Altman's Z-score is introduced in an Excel framework to produce a quick calculation of the Z-score with actual financial data available through the Internet. The lesson plan developed is easily introduced with topics concerning ratio analysis, financial risk, bond rating changes, and bankruptcy....

Sensitivity analysis is a very common exercise performed with the forecasting of project cash flows. In this paper, a duration-type measure is generated that provides a single number for the assessment of the project cash flows relative to changes in the discount rate (or adjusted for changes in...

In this paper we examine the relationship between the strength of a firm's shareholders rights, as part of their overall corporate governance structure, and the discretionary financial reporting choices made by the firm's financial executives. Specifically, we examine the strength of...

We examine how useful the popular Loughran and McDonald (2011, LM) tonal word lists are for extracting information in IPO prospectuses about first-day returns. We find that there is much more information in word use than captured by the LM tonal lists. We show that the connection between LM...

In December 2006 the Government announced proposals to promote private pension saving across UK workplaces. These proposals are explained in the Government’s White Paper, ‘Personal accounts: a new way to save’ . The proposed personal accounts system will operate from 2012 and will require...

 The purpose of this review is to investigate the extent to which perceived difficulties concerning access to finance discourage potential and existing entrepreneurs from demanding external finance. It focuses on evidence relating to the barriers to accessing finance that can arise because of...

Although much attention has focussed on the determinants of firms' innovation performance, the relationship between innovation and business performance is less well defined. In this paper we use data from identical plant level surveys conducted in six regions of the UK, Germany and Ireland to...

We investigate the effectiveness of government backed venture capital schemes (GVCs) in funding early stage entrepreneurial ventures. Addressing fundamental issues of additionality, crowding out, economic impact and sustainability, we discover that UK GVC-backed schemes have evolved to provide...

Ratio analysis is generally presented as something that has to be calculated after completing other financial statements and is generally viewed, particularly by students, as busy-work with little value. This paper changes the context of ratio analysis in order to demonstrate how a focus on the...