The trend of pro forma (non-GAAP) reporting has made it increasingly difficult for financial analysts and investors to evaluate company performance. This study investigates how pro forma reporting affects analysts’ judgments in a non-US experimental setting. The results show that analysts who...

The paper by Eilifsen, Knivsfla and Saettem, in this issue of the journal, provides some interesting research results in the field of accounting and taxation. Contrary to most European research in this area, Eilifsen, Knivsflå and Saettem apply a theoretical, deductive, model-based approach in...

Standard setters put much effort into the development of 'better' financial reporting standards, that is, standards that more accurately capture the economic substance of business activities. However, the more sophisticated accounting treatments caused by new standards, and the growing...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the way institutional investors use information for equity-investment purposes, and to discuss the implications that this may have for the role of these investors as owners of public companies. On the basis of an empirical study, the paper reports that...

The relationship between news and investor actions, manifested in stock price changes and changes in trading volume, has been intensely studied within the area of market-based accounting research (MBAR). This paper discusses the causes of investor actions on the basis of a case study of a large...

The purpose of this paper is to make a quantitative comparative analysis of differences between Swedish accounting practice and US GAAP. The empirical data consisted of eighty-four US GAAP reconciliations of income statements and shareholders' equity, disclosed in Swedish annual reports during...

In a recent discussion paper on an improved conceptual framework (IASB, 2006a), the IASB and the FASB argue that prudence and conservatism are not desirable qualities of financial reporting information (IASB, 2006a, BC2.22). One interpretation of this proposal is that the consistent...

We use Bayesian techniques to select factors in a general multifactor asset pricing model. From a given set of 15 factors we evaluate all possible pricing models by the extent to which they describe the data as given by the posterior model probabilities. Interest rates, premiums, returns on...

The working of the”asset currency” provided by the Swedish note banking system in 1878–1901 is described. Natural and institutional conditions caused the demand for currency to peak in March and September, with troughs in July and January. The paper investigates how the Enskilda banks...

The paper proposes a theory of the anti-competitive effects of debt finance based on the interaction between capital structure, managerial incentives, and firms' ability to sustain collusive agreements. It shows that shareholders' commitments that reduce conflicts with debtholders - such as...