...The impact of performance-based compensation on misreporting Natasha Burns and Simi Kedia * * Burns is at University of Georgia, Terry College of Business, Athens, GA. 30602, e-mail: nburns@uga.edu. Kedia is at Harvard University, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA 02163, e-mail: skedia@hbs.edu. This paper combines the results of two earlier papers: “Does performance-based compensation explain restatements” by Natasha Burns and “Do Executive Stock Options Generate Incentives for Earnings Management? Evidence from Accounting Restatements” by Simi Kedia. We thank Jean Helwege, Andrew Karolyi, and René Stulz for their comments and advice. We also thank Jim Hsieh, Kose John, Steven Kaplan, Kevin Murphy, Prabhala, Jeremy Stein, Christof Stahel, Ralph Walking, Karen Wruck, David Yermack, participants at the 2003 NBER Universities Research Conference of Corporate Governance, the 2004 AFA Meetings in San Diego, seminars at Arizona State University, Baruch College, Indiana University, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Rice University, Rutgers University, Southern Methodist University, University of Georgetown, University of Houston, University of Illinois, and University of Pittsburgh for helpful comments. All errors are the responsibility of the authors. The Impact of performance-based compensation on misreporting Abstract This paper examines the effect of CEO compensation contracts on misreporting. We find that the sensitivity of the CEO’s option portfolio...
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...University of Maryland (prabhala@umd.edu). We thank Jonathan Karpoff and Jerry Martin for graciously sharing their data on frauds with us. We thank Benjamin Cole, Eli Fich, Shane Johnson, Lalitha Naveen, Howard Tuckman, Antoinette Schoar, Vijaya Venkatramani, Adam Yore, and seminar participants at Fordham University, London Business School, and 2010 Summer Research Conference at ISB for their comments. All errors remain ours. Chidambaran acknowledges support from a Fordham University Faculty Research Grant, Kedia acknowledges support from the Whitcomb Center, and Prabhala acknowledges support from the Center for Financial Policy, University of Maryland and the Judy Olian award for research support. ∗ Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1681472 CEO-Director Connections and Corporate Fraud ABSTRACT We study the propensity of firms to commit financial fraud using a sample of SEC enforcement actions from 2000 to 2006. Controlling for year effects, Fama-French 48-industry...
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...The receiving techniques used by Mooreman’s ensure that incoming orders are error-free in terms of both inventory quantity and inventory quality. The recording process coordinates agreement between the receiving of inventory and the corresponding payments. Process Map Risks Mooreman’s inventory acquisition process faces significant risks. When Mooreman’s receives an incoming order; a company employee compares the physical count of the inventory received with the physical count listed on the vendor’s packing list. If a discrepancy between the two goes unnoticed, the company inadvertently pays for goods that it never receives. Such payments place financial burden on the company. Mooreman’s also faces the risk of employee theft during the unloading inventory because of the lack of employee oversight during the process. As a result of the theft, Mooreman’s inventory count may disagree with the packing list provided by the vendor. Because of this disagreement, the company risks losing a vendor that is actually trustworthy. Control Activities Mooreman’s uses a series of control activities to ensure the accuracy of its inventory acquisition techniques. During the receiving phase, a warehouse clerk not involved in the physical unloading of...
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...Running head: Enron Annual Analysis Analysis of Enron Principles of Management Abstract Enron Creditors Recovery Corporation was an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy in late 2001, Enron employed around 21,000 people (McLean & Elkind, 2003) and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, pulp and paper, and communications companies, with claimed revenues of $111 billion in 2000. Fortune named Enron "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years(Fortune, 2000, pg.45-50). It achieved infamy at the end of 2001, when it was revealed that its reported financial condition was sustained mostly by institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud. Enron has since become a popular symbol of willful corporate fraud and corruption. The following is the 2000 annual report analysis that talks about the ethics, corporate responsibilty, organizational policies and applicable theories. ethics According to the 2000 annual report, the company values are as follows. “We have an obligation to communicate, take the time to talk to one another and listen. We believe that information is meant to move and that information moves people”(Enron, 2000, pg.55). The company had a good ethical philosophy of communication. Still if employees would communicated from the beginning some corrections would have been made and possibly the company would stills stand today. “We treat others as would like to be treated ourselves...
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...CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Auditing SOLUTIONS FOR REVIEW CHECKPOINTS 1-1 Auditors add credibility to financial information provided by the accountable party such as management (i.e. auditors make the financial or other information more likely to be true). Other common ways of characterizing this property of audited numbers is that the numbers are more accurate, have higher assurance, or are more reliable. These relate to different dimension of truthfulness, as we discuss later in the text. 1-2 Auditing is the verification of numbers provided by others. To attest means to lend credibility or to vouch for the truth or accuracy of the statements that one party makes to another. The attest function is a term often applied to the activities of independent PAs when acting as auditors of financial statements. Since financial statements are prepared by managers of an entity who have authority and responsibility for financial success or failure, an outsider may be skeptical that the statements are objective, free from bias, fully informative, and free from material error--intentional or inadvertent. The audit opinion of an independent-PA auditor helps resolve those doubts because the auditor's success depends upon his independent, objective, and competent assessment of the conformity of the financial statements with GAAP. The auditor's role is to lend credibility to the statements, hence the outsider will likely seek his independent audit opinion. 1-3 Client:...
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...The Managerial Compensation Responding to Earnings Manipulation Ruoyu Zhang** August 10, 2012 Abstract When the true earning in each period is private information to the agent, then the performance based pay provides the agent with incentive to misallocate the earnings to get more compensation. To address the concern of earnings manipulation problem, SEC imposed a strict disclosure regulation in 1993. An optimal managerial contract should be designed not only to provide the agent with an incentive to take actions that enhance the actual profitability of the firm, but also to minimize the agent’s incentive to falsify earnings reports. This paper uses a two-period model to demonstrate that the compensation scheme contingent on reported earnings cannot provide the agent with the incentive both to maximize earnings and to report earnings honestly. In the optimal contract, the principal must still tolerate some degree of earnings management. In addition, with the increase of the misrepresentation penalty, the principal would rather lower the incentive to make the agent work less but report earnings truthfully. I thank Professor Jean-Etienne De Bettignies and Professor Olena Ivus for valuable comments and suggestions. All errors are my own. ** MSc Candidate in Business Economics, Queen’s School of Business. Email: 11rz3@queensu.ca Table of Contents Abstract ..........................................................................................................
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...WorldCom’s Culture Numerous individuals—most of them in financial and accounting departments, at many levels of the Company and in different locations around the world—became aware in varying degrees of senior management’s misconduct. Had one or more of these individuals come forward earlier and raised their complaints with Human Resources, Internal Audit, the Law and Public Policy Department, Andersen, the Audit Committee, individual Directors and/or federal or state government regulators, perhaps the fraud would not have gone on for so long. Why didn’t they? The answer seems to lie partly in a culture emanating from corporate headquarters that emphasized making the numbers above all else; kept financial information hidden from those who needed to know; blindly trusted senior officers even in the face of evidence that they were acting improperly; discouraged dissent; and left few, if any, outlets through which employees believed they could safely raise their objections. This culture began at the top. Ebbers created the pressure that led to the fraud. He demanded the results he had promised, and he appeared to scorn the procedures (and people) that should have been a check on misreporting. When efforts were made to establish a corporate Code of Conduct, Ebbers reportedly described it as a “colossal waste of time.” He showed little respect for the role lawyers played with respect to corporate governance matters within the Company. While we...
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...IMF RESCUE PROGRAMS IN THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN EUROZONE Mutegi Cliff United States International University IMF RESCUE PROGRAMS IN THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN EUROZONE Introduction of Eurozone Crisis The Eurozone crisis began when it became evident that Greece was unable to repay its debts. This realization posed a threat not only to the 17 nations using the Euro currency but the whole European Union – 27 nations (Fullbrook, 2007). A report in 2003, by George Mason University’s School of Public Policy says, “The roots of Greece's fiscal calamity lie in prolonged deficit spending, economic mismanagement, government misreporting, and tax evasion." In order to avert the collapse of the European Union and the world economy, the EU together with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had to find a means of bailing out the ailing states Greece, Italy and Ireland among others (Francis, 2002). IMF rescue programs in: Greece The first rescue program for Greece was in May 2010. The assistance was called “Troika” as it involved the IMF, Greek government, the federal commission of economic charge European Commission (EC), and the monetary control fund, the European Central Bank (ECB) (Fullbrook, 2007). This assistance was in the form of a three-year economic adjustment initiative involving a financial assistance of € 110 billion. EU countries contributed € 80 billion while the IMF gave € 30 billion (Fullbrook, 2007). The loan was on condition...
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...1.How serious were Stephen Richard’s actions? Why? Stephen Richard's actions in this can be viewed as extremely serious because he used his high position of power in sales to coerce clients into boosting sales earnings by quarter. This led to "overly aggressive accounting practices" to boost their reported earnings. Evidence supported that the managerial use of discretion to greatly influence reported earnings was not only used by Richards', but it had become a company-wide practice. This naturally drew the attention of the DOJ and the SEC as they investigated the potential wrongdoings. Investigators found enough evidence to prove that the former CFO illegally facilitated the backdating of many contracts. Richards' involvement, as the global head of sales, included facilitating extensions of the fiscal quarter, allowing other employees to obtain contracts after the quarter-end (to boost reported earnings), and he failed to bring to the accounting and finance departments' attention that contracts may have been backdated. Stephen Richard's actions are notably serious because he had knowledge of the wrongdoings and he was in a position to report it, but he chose not to. 1 Alternative: Richards, as the head of the sales at Computer Associates (1) allowed the practice of extending CA’s fiscal quarter to reach the company’s revenue target. He also allowed his subordinates to (2) negotiate and obtain contracts after the end of the quarter ignoring the fact that the revenue for...
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...individual or corporation misrepresenting their income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Misrepresentation may take the form either of under reporting income, inflating deductions, or can be hiding money, and its interest altogether in offshore accounts. Individuals who are involved in illegal enterprise often engage in tax evasion because reporting their original incomes would serve as an admission of guilt and could result in criminal charges. A party which can also try to report these earning as coming from a legitimate source can face serious charges. In the United States, tax evasion constitutes a crime that may have been given rise to substantial monetary, imprisonment, or both. Some of the examples of Tax Evasion are: In 2002 James Traficant, was convicted of ten felony counts including bribery, racketeering, and tax evasion, and corruption of public officials in three different courts in a wide ranging investigation. He sentenced to serve 70 months and fined $24.7 million. Tax Avoidance It is a legal method to modify an individuals financial situation in order to lower the amount of income tax owed. This is generally accomplished by...
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...An Analysis of Accounting Frauds and the Timing of Analyst Coverage Decisions and Recommendation Revisions: Evidence From the US Susan M. Young* Associate Professor Fordham University New York, NY 10019 syoung16@fordham.edu Emma Peng Assistant Professor Fordham University New York, NY 10019 ypeng@fordham.edu *Corresponding author We thank workshop participants at the AAA annual meeting, City University of New York, CUNY Baruch College Emory University, and the editor for their helpful comments. We are grateful for the data provided by an anonymous reviewer and research assistance of Aili Weng and Xiaolan Wang. We appreciate funding from Fordham University. Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2202393 An Analysis of Accounting Frauds and the Timing of Analyst Coverage Decisions and Recommendation Revisions: Evidence From the US Abstract: This paper provides a comprehensive exploration of the types of accounting fraud committed by firms over the period 1995 – 2009. Using detailed data from US SEC Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases (AAER), we examine the likelihood and timing of analyst coverage decisions and recommendation revisions related to fraud firms versus firms without accounting fraud. We find that analysts have a higher probability of taking the more severe action of dropping coverage rather than only revising down recommendations for firms with any type of accounting fraud and also for specific egregious types of accounting...
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...the effects integration will have on key accounting systems. Importance of Integrating Software Integration of software for Riordan Manufacturing has tremendous benefits. Benefits include accurate and error free payroll, accurate expense tracking for new products, projects, time, and operations, accurate and reduced inventories, detailed billing, collections, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and electronically generated entries into the general ledger. As orders are received they are input into the system. Each item ordered has its own distinct part number associated with it. As soon as production begins inventories used to make the product are removed from the system. The removal of raw material needed to produce the product will result in a more accurate real-time inventory. As production is completed information pertaining to payroll will be delivered through electronic entries of completed production. These entries will generate automated invoices, which in turn will be sent directly to the customer as well as the automatic generation of labor hours used to produce the product will be sent to the payroll department. Unusual items used to product the product will be charged directly to the part number as expenses. The electronic entry of accounts receivable information will block the issuing of past due notices to customers. Account payables will be...
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...company’s value. Also referred to as ‘the bottom line’ and the ‘net income’, a company’s earnings is seen as the most important figure in a company’s financial statement as it is the summary measure of a company’s performance using the accrual basis of accounting. The theoretical value of a company’s stock is the present value of future earnings, or its ability to generate profit in the future (Lev, B. (1989). Earnings have a corresponding relationship with the projected value of a company with increased earnings representing an increase in company value which is inversely so for companies with lower earnings. Part A: Earnings Quality Although it is very common for investors to look at earnings in terms of quantity, the amount that the company has earned, developing an understanding of the quality of those earnings is vital to forecasting the quantity and credibility of future earnings of the company (smith). As reported earnings are a predominant driver of success, the reporting of earnings is a crucial business area that requires focus and direction. As so much of a businesses future and value is reflected in its earnings, it is very important that investors are provided with information that is free from mistakes and manipulation in order to get a true illustration of that company’s performance. The extent to which the financial performance is free from these errors and manipulations refers to the earnings quality, or the quality of the earnings. There are no absolute...
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...Essays in Accounting Theory: Corporate Earnings Management in a Dynamic Setting and Public Disclosure in the Financial Services Industry A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Kai Du Dissertation Director: Shyam Sunder December 2012 c 2012 by Kai Du All rights reserved. Abstract Essays in Accounting Theory: Corporate Earnings Management in a Dynamic Setting and Public Disclosure in the Financial Services Industry Kai Du 2012 This dissertation consists of three essays on the interactions between economic fundamentals and accounting information in three different settings: an infinite-horizon financial reporting problem, a coordination game with trading in the secondary market, and a bank which provides risk sharing among demand depositors. In the first essay, I propose a dynamic model of corporate earnings management in which investors have different expectations schemes. I find that while earnings management may exist when investors have rational expectations or misspecified Bayesian beliefs, it disappears in the long run of an adaptive learning process. The model also offers ample predictions on the time-series properties of asset prices and return predictabilities. The second essay studies the role of public disclosure by a distressed firm whose creditors engage in a coordination game with trading. I find that conditioned on the private information...
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...Companies Responsbilities Introduction Company responsibility is a process which aims to embrace responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered as stakeholders. It is defined as a form of corporate self-regulation which is integrated into a business model. Company responsibilities functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms. The term "corporate social responsibility" came into common use in the late 1960s and when many multinational corporations formed the term stakeholder, and organization's activities had a major impact on the stakeholders. There has been different views towards company responsiblities wherein Proponents argue that corporations make more long term profits by operating with a perspective, while critics argue that CSR distracts from the economic role of businesses. Others argue that it is an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful multinational corporations. CSR is titled to aid an organization's mission as well as a guide to what the company stands for and will uphold to its consumers. There are different approaches towards social responsiblities, they are broadly clasified into two, the primary...
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