Using a large sample of listed firms from 17 European countries that mandatorily adopted IFRS over the period 2005-2008, we examine the effect of mandatory IFRS adoption on accounting conservatism defined using Basu’s (1997) differential timeliness (DT) measure. An important distinction of our study is that we avoid the common criticisms of the DT measure by comparing the difference in the DT m...

We develop a model to analyze how corporate governance and managerial optimism affect firms’financial reporting choices, and managers’incentives to manipulate accounting reports. Conservative accounting is advantageous because it enables boards to act on bad news and block investment ideas that are unattractive to shareholders but attractive to management. This feature of conservatism, however,...

The degree to which organisms retain their environmental preferences is of utmost importance in predicting their fate in a world of rapid climate change. Notably, marine invertebrates frequently show strong affinities for either carbonate or terrigenous clastic environments. This affinity is due to characteristics of the sediments as well as correlated environmental factors. We assessed the con...

This dissertation consists of two essays. The first essay provides a rational explanation of the mysterious earnings discontinuity phenomenon. It also develops two new empirical predictions which are supported by the empirical tests. The second essay identifies conditions under which leading indicator variables discourage long-term investment. Essay 1: Discontinuity in Earnings Distribution: A ...

Analyses of phylogenetic niche conservatism (PNC) are becoming increasingly common. However, each analysis makes subtly different assumptions about the evolutionary mechanism that generates patterns of niche conservatism. To understand PNC, analyses should be conducted with reference to a clear underlying model, using appropriate methods. Here, we outline five macroevolutionary models that may ...

This paper proposes a new method for estimating the intergenerational persistence of lifetime earnings from data that contain only short sections of individual earnings histories. The approach infers lifetime earnings persistence from the persistence of short earnings averages together with information about the stochastic process governing individual earnings. I …nd that lifetime earnings are ...

When the Revelation Principle (RP) holds, managing earnings confers no advantage over revelation. We construct an explanation for earnings management that is based on limitations on owners’ ability to make commitments (a violation of the RP’s assumptions). Traditionally, earnings management is seen as sneaky managers pulling the wool over the eyes of gullible owners by manipulating accruals; ou...

this study presents empirical evidence concerning the effect of different accounting standard on earnings management. prior studies have shown that accounting standards influence earnings management. tighter accounting standards regime restricts management’s descretion to manipulate accruals, and at the same time, induce more costly real earnings management activities. to investigate this iss...

In two large samples (combined N 1⁄4 31,045), we found a positive relationship between disgust sensitivity and political conservatism. This relationship held when controlling for a number of demographic variables as well as the ‘‘Big Five’’ personality traits. Disgust sensitivity was also associated with more conservative voting in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. In Study 2, we replicated ...