Financial Accounting & Auditing

The effects of tax reform on corporate financial decisions help determine whether reform will increase capital formation and simplify the tax system. This paper describes the effects of fundamental tax reform on corporate tax planning and summarizes economists' knowledge of the magnitude of these effects. We analyze both income tax reform, consisting of integrating the corporate and personal income taxes, and moving to a broad-based consumption tax. As prototypes of reform, we use the U.S.

It is common to apply multipliers to both earnings and book value to calculate approximate equity values. However, applying a price-earnings multiplier or a price-to-book multiplier typically produces two valuations and the analyst is left with the question of how to combine them into one valuation. This paper calculates weights that combine the valuations and shows that these weights vary over the difference between earnings and book value, doing so systematically over time.

It is common to apply multipliers to both earnings and book value to calculate approximate equity values. However, applying a price-earnings multiplier or a price-to-book multiplier typically produces two valuations and the analyst is left with the question of how to combine them into one valuation. This paper calculates weights that combine the valuations and shows that these weights vary over the difference between earnings and book value, doing so systematically over time.

Arya, Glover, and Sunder (AGS) contribute to the earnings management literature along two dimenstion. First, they classify existing explanations for earnings manipulation, based on the assumption of the revelation principle that is violated. Second, they introduce a model where allowing a manager to manipulate earnings serves as a commitment device. They show that both the owners and the manager can benefit from earnings management (a Pareto improvement). My discussion first deals with the general phenomenon of earnings management and then with the specifics of the AGS model.

As a tax base, 'consumption' is sometimes argued to be less fair than 'income' because the benefits of not taxing capital income accrue to high-income households. We argue that, despite the common perception that consumption taxation eliminates all taxes on capital income, consumption and income taxes actually treat similarly much of what is commonly called capital income. Indeed, relative to an income tax, a consumption tax exempts only the tax on the opportunity cost of capital. In contrast to a pure income tax, a consumption tax replaces capital depreciation with capital expensing.

Studies the responsiveness of manager clients to opinions made by auditors based on their qualifications through an equilibrium model. Discussion on the two-period equilibrium model; Propositions on high report of auditors; Related studies on audit opinions and market opinion.

This study investigates the timing and method of adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards(SFAS) No. 106: Employers' Accounting for Post-Retirement Benefits Other Than Pensions (FASB [1990]). Our study is motivated by the Financial Accounting Standard Board's (FASB) policy of extending the adoption period of new accounting standards beyond one fiscal year. Specifically, during 1991 and 1992, firms could adopt SFAS No. 106, disclose the expected impact of adoption, or delay adoption/disclosure until fiscal 1993.