Alfred Wagenhofer

• University of Graz

Empirical studies on the relationship between shareholder litigation and corporate disclosure obtain mixed results. We develop an economic model to capture the endogeneity between disclosure and litigation. Equilibrium disclosure is determined by two countervailing effects of litigation, a deterrence effect and an insurance effect. We derive four k...

This paper provides a theoretical explanation for the observation that firms with strong corporate governance exhibit more conservative accounting. We study one of a board’s most important decisions: to retain or replace the incumbent manager. The board uses accounting information and additional information from costly board monitoring. We show tha...

While internal control over financial reporting has gained increasing regulatory attention, its enforcement is far from perfect; thus firm‐specific incentives to management become important to increase the quality of financial reports. We study how owners can motivate managers to invest in accounting quality even though it is costly to the managers...

To protect investors, regulators increasingly rely on regulating firms’ internal controls over financial reporting, but they punish noncompliance only if an internal control weakness enabled accounting manipulation. In other words, enforcement is manipulation-contingent. We develop an economic model with a manager who sequentially chooses internal...

This paper studies strategic interactions between public and private enforcement of accounting regulation and their consequences for the deterrence of financial misreporting. We develop an economic model with a manager, a public enforcement agency, and an investor and derive equilibrium strategies for manipulative effort, routine investigative effo...

This paper surveys both the theoretical and the empirical archival literature on conservatism when accounting information is used for debt contracting. The theoretical literature shows mixed results whether conservative accounting is desirable, which depends on the underlying agency problem, the information available, and the contracting space. The...

A widely held assumption in policy making and empirical research is that increasing the strength of public enforcement improves financial reporting quality and audit quality. This paper provides a more nuanced view. In a model with a manager who can manage earnings, a strategic auditor, and an enforcement institution, we show that enforcement and a...

Dieser Kommentar diskutiert zwei Themen des Beitrags von Harald Jansen (in diesem Buch) und ergänzt diese: Erstens die Einflüsse geänderter ökonomischer Bedingungen für die Rechnungslegung und zweitens das Aufgreifen von Forschungsergebnissen in der Rechnungslegungsregulierung. Der Kommentar schließt mit einem Resümee, wie sich diese beiden Themen...

We explore how risk aversion affects optimal capacity and pricing decisions within the economic setting of Banker and Hughes (1994). A risk-averse firm invests in fixed capacity and sets a product price, but can also purchase spot capacity at higher unit cost. Initial capacity and price are set by maximizing the firm's mean-variance certainty equiv...

Ziele dieses Kapitels - Modellierung und Analyse von Informationssystemen zur Verbesserung individueller Entscheidungen - Darstellung grundsätzlicher Einflussfaktoren für die Vorteilhaftigkeit von Informationen im Individualkontext - Darstellung der Wirkungen von Informationssystemen in einem Mehrpersonenkontext - Aufzeigen der Probleme, optimale I...

Ziele dieses Kapitels - Analyse der Zusammenhänge von Entscheidungsnützlichkeit (decision usefulness) und Anreiznützlichkeit (stewardship) - Darstellung des Vorsichtsprinzips in seinen verschiedenen Ausprägungen, der Gründe für seine Verwendung und seiner Auswirkungen - Diskussion der ökonomischen Wirkungen einer Bewertung mit Fair Values

Empirical studies on earnings quality use various measures that capture particular dimensions of earnings quality. This paper provides a theoretical foundation to evaluate and compare several common earnings quality measures: value relevance; persistence; predictability; smoothness; and discretionary accruals. We use a rational expectations framewo...

This paper describes recent regulatory changes in the European Union to illustrate opportunities for research in management accounting. Issues are whether a regulation is effective in achieving its objective, how it affects the organizational design and decision making in firms, and what additional data become available. I particularly consider the...

A premise of standard setters and of much empirical research is that improving the quality of accounting standards and their implementation increases information in capital markets. This paper challenges this premise and shows that there are situations in which ‘better’, that is, more forward-looking, accounting standards reduce the information con...

This paper examines how commonly used earnings quality measures fulfill a key objective of financial reporting, i.e., improving decision usefulness for investors. We propose a stock-price-based measure for assessing the quality of earnings quality measures. We predict that firms with higher earnings quality will be less mispriced than other firms....

This paper examines revenue and profit or loss recognition and how these measures provide financial information about companies' performance. First, I review academic literature that examines the importance of revenue in informing capital markets and in performance evaluation and discuss findings on revenue management. Second, I describe fundamenta...

Kostenmanagement dient der Beeinflussung der Kosten im Hinblick auf Kostenniveau, Kostenstruktur und Kostenverlauf zur Verbesserung der Wirtschaftlichkeit der Leistungserstellung im Unternehmen. Die Maßnahmen im Kostenmanagement setzen zumeist bei strategischen Entscheidungen an, wie Unternehmensstrategie, langfristiges Produktionsprogramm, Fertigu...

Kennzahlen erfüllen eine Entscheidungsfunktion und eine Verhaltenssteuerungsfunktion. Bei der Entscheidungsfunktion sollen sie einem Entscheidungsträger zusammengefasste und leicht verständliche Informationen liefern. Die Verhaltenssteuerung erfolgt durch Verwendung von Kennzahlen als Performancemaße, nach denen ein Manager beurteilt und entlohnt w...

Die Kontrolle ermittelt und analysiert Abweichungen zwischen Sollwerten und den korrespondierenden Istwerten. Ursachen für Abweichungen können kontrollierbar oder nicht kontrollierbar sein. Die kontrollierbaren Ursachen können aufgrund von Planungsfehlern, Ausführungs- und Realisationsfehlern sowie Auswertungsfehlern entstehen. Die Kontrolle besitz...

Frequent financial reporting has been blamed for increasing short-term price pressure, which induces management to make inefficient decisions. Gigler, Kanodia, Sapra, and Venugopalan [2014] study a capital market equilibrium and establish conditions when these costs outweigh benefits due to greater market discipline. This discussion reviews the und...

Dieses Lehrbuch befasst sich mit der konzeptionellen Gestaltung und den Einsatzbedingungen von Rechnungs- und Informationssystemen im Unternehmen. Themen sind Methoden und Instrumente der Kosten- und Leistungsrechnung, des Kostenmanagement und des Controlling. Das Buch stellt drei Hauptfunktionen in den Vordergrund: 1. Entscheidungsrechnungen: Anal...

This paper examines how the characteristics of accounting systems and management incentives interact and collectively determine financial reporting quality. We develop a rational expectations equilibrium model that features a steady-state firm with investments, financial and non-financial information, and earnings management opportunities. We measu...

Vor- und Nachteile vorsichtiger Rechnungslegung werden aktuell und kontrovers diskutiert. Dieser Beitrag formalisiert Vorsicht in einem Informationssystem. Es wird gezeigt, dass eine Erhöhung der Wahrscheinlichkeit des Eintretens ungünstiger Signale bei gleichbleibender Präzision deren Informationsgehalt verringert. Dadurch wird die Interpretation...

This paper provides an overview of why, and how, academic research can assist regulators and standard setters in evaluating ex ante and ex post the effects of standardization and regulation of corporate financial reporting and disclosure. We argue that academic research is a valuable and often underutilized resource that can help standard setters a...

This discussion summarizes the paper by Hachmeister et al. (Z Betriebswirtschaft, 2012) and highlights several issues that are useful to put the results in perspective. I discuss the main result that ideal cost accounting is superior to ideal value accounting by questioning the fairness of a comparison of the two idealized accounting systems. I rev...

This paper studies the efficiency of the board in monitoring management and its interaction with conservative accounting. Accounting is closely related to corporate governance. Accounting provides information, and thus transparency, which supports other corporate governance mechanisms. The paper focuses on the board of directors, which plays a cruc...

The IASB and the FASB discuss formal processes for a post-implementation review (PIR). This note contributes to this discussion in three ways. First, we argue that academics can, and should, play a significant role in a PIR. Second, we suggest a framework for empirical studies that are useful in a PIR, which enhances understandability of accounting...

The paper by Bertomeu and Magee (this issue) endogenizes accounting regulation by a majority-seeking regulator and examines how the economic cycle affects mandatory reporting quality. This discussion puts the paper in the broader context of a theory of accounting regulation. Then, it focuses on crucial assumptions, including the exogenous evolution...

This paper provides a theory of earnings quality metrics, explaining what they capture and how they are related with each other. We develop a simple economy in which a manager has market price, earnings, and smoothing incentives and can bias earnings reports. This economy provides a framework for the analysis of earnings quality metrics. We express...

This monograph reviews economic models that study earnings management and conservatism in an information economics framework. Both introduce a deliberate or a mandatory bias in financial reports. The fundamental issue this monograph addresses is what economic effects these biases have on earnings quality. We focus on models of managers in firms int...

Baldenius and Meng (Rev Account Stud, 2010) use a signaling model to study the economic effects of active investors to whom the founder of a firm wants to sell shares. This discussion considers the model structure, the main results and the economics behind them, and the key assumptions that drive these results. It also comments on signaling models...

This paper studies qualitative characteristics of accounting systems that are used in debt financing. We consider a financially constrained firm that provides to lenders information on the value of assets that serve as collateral in a financing contract for a risky investment project. We find that the investor prefers an accounting system that prov...

This paper discusses and evaluates the usefulness and appropriateness of commonly used earnings metrics. In a rational expectations equilibrium model, we study the information content of earnings that can be biased by a manager who has market price, earnings, and smoothing incentives. We define earnings quality as the reduction of the market's unce...

We study the optimal accounting policy of a financially constrained firm that pledges assets to raise debt capital for financing a risky project. The accounting system provides information about the value of the collateral. Absent accounting regulation, the optimal accounting system is conditionally conservative: it recognizes an impairment loss if...

Purpose The enormous success of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in becoming globally accepted accounting standards leads to challenges in the future. The purpose of this paper is to outline challenges that arise from political influences and from the pressure to sustain a successful path in the development of standards. It consid...

We study the optimal accounting policy of a financially constrained firm that pledges assets to raise debt capital for financing a risky project. The accounting system provides information about the value of the collateral. Absent accounting regulation, the optimal accounting system is conditionally conservative: it recognizes an impairment loss if...

This article examines economic consequences of the increasing trend to use fair values in international accounting standards. It distinguishes in decision usefulness and stewardship of accounting information. Fair values appear to increase value relevance, but they could also decrease value relevance of financial reporting. From a stewardship persp...

Reinhard Steiner, der Manager der Kostenstelle Fertigung II, ist schon lange unzufrieden mit den Kosten, die ihm für die Nutzung des unternehmenseigenen Fuhrparks angelastet werden. Der Kostenreport vom Oktober bringt das Fass zum Überlaufen: Ein Kilometer LKW-Fahrt wird ihm mit 1,503 verrechnet. „Das ist teurer als die Verwendung der Bahn als Tran...

Katharina Blumberger sitzt gerade vor einer Konkurrenzanalyse und starrt auf die Daten, die sie bisher gesammelt hat. „Das verstehe ich nicht“, denkt sie und geht schließlich zu Martin, ihrem Kollegen in der Controlling-Abteilung der ASD GmbH, die im Bereich der Kunststofftechnik tätig ist. „Martin, hast Du ein bisschen Zeit?“ — „Für Dich doch imme...

Hans Fit ist seit Januar neuer Geschäftsführer der „Funny & Sunny AG“, die im Sport- und Freizeitbereich tätig ist. Das Unternehmen agiert schwerpunktmäßig im Wassersportsektor und hat einen guten Namen als Hersteller langlebiger Wasserskier und Surfbretter, wobei jeweils auch die dazugehörigen Accessoires vertrieben werden. Vor einem Jahr wurde ei...

Die RBS GmbH ist ein kleineres Unternehmen in der Unterhaltungsbranche. Es ist spezialisiert auf Minimusikgeräte. Am 6. April treffen sich der Geschäftsführer Rolf B. Schnellast, Carmen Hohenberg in ihrer Eigenschaft als Produktmanager, die für Controlling und Kostenrechnung zuständige Brigitta Barig (von den übrigen liebevoll BB genannt) und der P...

Die IUS GmbH ist ein mittelgroßes Unternehmen und erzeugt Nischenprodukte im Chemiebereich. Sie war darin aufgrund ihrer modernen Technologie sehr erfolgreich und ist in den letzten Jahren stark gewachsen. Vor einem Jahr wurde die Organisationsstruktur so geändert, dass nun drei Bereiche, Vorprodukte für Pharmazeutika, Zusatzstoffe für Mineralöle u...

Die Paper Systems AG ist ein größeres Unternehmen in der Papierindustrie. Es erzeugt insbesondere hochwertiges Kopierpapier, Fotopapier sowie hochglänzendes Papier für Werbezwecke und Zeitungsmagazine. Seit drei Jahren läuft im Unternehmen ein Projekt, das auf die Verbesserung der Qualität des Papiers zielt und dessen wesentlicher Ausfluss in der I...

Elisabeth Gruber sitzt gerade in der Cafeteria der Buscher Elektrotechnik GmbH und trinkt ihren üblichen kleinen Braunen nach dem Mittagessen in der Werkskantine. „Darf ich mich zu Dir setzen?“ Sie schreckt auf und blickt Günther Wieser ins Auge. „Ja, ja, natürlich“ ist ihre erste — und nachträglich gesehen auch richtige — Reaktion. Es hilft ihr im...

Die Produktionsabteilung der Chemischen Werke AG ist in sechs (große) Kostenstellen mit Unterkostenstellen gegliedert. Die Kostenstellen FS201 und FS202 sind Herrn Ackermann unterstellt, Herr Besberger ist für FS203, eine sehr große Kostenstelle, verantwortlich, und Herr Schiemens ist für FS204 bis FS206 zuständig. Die Kostenstellenleiter der Produ...

Johann Leitmeier ist Eigentümer der Leitdruck GmbH. Um 18:10 Uhr, gerade bereit, auf den Golfplatz zu gehen, piepst sein Computer. Eine e-mail ist hereingekommen. From: Erich Eichberger. Subject: DRINGEND. Kurz steigt in Leitmeier Ärger auf: „Woher hat der Eichberger meine persönliche e-mail-Adresse?“, denkt er. Trotzdem klickt er die e-mail an und...

Katharina muss schmunzeln. Eigentlich ist es schon verrückt, was sie gerade macht. Sie hat sich aus der BWL-Fachbibliothek das Buch von Kaplan und Norton mit dem Titel „Balanced Scorecard“ ausgeborgt. Da gab es das Buch in der englischen Originalfassung und in deutscher Übersetzung, und sie hat sich mutig die englische Fassung gegriffen. Gleich zu...

Bis Ende dieses Monats muss der Bereich Verbraucherelektronik (VE) eine Entscheidung treffen, von wem die elektronische Steuerung unserer neuen Produktlinie der Kaffeemaschinen beschafft werden soll. Entsprechend der Geschäftspolitik haben wir dazu Angebote vom Bereich Komponentenbau (KB) und von externen Anbietern eingeholt. Diese Angebote sind so...

Dieser Beitrag stellt die gebräuchlichen Maßgrößen zur Erfassung der Ergebnisqualität (earnings quality) vor. Sie werden zunächst in einem theoretischen Rahmen kritisch diskutiert und dann anhand der Jahresabschlüsse österreichischer börsennotierter Unternehmen über zehn Jahre ermittelt. Damit werden Stärken und Schwächen der einzelnen Maßgrößen so...

This chapter provides insights into the state of management accounting theory and practice in German-speaking countries. We begin with a brief history of German management accounting and its relationship with financial accounting. We review cost theories, German cost accounting systems, and various uses of management accounting information in organ...

This paper reviews current research and practice in management accounting in Germany, Austria, and (part of) Switzerland based on 240 management accounting articles by authors affiliated to a German institution, published in the leading German‐language journals and in international management accounting journals from 1998 to 2004. I provide insight...

ABSTRACT This paper is a response to the exposure draft of proposed amendments to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements published by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in March 2006. The objective is to bring to the standard setter's attention research that is relevant to the issues raised in the exposure draft. We review anal...

This paper analyses optimal transfer prices in a firm organized in two divisions. The production costs of the divisions are their respective private information. The objective of headquarters is to determine the transfer pricing method that maximizes total profit less managers' compensation. Managers are interested in their current compensation and...

International accounting standards tend to converge, as do auditing, enforcement, and corporate governance, whereas trading of equity shares remains essentially national. The book provides a thorough analysis of what information investors really need, how financial accounting systems developed and their current requirements in major commercial coun...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

This book provides readers with reasonably concise descriptions of the state of global markets, the benefits and limitations of financial accounting and accounting/auditing standards, and the development, status, and current policy issues of corporate financial reporting in major countries and the European Union. The globalization of financial mark...

In response to criticism of rules-based accounting standards and Section 108(d) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the SEC proposed principles-based (or objectives-oriented) standards. We identify several shortcomings with this approach and focus on two of them. First, the format (type) of a standard is dependent on the contents of what the standar...

This paper examines the usual claim that tighter accounting standards reduce earnings management and provide more relevant information to the capital market. We distinguish between accounting and real earnings management and assume that a standard setter can only influence accounting earnings management by the tightness of standards. In a rational...

In June 2004 the IASB issued the Discussion Paper ‘Preliminary Views on Accounting Standards for Small and Medium-Sized Entities’. This invited comments on the central question of whether the IASB should develop separate standards for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and on further issues and questions arising from this. This paper briefl...

The objective is to discuss the merits of analytical models in financial accounting research. Analytical models are particularly useful for gaining insights into situations that are characterized by strategic interactions of various decision-makers with information asymmetry and conflicting interests. Describes the common model structures used in t...