This working paper presents a review of the main criticisms to positive accounting theory (henceforth, PAT). Three levels of criticisms are distinguished: (1) on epistemology, (2) on the valitidy of the theoritical framework and (3) about the methods to test empirical predictions....

Nous examinons les conséquences économiques de l'utilisation de l'anglais dans le rapport annuel de sociétés de pays non-anglophones. Nous utilisons un échantillon de 113 sociétés qui commencent à publier un rapport annuel en anglais en plus d'un rapport annuel dans leur langue...

Accounting numbers (and especially net income, equity or total assets) are based on conventions that are shaped by accounting standard setters. Elected choices result from a trade-off between the information needs of various stakeholders. This paper investigates how accounting choices meet the...

In this paper, we use the investment fraud of Bernard Madoff to inquire into the production of trust in the context of financial markets. Drawing upon empirical data related to U.S. individual investors (interviews and letters) as well as documentary material, we investigate the mechanisms...

Accounting for research and development (R&D) costs is an open issue. SFAS N°2 mandates that all R&D costs are immediately expensed. International standards prescribe a capitalization of R&D costs if they meet certain criteria (IAS 38). Recent research papers (Healy et al., 2002; Lev and...

We study the supply and demand for European accounting research, referring to author nationality and the country origin of the data to define research as ‘European’. We study both the supply (conference proceedings) and the demand (published papers) for European research. To assess the...

This paper focuses on how forecasts information is disclosed in IPO prospectuses. In France, managers report either detailed forecasts or only a brief summary. We investigate the determinants and consequences of the varying levels of detail provided in these forecasts. Based on a sample of 82...

Cette communication traite des déterminants et des conséquences de la publication d'informations prévisionnelles (IP) au moment des introductions en bourse. Sur un échantillon de 89 introductions en bourse, les résultats indiquent que les firmes avec une IP détaillée font moins d'erreurs...

Cet article est consacré aux difficultés conceptuelles, méthodologiques et empiriques des modèles d'accruals discrétionnaires. Les principaux modèles utilisés par la littérature sont présentés et discutés. Les problèmes de cohérence de ces modèles entre eux et par rapport au...