The importance of interannual variation in deep-sea abundances is now becoming recognized. There is, however, relatively little known about what processes dominate the observed fluctuations. The abundance and size distribution of the megabenthos have been examined here using a towed camera system at a deep-sea station in the northeast Pacific (Station M) from 1989 to 2004. This 16-year study in...

The primary objective of this study is to examine the association between the quality of mandatory earnings forecast, measured by forecast accuracy and bias, and the ownership structure of Taiwanese firms, measured by the divergence between the ultimate owner’s control and the equity ownership level. The study is based on 528 forecasts issued by Taiwanese listed firms from 1999 to 2001 which we...

We document insider opportunism in an insolvency regime that is characterized by weak creditor rights and uses an accounting rule to determine bankruptcy eligibility. Using a unique dataset of bankrupt firms from India, we show insiders manage earnings downward before filing for bankruptcy via inventory and trade receivable accruals. A battery of robustness tests confirm accrual behavior is not...

We investigate the ability of a tax-based fundamental—the ratio of tax-to-book income— to predict earnings growth and stock returns and to explain the earnings-price ratio. This tax fundamental reflects both temporary and permanent book-tax differences as well as tax accruals, such as changes in the tax valuation allowance. We find that the tax-to-book income ratio predicts subsequent five-year...

This paper offers a logical formalisation of an argument-based account of reasoning about action, taking seriously the abductive nature of this form of reasoning. The particular question addressed is what is the best way to achieve a specified goal? Given a set of final goals and a set of rules on the effects of actions, the formation of subgoals for a goal is formalised as the application of a...

We document the distortionary effects of accounting-based regulation on reported earnings. In India only firms with negative book value of equity (networth) can seek bankruptcy protection. Using a novel dataset of bankrupt firms from India, we show that firms manage earnings downward to seek bankruptcy protection. Strengthening creditor rights reduces downward earnings management among non-grou...

Whereas the relations derived for price-earnings (P/E) ratios predict a positive relation with future earnings growth and negative relations with interest rates and risk, prior empirical investigations of the determinants of P/E ratios find these links to be weak. One reason commonly offered for this apparent inconsistency is the presence of transitory earnings components in the denominator. We...

We argue that high quality firms that expect larger quantity of cash flows in the near future are more likely to actively smooth earnings via discretionary accruals before seasonal equity offerings to reduce underpricing. If high quality firms are confident about future earnings, it is also plausible to assume that they also push their offer prices up more aggressively, and lessen the degree of...