http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/2432/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/37926/ 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z This paper examines the effect of the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on financial analysts' ability to translate accounting information into forward looking information. In particular, we investigate whether the switch to IFRS has an impact on (1) the ability of analysts to forecast earnings accurately and (2) the agreement among analysts regarding forecasted earnings. The study is set in the European Union, in the year preceding the switch to IFRS and the first year after the switch. We document increased forecast accuracy and agreement after the switch to IFRS. These findings are robust to changes in model specifications. Overall, our results are consistent with the notion that the adoption of IFRS has improved the quality of financial reports and, more specifically the quality of earnings. Our results contribute to the understanding of the effect of the use of a uniform, high quality accounting language on the usefulness of financial information to financial market participants. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/21587/ 2010-09-01T00:00:00Z The practice of reporting earnings measures that deviate from generally accepted accounting principles (non-GAAP measures) has received negative attention in the media. In a period of increased regulatory concern for these reporting practices, we explore whether there has been a shift away from the use of non-GAAP metrics. This study focuses on the Dutch situation, where regulators responded conservatively (‘light’) to the accounting scandals. This contrasts with the U.S., where regulators intervened with a radical (‘heavy’) reform of regulation. We analyse a sample of earnings press releases published in the period 2000–05 from companies listed at Euronext Amsterdam. Our findings indicate that Dutch companies report non-GAAP measures frequently and prominently. However, companies' reporting behaviour changes after a peak in negative media attention for non-GAAP reporting. The magnitude of the adjustments to GAAP earnings becomes smaller and companies seem to have different reasons to report non-GAAP measures. The effect of the media attention is stronger when companies have been criticized for their non-GAAP reporting in the press. Investors seem to have become more hesitant towards the use of non-GAAP measures for their decision-making after negative media attention. Together, these findings suggest that the negative media attention for non-GAAP measures has influenced the decisions of investors and managers http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/31623/ 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z Abstract: We examine financial analysts’ views on corporate financial reporting issues by means of a survey among 306 analysts and interviews among 21 analysts and compare their views with that of CFOs. Since CFOs believe that meeting or beating analysts’ forecasts and managing earnings to achieve this benchmark can enhance firm value, examining analysts’ perspectives on these actions improves our understanding on whether CFOs’ beliefs are rational or heuristic. Our findings suggest that CFOs’ beliefs tend to be rational regarding their focus on earnings and their views on earnings management and smoothing. The main reason is that analysts have difficulty in unraveling certain types of earnings management in a specific firm even though they anticipate earnings management in general. Yet, CFOs are heuristic in their optimism about the consequences of managing earnings, which potentially has negative implications for the value of their firm. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/33057/ 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z Abstract: We investigate management forecasts by Dutch firms in relation to cross listings by these firms in the US or the UK. Cross listings are associated with legal and reputational bonding, since firms with a cross listing in the US or the UK face greater legal liability exposure and closer scrutiny by financial intermediaries than do non-cross-listed firms. As a result, after obtaining the cross listing, these firms face greater potential costs of misrepresenting information. Our findings suggest that cross listing in a stricter environment influences management forecasts in terms of management forecast specificity, accuracy, and conservativeness in two opposite directions: although cross-listed firms make smaller forecast errors, their forecasts are less precise and more conservative. Our analysis of shareholder wealth effects shows that the net effect of the cross listing is positive upon the announcement of a management forecast. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10608/ 2007-10-25T00:00:00Z This paper investigates whether industry valuation impacts firms’ earnings management decisions. Existing accounting literature assumes that industry valuation has a constant impact on this decision. We argue that a higher industry valuation increases the perceived benefits of earnings management at a time when the negative consequences associated with accrual reversal and the probability of detection are believed to be lower. Using a sample of quarterly data of U.S. firms from 1985 to 2005, we find that the four-quarter lagged industry valuation has a positive relationship with industry aggregate (current) discretionary accruals. More specific, one standard deviation increase in the aggregate industry valuation is associated with a significant increase of 2.4 cents in quarterly earnings per share. Our results are robust after controlling for several factors, including bubble years, size, leverage and performance. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10609/ 2007-10-25T00:00:00Z The practice of reporting earnings measures that deviate from generally accepted accounting principles (non-GAAP measures) has received negative attention in the media. Regulators argue in favour of reporting GAAP earnings measures and utter their concerns that investors may be misled by the use of non-GAAP measures. In a period of increased regulatory concern for these reporting practices, we explore whether there has been a shift away from the use of non-GAAP metrics. We analyse a sample of earnings press releases in the period 1999-2004 from companies listed at Euronext Amsterdam. Our findings indicate that reporting non-GAAP measures is a common practice and that the frequency of reporting non-GAAP earnings measures has increased despite the concerns voiced by regulators. On the other hand, investors seem to have become more hesitant towards the use of alternative earnings measures for their decision-making. Our findings suggest that investors find non-GAAP measures informative before 2003, but they turn away from these measures in the following years and price GAAP earnings metrics instead. Together, these findings suggest that the negative media attention for non-GAAP measures has influenced the perception of investors, but not of managers. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/1863/ 2005-01-25T00:00:00Z Royal Ahold (Koninklijke Ahold NV) was one of the major success stories in the 1990s and is one of the major failures in corporate governance, suffering a complete meltdown in 2003. This clinical study analyzes Ahold’s growth strategy through acquisitions and isolates the cause of the failed strategy, i.e. the absence of internal as well as external oversight of management’s strategy. This study details the consequences of the strategy: bad acquisitions, an accounting scandal and the loss of investor confidence. It illustrates how initially a family and later professional management exploited the intent of the law and existing regulatory structures to maintain absolute control of the company. It analyzes in detail the applicable governance mechanisms of Ahold that were designed to hold the self-interest of the parties in check. It asks the reader to consider whether these governance mechanisms, properly implemented, might have helped prevent Ahold or a situation similar to Ahold. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/1332/ 2004-06-23T00:00:00Z We study annual general meetings of shareholders in the Netherlands. The Dutch corporate governance system is characterized by relatively concentrated shareholdings and large stakes owned by pension funds, banks and insurance companies. The legal protection of shareholders is poor due to takeover defenses, such as certificates, which deprive shareholders from their voting rights. An analysis of the minutes of 245 general meetings in the period 1998-2002 reveals that about 30% of the shareholders is present at the meeting. This is low in comparison with shareholder turn-out in Anglo-Saxon countries. Management sponsors all proposals at the meeting and only 9 out of 1,583 proposals are rejected or withdrawn. Multivariate analyses of the incidence and extent of voting against a proposal show that firm size and the type of proposal are important determinants. Overall, our findings suggest that shareholders in the Netherlands have hardly any influence on management. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/148/ 2001-01-19T00:00:00Z This paper assesses the effectiveness of self-regulation to promote investor interests. The Netherlands provides an excellent opportunity to gather such evidence for two reasons. First, characteristics of the Dutch corporate governance structure have made it the recent focus of attention by the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and countries (e.g., Korea) when deliberating issues of corporate governance. Second, during the period 1996-1998, a private sector initiative was undertaken to promote change in the balance of power between management and investors. Not surprisingly, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has closely followed the Dutch "experiment" in self-regulation. We begin by identifying corporate governance characteristics that are linked to firm value. We then compare corporate governance characteristics and the relation between firm value and these characteristics before and after the private sector initiative. We find that the recommendations of the private sector initiative had no substantive effect on corporate governance characteristics or their relationship with firm value. Using event study techniques we document the market's skepticism about the successful evolution of corporate governance practices in the Netherlands through self-regulation. The one exception to this general conclusion is the market for new listings. Overall, our results confirm the importance of shareholder voting rights, and who controls these rights, when considering the design of a successful self-regulation process.