Article Abstract:
A sample of 929 firms which reported business segments in their annual reports from 1987-1991 was scrutinized to study the link between levels of industry competition and managers' choices of which operations to report as business segments. A logit model has been designed that will reflect the decision of the management of any given industry to report operations as a segment as being a function of two measures of industry competition: the four-firm concentration ratio and a measure of the speed of profit adjustment. Data indicate that operations in less competitive industries are less likely to be reported as industry segments, which implies that the competitive harm ascribed to a disinclination to report operations as segments stems from a desire to protect abnormal profits and market share in less competitive industries.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Article Abstract:
A study on corporate earnings management found that proposed IRS audit adjustments increase as the amount of book income exceeding taxable income becomes greater. Data were drawn from tax returns and tax audit results for a sample of 1,545 firm-years between 1982 and 1992. Findings provide the first explicit proof that firms cannot separately maximize financial reporting benefits and tax savings without incurring costs. This supports the assumption among financial accounting researchers that firms need to balance book and tax incentives for earnings management. In light of this finding, researchers can keep on employing financial income information to make conclusions about tax consequences.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Article Abstract:
Research examines the behavior of open interest in listed stock options around quarterly earnings announcements. A significant decline in open interest prior to announcements was found by using pooled time series cross-section regressions. Open interest was found to behave differently for options whose values are most sensitive to changes in stock volatility. The results suggest that the behavior of open interest is correlated with recently documented temporary increases in the volatility of stock returns around announcement dates.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic: