When firms are forced to publicly disclose financial information, credit rating agencies are supposed to improve their risk assessments. Theory predicts such an information quality effect but also an adverse reputational concerns effect because credit analysts may become increasingly concerned...

This paper examines the reliance on ESG metrics in executive compensation contracts. In our sample of international publicly traded firms, a rapidly growing fraction incorporate ESG metrics in the compensation schemes of their top executives. Our analysis links the reliance on these metrics to...

Current corporate disclosures regarding carbon emissions lack commonly accepted accounting rules. The accrual accounting system for carbon emissions described here is grounded in the rules of historical cost accounting for operating assets, enabling the preparation of balance sheets and flow...

Numerous multinational firms have recently pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to a net-zero position by the year 2050. These pledges currently lack a unified measurement and reporting structure, leaving the public unsure about the extent of the corporate commitments. Here, we...

Current corporate disclosures regarding carbon emissions lack generally accepted accounting rules. The carbon accrual accounting system described here takes the rules of historical cost accounting for operating assets as a template for generating Carbon Emissions (CE) balance sheets and flow...

The recent enactment of Directive 2021/2101 by the EU introduces a public Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) regime, with the aim of promoting a level playing field for businesses operating within the EU Single Market. The directive seeks to bolster tax transparency requirements for...

We use a unique matched tax return-financial statement data set to examine the magnitude and sources of book-tax differences in Germany. For the first time, the data set enables us to evaluate the extent to which financial and tax accounting differ in Germany in the most accurate manner. Despite...

Classical single-factor comparable company valuation (CCV) like e.g. valuation using the price-earnings ratio is associated with several shortcomings. The two most important are the non-applicability of negative values in the basis of reference and the high requirements to the qualitative...

Several studies indicate that stock option plans are becoming more and more a substantial part of compensation schemes in U.S. companies. This paper shows the tax implications and accounting rules for stock option plans. By comparison of the tax and accounting rules for different compensation...

Residual income valuation is based on the assumption that the clean surplus relation holds. As pointed out by Ohlson (2000), among others, the standard clean surplus relation is frequently violated. Moreover, standard residual income valuation models rest on the implicit assumption that future...