While the traditional accounting model is widely believed to inadequatelyaccount for intangibles, managers can voluntarily provide information about them.Based on a sample of companies from East Asia, this thesis investigates the role ofvoluntary non-financial disclosure about intangibles in a...

Thus far, the disaggregation of non-recurring items from earnings has been investigated mostly in the United States, in the context of special items and pro forma earnings. The disclosure of these items is mainly on a voluntary basis. Managers of firms have significant discretion in the...

Recently, Francis, Nanda and Olsson (2008) proposed that earnings quality influence firms’ disclosure decisions. We examine whether Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure is related to earnings management and if the relationship is mitigated by political cost considerations or by the...

This thesis adopts a contracting cost perspective to examine the decision of firms in New Zealand to change their accounting policy for income tax. It uses efficient contracting theory to posit that firms change to new accounting procedures if they lead to firm value maximisation. Specifically,...

This is a study of earnings quality, examining whether components of earnings based on New Zealand (N.Z.) accounting classification systems have different information parameters. The N.Z. environment provides a unique opportunity to examine a period with no legislative backing of accounting...

This thesis reviews the evolution of interim reporting in New Zealand. The attempts to regulate interim reporting by the stock Exchange Association of New Zealand and the lobbying behaviour of affected parties are documented. The regulation of interim reporting is interpreted as a series of...