Since 2010 a number of firms have voluntarily adopted mark-to-market (MTM) accounting for the actuarial gains and losses associated with their defined benefit pension plans. While pension accounting rules have allowed such a choice since 1986, only recently have firms begun to exercise that...

Aim/purpose - This paper aims at investigating whether the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers implementation in Poland has affected earnings management that uses discretion in revenue recognition to avoid losses and earnings decreases....

Using an institutional setting where GAAP is relatively unconstrained, we examine whether managers use their goodwill accounting discretion to reflect firms' growth options that are not otherwise captured in reported identifiable assets. We employ a continuous dependent variable to find that...

This study investigates whether opportunistic earnings management affects the value relevance of net income and book value in determining stock price. We document a decrease in the value relevance of earnings in the year of an equity offering for a group of firms that exhibit ex post evidence of...

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the use of accrual-based vs. real earnings management by Greek firms, before and after the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The research is motivated by the fact that past studies have indicated the existence...

Prior research finds that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (US-SOX) of 2002 has affected earnings management in the United States. Cohen et al. (2008) indicate that accrual-based earnings management has declined since the passage of US-SOX, while real earnings management has increased. Further, Gilliam et...

This study investigates whether the 2009 German Accounting Law Modernization Act has affected the reporting and accounting practices of German private firms. In reforming German accounting standards, numerous accounting options were deleted, several accounting rules were transferred from IFRS to...

Private firms often rely on insider lending, e.g. by banks. Insider lending is based on lending relationships that typically involve intertemporal loan pricing: losses from early years are recovered by information rents in later years, stemming from private information the inside lender has...

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize insights from existing research on the disclosure of non-GAAP earnings, from an international point of view, and suggest several avenues for future research in this area. The paper also examines how different regulators and accounting standard setters...

Based on data collected from 616 experienced financial officers who use U.S. GAAP or IFRS and are domiciled in the U.S., Europe, or Asia, we examine how reporting standards (U.S. GAAP vs. IFRS) and domicile (U.S. vs. non-U.S.) affect earnings management (real vs. accrual). U.S. firms using U.S....