predict future earnings. When stock-based compensation motivates managers to share their private information with shareholders, it will expedite the pricing of future earnings in current stock prices. In contrast, when equity-compensated managers attempt to temporarily manipulate the stock price to maximize their own benefit rather than that of shareholders, the market may not fully anticipate future performance. We find that a CEO’s stock-based compensation strengthens the association between current returns and future earnings, indicating that more information about future earnings is reflected in current stock …


Mandatory Financial Reporting And Voluntary Disclosure: The Effect Of Mandatory Ifrs Adoption On Management Forecasts, Xi Li, Holly I. Yang May 2016

Mandatory Financial Reporting And Voluntary Disclosure: The Effect Of Mandatory Ifrs Adoption On Management Forecasts, Xi Li, Holly I. Yang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study examines the effect of the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on voluntary disclosure. Using a difference-in-difference analysis, we document a significant increase in the likelihood and frequency of management earnings forecasts following mandatory IFRS adoption, consistent with the notion that IFRS adoption alters firms' disclosure incentives in response to increased capital-market demand. We find the increase to be larger among firms domiciled in code-law countries, suggesting a catching-up effect among firms facing low disclosure incentives pre-adoption. We then propose and test three channels through which IFRS adoption could alter firms' disclosure incentives: improved earnings quality, …


Mandatory Financial Reporting And Voluntary Disclosure: The Effect Of Mandatory Ifrs Adoption On Management Forecasts, Xi Li, Holly I. Yang May 2016

Mandatory Financial Reporting And Voluntary Disclosure: The Effect Of Mandatory Ifrs Adoption On Management Forecasts, Xi Li, Holly I. Yang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study examines the effect of the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on voluntary disclosure. Using a difference-in-difference analysis, we document a significant increase in the likelihood and frequency of management earnings forecasts following mandatory IFRS adoption, consistent with the notion that IFRS adoption alters firms' disclosure incentives in response to increased capital-market demand. We find the increase to be larger among firms domiciled in code-law countries, suggesting a catching-up effect among firms facing low disclosure incentives pre-adoption. We then propose and test three channels through which IFRS adoption could alter firms' disclosure incentives: improved earnings quality, …


Financial Health And Corporate Performance Of Listed Manufacturing Companies In South Korea And Taiwan: A Comparative Study Of The Two Asian Tigers, See Liang Foo, Shaakalya Pathak Apr 2016

Financial Health And Corporate Performance Of Listed Manufacturing Companies In South Korea And Taiwan: A Comparative Study Of The Two Asian Tigers, See Liang Foo, Shaakalya Pathak

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

South Korea and Taiwan are two leading economies in Asia Pacific. This study examines the relationship between the financial health, as measured by the Altman Z-Score, and corporate performance, as measured by the Return on Equity (ROE), of listed manufacturing companies in these two markets. A linear regression was conducted between these variables to determine the magnitude and direction of their relationships. The trends of Z-Scores over a fourteen-year period are also analyzed. The analysis covers the period from 2000 to 2013(inclusive) and yielded a statistically positive correlation between ROE and the Z-Score for both markets. South Korea and Taiwan …


Media Coverage And The Stock Market Valuation Of Tarp Participating Banks, Tee Yong Jeffrey Ng, Florin P. Vasvari, Regina Wittenberg-Moerman Apr 2016

Media Coverage And The Stock Market Valuation Of Tarp Participating Banks, Tee Yong Jeffrey Ng, Florin P. Vasvari, Regina Wittenberg-Moerman

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine the impact of media coverage of the Capital Purchase Program (CPP) under the Troubled Assets Relief Program on the equity market valuation of participating bank holding companies (CPP banks). We document substantial negative coverage of the CPP and its participants over the five quarters following the program's initiation. We find that the extent of negative media coverage about the CPP exerted substantial downward pressure on the stock returns of CPP banks, decreasing their valuation relative to bank holding companies not participating in the program. We show that our findings cannot be explained by differences in the banks’ financial …


Do Analysts Understand The Economic And Reporting Complexities Of Derivatives?, Hye Sun Chang, Michael Donohoe, Theodore Sougiannis Apr 2016

Do Analysts Understand The Economic And Reporting Complexities Of Derivatives?, Hye Sun Chang, Michael Donohoe, Theodore Sougiannis

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We investigate whether and how the complexity of derivatives influences analysts earnings forecast properties. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find that, relative to a matched control sample of non-users, analysts earnings forecasts for new derivatives users are less accurate and more dispersed after derivatives initiation. These results do not appear to be driven by the economic complexity of derivatives, but rather the financial reporting of such economic complexity. Overall, despite their financial expertise, analysts routinely misjudge the earnings implications of firms derivatives activity. However, we find evidence that a series of derivatives accounting standards has helped analysts improve their forecasts …


Risk Management In A Vuca Environment: Some Key Considerations, Foo S.L., Nam Sang Cheng, Nam Sang Cheng Apr 2016

Risk Management In A Vuca Environment: Some Key Considerations, Foo S.L., Nam Sang Cheng, Nam Sang Cheng

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Whatis VUCA? Why is it relevant to accountants, the C-suites and Board ofDirectors? Companies are in the business of taking risks for rewards. Situatedbetween the companies are in the business of taking risks for rewards. Situatedbetween the companies and the rewards are risks. Critical concepts in thisprocess are volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), a trendymanagerial acronym that conflates the reality of the business environment and the challenges ofrisk management.


The Future Of Corporate Real Estate With Data And Analytics, Clarence Goh Mar 2016

The Future Of Corporate Real Estate With Data And Analytics, Clarence Goh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

JLLrecently commissioned Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) to conduct in-depth interviewswith C-suite executives across the globe to understand their views on the rolethat data and analytics (D&A) plays in corporate real estate (CRE). Allparticipants in this series of interviews held overall responsibility for CREdecision making – at either the global or regional level – withintheir organisations.


Analysts, Macroeconomic News, And The Benefit Of Active In-House Economists, Artur Hugon, Alok Kumar, An-Ping Lin Mar 2016

Analysts, Macroeconomic News, And The Benefit Of Active In-House Economists, Artur Hugon, Alok Kumar, An-Ping Lin

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Although macroeconomic news has a major impact on corporate earnings, anecdotal evidence suggests that financial analyst research is inefficient with respect to such news. Examining analysts' earnings research, we find that they underreact to negative macroeconomic news. Analysts are not all equal, though, as analysts employed at the same firm as an active macroeconomist underreact much less. We find that the benefit of analyst access to an economist is concentrated in firms that are high in cyclicality relative to their industry, high in cyclicality in general, and that are smaller in size. In addition, analysts who are exposed to more …


Accounting Conservatism And Stock Price Crash Risk: Firm-Level Evidence, Jeong-Bon Kim, Liandong Zhang Mar 2016

Accounting Conservatism And Stock Price Crash Risk: Firm-Level Evidence, Jeong-Bon Kim, Liandong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using a large sample of U.S. firms during 1964-2007, we find that conditional conservatism is associated with a lower likelihood of a firm's future stock price crashes. This finding holds for multiple measures of conditional conservatism and crash risk and is robust to controlling for other known determinants of crash risk and firm-fixed effects. Moreover, we find that the relation between conservatism and crash risk is more pronounced for firms with higher information asymmetry. Overall, our results are consistent with the notion that conditional conservatism limits managers' incentive and ability to overstate performance and hide bad news from investors, which, …


Ceo Overconfidence And Management Forecasting, Paul Hribar, Holly I. Yang Mar 2016

Ceo Overconfidence And Management Forecasting, Paul Hribar, Holly I. Yang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper examines how overconfidence affects the properties of management forecasts. Using both the ‘over‐optimism’ and ‘miscalibration’ effects of overconfidence to generate our predictions, we examine three research questions. First, we examine whether overconfidence increases the likelihood of issuing a forecast. Second, we examine whether overconfidence increases the amount of optimism in management forecasts. Third, we examine whether overconfidence increases the specificity and precision of the forecast. We use both options‐ and press‐based measures to proxy for individual overconfidence, and find support for all three research questions. We further find that the results are concentrated among firms that provide forecasts …


Preparing Accounting Graduates For Digital Revolution: A Critical Review Of Information Technology Competencies And Skills Development, Gary Pan, Poh-Sun Seow Feb 2016

Preparing Accounting Graduates For Digital Revolution: A Critical Review Of Information Technology Competencies And Skills Development, Gary Pan, Poh-Sun Seow

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The pervasiveness of information technology (IT) in businesses has altered the nature and economies of accounting activities. In particular, the emergence of cloud computing, eXtensible Business Reporting Language, and business analytics in recent years have transformed the way companies report financial performance and make business decisions. As a consequence, there is a surge in demand for advanced IT skills among accounting professionals. In this research, we aim to review selected articles published between 2004 and 2014 based on selected search phrases. The outcome of the review may serve as an important input for current and future accounting curriculum revisions.


Six Tax Reforms For 2016, Yee Loong Sum Feb 2016

Six Tax Reforms For 2016, Yee Loong Sum

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Offers some fresh ideas on how to make Singapore more business-friendly and socially aware.


Bank Competition And Financial Stability: Evidence From The Financial Crisis, Brian Atkins, Lynn Li, Jeffrey Ng, Tjomme O. Rusticus Feb 2016

Bank Competition And Financial Stability: Evidence From The Financial Crisis, Brian Atkins, Lynn Li, Jeffrey Ng, Tjomme O. Rusticus

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine the link between bank competition and financial stability using the recent financial crisis as the setting. We utilize variation in banking competition at the state level and find that banks facing less competition are more likely to engage in risky activities, more likely to face regulatory intervention, and more likely to fail. Focusing on the real estate market, we find that states with less competition had higher rates of mortgage approval, experienced greater housing price inflation before the crisis, and a steeper housing price decline during it. Overall, our study is consistent with greater competition increasing financial stability.


Female Board Representation And Corporate Acquisition Intensity, Guoli Chen, Craig Crossland, Sterling Huang Feb 2016

Female Board Representation And Corporate Acquisition Intensity, Guoli Chen, Craig Crossland, Sterling Huang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study examines the impact of female board representation on firm-level strategic behavior within the domain of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We build on social identity theory to predict that greater female representation on a firm's board will be negatively associated with both the number of acquisitions the firm engages in and, conditional on doing a deal, acquisition size. Using a comprehensive, multi-year sample of U.S. public firms, we find strong support for our hypotheses. We demonstrate the robustness of our findings through the use of a difference-in-differences analysis on a sub-sample of firms that experienced exogenous changes in board …


Short Selling Pressure And Corporate Social Responsibility Performance, Louise Yi Lu, Yangxin Yu, Liandong Zhang Jan 2016

Short Selling Pressure And Corporate Social Responsibility Performance, Louise Yi Lu, Yangxin Yu, Liandong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using Regulation SHO as a natural experiment, we show that managers respond to apositive exogenous shock of short selling pressure by enhancing corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) performance. The positive effect of short selling on CSR is mainlydriven by improvements in stakeholder CSR, rather than third party CSR; and byimprovements in CSR strengths, rather than reductions in CSR concerns. We further findthat the effect is more pronounced for firms that locate in environments where CSR isemphasized by their stakeholders. Moreover, we find that managers are more likely toissue CSR reports that convey information about firms’ CSR activities to the publicduring the implementation …


Investor Reactions To Company Disclosure Of High Ceo Pay And High Ceo-To-Employee Pay Ratio: An Experimental Investigation, Khim Kelly, Jean Lin Seow Jan 2016

Investor Reactions To Company Disclosure Of High Ceo Pay And High Ceo-To-Employee Pay Ratio: An Experimental Investigation, Khim Kelly, Jean Lin Seow

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

There is significant debate about the usefulness of disclosing the CEO-to-median employee pay ratio, as required under Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act in the United States. Using an experiment, we find that disclosing higher-than-industry CEO pay (versus comparable-to-industry CEO pay) marginally decreases perceived CEO pay fairness and perceived workplace climate, which is counteracted by a significant positive effect on perceived CEO attraction/retention ability, although there are no significant indirect effects through these perceptions on perceived investment potential. However, incrementally disclosing a higher-than-industry pay ratio (versus disclosing only higher-than-industry CEO pay) significantly decreases perceived CEO pay fairness and marginally deceases …


The Effect Of Board Independence On Information Asymmetry, Beng Wee Goh, Jimmy Lee, Jeffrey Ng, Kevin Ow Yong Jan 2016

The Effect Of Board Independence On Information Asymmetry, Beng Wee Goh, Jimmy Lee, Jeffrey Ng, Kevin Ow Yong

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Boards have an important role in ensuring that investors’ interests are protected. Our paper first examines whether the independence of a firm's board affects information asymmetry among investors. We provide evidence that greater board independence leads to lower information asymmetry. Next, we provide evidence that more voluntary disclosure and greater analyst coverage are two underlying mechanisms via which greater board independence reduces information asymmetry. Of the two mechanisms, we find that analyst coverage is more significant in influencing how board independence affects information asymmetry. Overall, our paper contributes to a better understanding of the effect of board independence on information …


Analyzing The Analysts: The Effect Of Technical And Social Skills On Analyst Career, Congcong Li, An-Ping Lin, Hai Lu Jan 2016

Analyzing The Analysts: The Effect Of Technical And Social Skills On Analyst Career, Congcong Li, An-Ping Lin, Hai Lu

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper investigates how technical and social skills of financial analysts affect theirperformance and career advancement. Using a sample of LinkedIn profiles of financial analysts,we document that analysts with good social skill, proxied by the number of social connections,generate more accurate earnings forecasts and produce more informative stock recommendations.These analysts are also more likely to be voted as All-Star analysts and to move to high-statusbrokers when changing jobs. However, the effect of technical skills, proxied by the quantitativeskills disclosed on LinkedIn, only affect earnings forecast accuracy. The analysts with technicalskills are indifferent in the likelihood of being voted as star …


Corporate Political Connections And Tax Aggressiveness, Chansog (Francis) Kim, Liandong Zhang Jan 2016

Corporate Political Connections And Tax Aggressiveness, Chansog (Francis) Kim, Liandong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study investigates the relation between corporate political connections and tax aggressiveness. We study a broad array of corporate political activities, including the employment of connected directors, campaign contributions, and lobbying. Using a large hand-collected data set of U.S. firms' political connections, we find that politically connected firms are more tax aggressive than nonconnected firms, after controlling for other determinants of tax aggressiveness, industry and year fixed effects, and the endogenous choice of being politically connected. Our findings are robust to various measures of political connections and tax aggressiveness. These results are consistent with the conjecture that politically connected firms …


Client Conservatism And Auditor-Client Contracting, Mark L. Defond, Chee Yeow Lim, Yoonseok Zang Jan 2016

Client Conservatism And Auditor-Client Contracting, Mark L. Defond, Chee Yeow Lim, Yoonseok Zang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We find that auditors of more conservative clients charge lower fees, issue fewer going concern opinions, and resign less frequently, consistent with more conservative clients imposing less engagement risk on their auditors. Using path analysis, we find evidence that both inherent risk and auditor business risk explain these associations. Also consistent with conservatism reducing auditor business risk, we find that client conservatism is associated with fewer lawsuits against auditors and with fewer client restatements. Taken together, our results are consistent with auditors viewing client conservatism as an important determinant of engagement risk that, in turn, affects auditor-client contracting decisions. Our …


Smu-X: An Innovative Approach To Preparing Students With Skills For The Future, Gary Pan, Gan Hup Tan Dec 2015

Smu-X: An Innovative Approach To Preparing Students With Skills For The Future, Gary Pan, Gan Hup Tan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The SMU-X Initiative is a paradigm shit which focuses on learning as opposed to teaching as well as a mind-set shift to get the university to collaborate both internally and with our external stakeholders more. We strive to do this by introducing innovation curriculum based on an experiential approach that is interdisciplinary and hands-on. It gets the SMU community to collaborate and step out of their silos by encouraging group effort in solving complex issues.


Insider Trading Restrictions And Corporate Risk-Taking, Yuanto Kusnadi Nov 2015

Insider Trading Restrictions And Corporate Risk-Taking, Yuanto Kusnadi

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper examines the effect of insider trading restrictions on corporate risk-taking. Using a cross-country sample of 38 countries over the 1990 to 2003 period, we find that corporate risk-taking is positively related to insider trading restrictions. This finding is robust to alternative regression specifications and sample periods, to the use of alternative measures of insider trading restrictions and risk-taking incentives, and to controls for possible endogeneity. Further investigation suggests that the relation between insider trading restrictions and corporate risk-taking is influenced by cross-sectional differences in stock market development and legal origin, and that the increase in risk-taking is beneficial …


The Intersection Of Tech And Accounting, Poh Sun Seow Oct 2015

The Intersection Of Tech And Accounting, Poh Sun Seow

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

No abstract provided.