Richard A. Grimlund, A Proposal for Implementing the FASB's "Reasonably Possible" Disclosure Provision for Product Warranty Liabilities, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Autumn, 1985), pp. 575-594

Cost variance, Auditing, Agency Theory

This paper hypothesizes that the risk per unit of time and the required rate of return are higher than normal during an event period whose timing can be predicted. Consistent with this hypothesis this paper presents empirical evidence indicating that the unconditional mean rate of return, the variance of stock returns and their systematic risk are higher than ‘usual’ during dividend announcement periods. However, the documented increases in the systematic risk are not large enough to fully explain the ‘excess returns’. This finding is puzzling and hard to reconcile with existing theory.

This research develops and tests a model for the prediction of tender offer outcomes. Variables that increase the supply of “obtainable shares” (such as increased bid premiums or the payment of solicitation fees) are shown to increase the probability of success. Increased ownership of target firm shares by the bidder also increases the probability of success. Variables that impede the tendering of shares (such as target management opposition or a competing bid) decrease the probability of success. Tests of the model utilizing both linear and logistic analysis support the theoretical constructs and help resolve the paradoxical findings of previous research.

This paper examines the conditions for which it is optimal to permanently preserve natural environments in which a productive natural resource is found. The conditions are more restrictive than those previously indicated in the literature on the economics of natural environments. Increasing consumption and declining commodity prices are not sufficient to warrant permanent preservation. The initial capital stock can be an important determinant of the optimal level of preservation. In addition, resource amenity values will increase the initial resource price and decrease the rate of growth of the resource price.