Portfolio and Security Analysis Commons^™

Differences In The Reliability Of Fair Value Hierarchy Measurements: A Cross-Country Study, Chu Yeong Lim, Gary Pan, Kevin Ow Yong

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Prior research suggests there are significant differences in how investors perceive the reliability of fair values. An unaddressed question in this stream of research is whether cross-country differences in institutional factors can mediate differences in reliability for the fair value hierarchy measurements. We contribute to the research on fair value accounting by examining the impact of institutional factors toward the perceived reliability of fair value measurements in an international context. Based on an international sample of banks across twenty different countries, we find that the probability of crash risk is lower among countries with better financial development infrastructure, greater level …

Regulations And Brain Drain: Evidence From Wall Street Star Analysts’ Career Choices, Yuyan Guan, Congcong Li, Hai Lu, Franco Wong

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The Global Settlement, along with related regulations in the early 2000s, prohibits the use of investment banking revenue to fund equity research and compensate equity analysts. We find that all-star analysts from investment banks are more likely to exit the profession or move to the buy side after the regulations. The departed star analysts’ earnings revisions and stock recommendations are more informative than those of the remaining analysts who followed the same companies. To the extent that star analysts are superior to their nonstar counterparts in terms of research ability and ability to inform the market, the exit of star …

Disclosure Of Pending Lawsuits And Bond Terms, Yun Lou

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

I examine the effect of the disclosure of pendinglawsuits in 10-K/Q filings on the contractual terms of newly issued bonds. Ifind that firms’ decision to disclose pending lawsuits and the amount ofdisclosed information (i.e., the level of disclosure) have opposite effects.Specifically, firms that disclose a higher proportion of their pending lawsuitsface higher yields and are more likely to include default clauses pertaining tocourt judgments in the bond prospectuses. However, within the subsample offirms that disclose their lawsuits, I find that firms with a higher level of disclosureregarding their pending lawsuits are rewarded with lower yields. This evidencesuggests that bond investors …

Occupational Fraud: Executive Compensation And Enforcements Against Auditors And Perpetrators., Erlina Papakroni

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation is comprised of three studies that examine the association of executive compensation with financial statement fraud and enforcements pursued against the independent auditor and the principal perpetrators when occupational fraud is detected.

The first study examines competing, though non-mutually exclusive, hypotheses for the path that equity compensation follows on its way to financial misreporting. We find that firms that experience financial statement fraud pay their executives higher levels and a higher proportion of equity compensation across the entire executive’s tenure. This starts in the first year of an executive’s tenure and continues up until the fraud period. These …

Reflective Practice Series: Selected Instructional Models Using Synchronous Video Conferencing Software, Martin W. Sivula

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

With the vast array of resources available to instructors, one would think that instruction and teaching would yield success for all learners. Now, well into the 21^st century has much changed in the classroom? Certainly, movable desks and chairs, advanced audio and visual equipment, and a plethora of all types of technologies which might be able to enhance training and education. Over the last several decades research on individualized instruction, cognitive science, educational psychology, and multimedia instruction (to name a few) have permeated the literature on instruction. With all the research and the vast array of studies on improving …

Strategic Implications Of Blockchain, William R. Adams

Marriott Student Review

This thesis introduces blockchain, the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and discusses how best to conceptualize it relative to other technologies. Following an explanation of the fundamentals of blockchain, also known as the distributed ledger, I identify the characteristics of the technology. Building upon blockchain’s inherent strengths and limitations, I explore potential business applications of blockchain. Finally, I recommend that leaders continue to track the development and adoption of blockchain technology, even if they decide that implementing it does not align with their organization’s strategy at present.

Glossary Of Business Evidence, Paul C. Boyd

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

The Emerging International Taxation Problems, James G. Yang, Victor N.A. Metallo

Department of Accounting and Finance Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The problems of tax evasion and tax avoidance are as old as taxes themselves. Between 2015 and 2016 alone, many U.S. multinational corporations were involved in tax disputes with the European Commission. From a historical perspective, these disputes are unprecedented as they have resulted in tremendous amount of tax penalties. The most notable case was Apple for €13 billion of unpaid tax. This article discusses what tax strategies these corporations used that caused such disputes. It specifically investigates seven corporations: Apple Inc., McDonald’s, Starbucks, Fiat, Amazon, Google, and Ikea, and elaborates on the following tax strategies: high royalties, intercompany transfer …

Is The Accruals Anomaly More Persistent In Firms With Weak Internal Controls?, Kanishk Kapur

CMC Senior Theses

In 1996, Sloan identified the accruals anomaly, in which the negative relationship between the accruals component of current earnings and subsequent stock returns can be exploited to generate excess returns. One would expect the accruals anomaly to dissipate and ultimately disappear as investors take advantage of the now-public information. However, nearly two decades later, it persists as one of the most prominent and contentious anomalies; its magnitude of current and future excess returns still remain controversial. The main reason for its persistence is that extreme accrual firms possess characteristics that are unappealing to most investors. These characteristics, which include insufficient …

The Effect Of Mandatory Adoption Of Ifrs On Transparency For Investors, Crystal Anderson

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the effect of the mandatory adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on transparency for investors by measuring the increase in earnings management during the post-adoption period of IFRS. One sign of earnings management is current year earnings being only slightly higher than the previous year’s earnings. An increase in earnings management means a decrease in accounting quality and a decrease of transparency for investors. By comparing firms that mandatorily adopted IFRS to similar benchmark firms in terms of strength of legal enforcement, book-to-market ratios, market values and net incomes, I am able to run empirical …

Gender And Connections Among Wall Street Analysts, Lily Hua Fang, Sterling Huang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine how alumni ties with corporate boards differentially affect male and female analysts’ job performance and career outcomes. Connection improves men’s job performance — forecasting accuracy and recommendation impact — significantly more than women’s. Controlling for performance, connection further contributes to men’s, but not women’s, likelihood of being voted by institutional investors as “star” analysts, a marker of career success. These asymmetric effects are stronger in more opaque firms and among younger analysts, but is absent from a placebo test. Our evidence indicates that men reap higher benefits from social networks than women in both job performance and subjective …

The Real Effect Of The Initial Enforcement Of Insider Trading Laws, Zhihong Chen, Yan Huang, Yuanto Kusnadi, K. C. John Wei

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Based on a difference-in-differences approach, we find strong evidence that the initial enforcement of insider trading laws improves capital allocation efficiency. The effect is concentrated in developed markets and manifests shortly after the enforcement year. Further analysis shows that the improvement is positively associated with the increase in liquidity around the enforcement year and the opaqueness of the information environment before the enforcement year. The improvement is more pronounced for firms operating in more competitive markets, being more financially constrained, and with more severe agency problems. Finally, we find increased accounting performance after the enforcement and the increase is positively …

Portfolio Risk-Return Analysis: The Case Of The Automotive Industry In The Czech Republic, Florin Aliu, Drahomira Pavelkova, Bruce Dehning

Accounting Faculty Articles and Research

Risk has always been the concern of managers and shareholders as a part of decision-making processes. Managers tend to control unsystematic risk mostly while trying to minimize the exposure to systematic (market) risk. The paper aims to assess the risk level and risk-return tradeoffs for the companies operating in Czech automotive industry. A diversification formula and calculation of returns using return-on-equity were employed on the yearly basis from 2005 till 2014. The returns and risk calculations were conducted on the portfolio of auto manufacturers, followed by the portfolio of auto suppliers, while the third one was performed for suppliers and …

Using Accounting Information To Forecast Market Performance, Tyler Atanasov

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This study examines how accounting information can be used to forecast market performance of stocks. We used the specific accounting information of earnings-to-price and book-to-market value ratios, in relation to a stocks 5-year holding period return to determine market performance. The most current, quarterly data with a longer sample period than previous studies was used. First, portfolios of stocks were formed based on the value of each stocks ratio. Next, univariate tests were then run on each ratio’s portfolios to determine if there was statistical significance in the differences among the portfolios returns. Lastly, we determined that investors could earn …

Correlation Between Shareholder Concentration And Firm Performance With Regard To Midcap Companies, Wynn Lemmons

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The research herein explores the correlation between performance and shareholder concentration. This paper compares the performance of a group of companies with a single shareholder stake of over 10% from the universe of the S&P 400 Midcap Index to the performance of the index itself over a period of eight years (January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2016). When run as a simulated portfolio, the group selected generated a slight amount of positive alpha, but the results were ultimately statistically insignificant.

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 …

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 …

Customer's Short Positions And Supplier's Investment Decisions, Xia Chen, Guojin Gong, Shuqing Luo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Short interest contains valuable information about a firm’s business fundamentals. We investigate whether such information affects business partners’ real investment decisions in the supply-chain setting. We predict and find that a supplier’s future investments (including inventory, R&D, and tangible asset investments) decrease with its customer’s current short interest. This negative relation is stronger when the supplier faces greater difficulty in assessing its customer’s business fundamentals and when short interest is more likely to indicate longlasting deterioration in the customer’s fundamentals. Additional analysis does not support the alternative explanation that the supplier adjusts investments in response to unfavorable information obtained via …

Market Pricing Of Banks’ Fair Value Assets Reported Under Sfas 157 Since The 2008 Financial Crisis, Beng Wee Goh, Dan Li, Jeffrey Ng, Keng Kevin Ow Yong

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We investigate how investors price the fair value estimates of assets as required by Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 157 (SFAS 157) since the financial crisis in 2008. We observe that Level 3 fair value estimates are typically priced lower than Level 1 and Level 2 fair value estimates between 2008 and 2011. However, the difference between the pricing of the different estimates reduces over time, suggesting that as market conditions stabilize in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, reliability concerns about Level 3 estimates dissipated to some extent. Next, we examine whether Level 3 gains affect the …

Is Sin Always A Sin? The Interaction Effect Of Social Norms And Financial Incentives On Market Participants’ Behavior, Yanju Liu, Hai Lu, Kevin Veenstra

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using alcohol, tobacco, and gaming consumption data and people’s attitudes toward these sin products to proxy for social norm acceptance levels, we show a strong interaction effect between social norms and financial incentives, which significantly influence the behavior of market participants. Specifically, institutional investors’ shareholdings and analyst coverage of sin companies increase with the degree of social norm acceptance. The association between shareholdings/coverage and social norm acceptance is less pronounced for firms with higher future expected performance. Our results show that social norms and financial incentives have a powerful interaction effect in determining the behavior of market participants, suggesting that …

Does Beating Cash Flow Benchmarks Reduce The Cost Of Debt?, Mauricio A. Melgarejo

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This paper examines whether beating previous year cash flow values and analysts' cash flow forecasts impact the firms' cost of debt. Creditors are expected to be more concerned about firm solvency than firm profitability. Accordingly, if lenders have any reference point it may be related to cash flow numbers. This study finds that firms that beat analysts' cash flow forecasts have smaller initial bond yield spreads in the next period and a decrease in their initial bond yield spreads between consecutive periods. This effect is more pronounced at short maturities and for observations with less informative earnings. Firms with lower …

Leverage Buy-Out Case Study, Binh Duc Nguyen

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Stock Liquidity And The Pricing Of Earnings: A Comparison Of China’S Floating And Non-Floating Shares, Lou Fang, Jiwei Wang, Hongqi Yuan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The reform to convert non-floating shares to floating in China provides a setting in which shares are subject to different liquidity constraint. We show that the severity of this constraint is inversely related to the extent to which earnings information is reflected in the share prices. Specifically, before the reform, the transfer prices of non-floating shares reflect much less earnings information than the market prices of floating shares. After the reform, however, both types of transfer reflect more earnings information, although the weights are still less than that found in the market prices. Thus, China's unique setting shows that share …

Ias 39 Reclassification Choice And Analyst Earnings Forecast Properties, Chee Yeow Lim, Chu Yeong Lim, Gerald J. Lobo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

In October 2008, the International Accounting Standards Board amended IAS 39 to allow banks to retroactively reclassify financial assets that previously were measured at fair value to amortized cost. By reclassifying financial assets, a bank can potentially avoid recognizing the unrealized fair value losses and thereby increase its income and regulatory capital during a market downturn. We examine the implications of the reclassification decision by banks for the properties of financial analyst earnings forecasts during 2008–2009, when economic conditions were highly volatile. We find that the reclassification choice during the financial crisis reduced analyst forecast accuracy and increased forecast dispersion. …

Examining The Informational Role Of Analysts’ Forecasts And Its Impact On The Relation Between Earnings Surprises And Investors’ Responses, Joonho Lee, Kevin Ow Yong, Clement Michael

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Prior research documents the existence of two distinct post-earnings-announcement-drifts. Interestingly, investors seem to underreact more toward analyst-based earnings surprises than toward seasonal random walk earnings surprises. In this paper, we measure the extent of investors’ delayed reaction relative to the total market response to the earnings surprises. Using this measure, we find that investors react proportionately faster and more thoroughly to analyst-based earnings surprises than to random walk earnings surprises, suggesting that analyst-based earnings surprises are relatively less related with a delayed investor reaction compared with random walk earnings surprises. We also find that as the informativeness of analyst earnings …

Do Analysts Understand The Valuation Implications Of Accounting Conservatism When Forecasting Target Prices?, Jae Bum Kim, Alexander Nekrasov, Pervin Shroff, Andreas Simon

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Conservatism in earnings does not have a direct impact on the present value of future cash flows. This paper examines whether financial analysts correctly undo the effect of accounting conservatism incorporated in their own earnings forecasts in arriving at their target price forecasts. Based on prior findings, we consider alternative valuation models/heuristics that may be used by analysts to estimate target prices, e.g. the forward P/E and the PEG ratio. Our evidence suggests that analysts fail to fully undo the effect of accounting conservatism embedded in their forecasts of earnings and earnings growth when estimating their target price forecasts. More …

Do Analysts Understand The Valuation Implications Of Accounting Conservatism When Forecasting Target Prices?, Jae Bum Kim, Alexander Nekrasov, Pervin K. Shroff, Andreas Simon

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Conservatism in earnings does not have a direct impact on the present value of future cash flows. This paper examines whether financial analysts correctly undo the effect of accounting conservatism incorporated in their own earnings forecasts in arriving at their target price forecasts. Based on prior findings, we consider alternative valuation models/heuristics that may be used by analysts to estimate target prices, e.g. the forward P/E and the PEG ratio. Our evidence suggests that analysts fail to fully undo the effect of accounting conservatism embedded in their forecasts of earnings and earnings growth when estimating their target price forecasts. More …

F.A.C.E.S. (Faculty Academic Community Education Showcase): Professional Growth Experiences In A Career University, Paul J. Colbert, Ph.D.

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

Institutes of higher education exist for the purpose of developing, fostering, nurturing, and stimulating the intellectual growth and development of students. The core values of a college education provide students conceptual and practical educational opportunities that focus on improving their skills and knowledge. These skills and knowledge translate into purposeful, real-life learning experiences. However, in the academic community, learning is not restricted to students. Faculty, too, must be supported and provided opportunities for personal and professional growth and development. Although professional development is not a novel concept in the education profession, schools often take up the gauntlet, but fall short …

Hedge Funds And Analyst Conflict Of Interest, Sung Gon Chung, Melvyn Teo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Are sell-side analysts reluctant to go against the investment views of their hedge fund clients? We show that analysts tend to upgrade stocks recently bought and downgrade stocks recently sold by hedge funds. Relative to other buy and strong buy recommendations, similar recommendations on stocks predominantly held by hedge funds parlay into poorer three-month and six-month stock returns. Hedge funds concurrently offload their stock holdings when analysts issue flattering reports. In line with an agency based explanation, our results are more pronounced for important brokerage clients such as high dollar turnover hedge funds and hedge funds who are prime brokerage …

Hedging Effectiveness Under Conditions Of Asymmetry, Jim Hanly, John Cotter

Articles

We examine whether hedging effectiveness is affected by asymmetry in the return distribution by applying tail specific metrics, for example, Value at Risk, to compare the hedging effectiveness of short and long hedgers. Comparisons are applied to a number of hedging strategies including OLS, and both symmetric and asymmetric GARCH models. We apply our analysis to a dataset consisting of S&P500 index cash and futures containing symmetric and asymmetric return distributions chosen ex-post. Our findings show that asymmetry reduces out-of-sample hedging performance and that significant differences occur in hedging performance between short and long hedgers.