Guay (1998, Journal of Accounting and Economics, this issue) addresses potential endogeneity biases in cross-sectional studies of derivative use by examining derivative initiations. When derivatives are only part of a risk-management strategy, tests comparing derivative users versus non-users may be biased. One solution to this difficult problem is to examine an exogenous change in derivative use. Guay (1998)identifies a recent reduction in transactions costs as a potential exogenous shock to derivative use. However, if cost reductions cannot explain derivative initiations, then his analysis may not eliminate the biases in previous research. Studies isolating alternative exogenous changes in firms’ risk management strategies may provide further insights.

The tax, employee benefit, capital structure, and corporate control effects of ESOPs are examined by estimating the stock market reaction to ESOP announcements. This is the first empirical examination of the relationship between computed firm-specific tax savings and firm value, and therefore provides evidence that helps resolve the theoretical dispute over ESOP tax savings. The results show that investors expect ESOPs to increase cash flows through tax savings, and to reduce the likelihood of takeover for companies subject to takeover attempts when ESOPs are announced.

Internal control regulation effectiveness remains controversial given the recent financial crisis. To address this issue we examine the financial reporting effects of the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation Improvement Act (FDICIA) internal control provisions. Exemptions from these provisions for banks with assets under $500 million and for non-US banks provides two unaffected control samples. Our difference-in-differences method suggests that FDICIA-mandated internal control requirements increased loan-loss provision validity, earnings persistence and cash-flow predictability and reduced benchmark-beating and accounting conservatism for affected versus unaffected banks. More pronounced effects in interim versus fourth quarters suggest that greater auditor presence substitutes for internal control regulation.

ABSTRACT This study examines Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 142 adoption decisions, focusing on the trade‐off between recording certain current goodwill impairment charges below the line and uncertain future impairment charges included in income from continuing operations. We examine several potentially important economic incentives that firms face when making this accounting choice. We find evidence suggesting that firms' equity market concerns affect their preference for above‐the‐line vs. below‐the‐line accounting treatment, and firms' debt contracting, bonus, turnover, and exchange delisting incentives affect their decisions to accelerate or delay expense recognition. Our study contributes to the accounting choice literature by examining managers' use of discretion when adopting a mandatory accounting change and by developing and testing explicit cross‐sectional hypotheses of the determinants of firms' preferences for immediate below‐the‐line versus delayed above‐the‐line expense recognition.

Performance pricing links bank debt interest rate spreads to a borrower's performance via two options. Interest-decreasing performance pricing reduces spreads if credit quality improves. It is more common when prepayment is more likely or costly and when adverse selection costs are higher, and is less common when multiple performance measures better predict credit quality. Interest-increasing performance pricing increases spreads if credit quality deteriorates. It is more common when lenders reduce interest rates to add this provision, when downgrades are more likely, and when moral hazard costs are higher. We find lower spreads for contracts with interest increasing performance pricing.

We study the decision to fund R&D through a separate financing organization (an ‘RDFO’) that takes the form of either a limited partnership or a corporation. The RDFO offers tax and financial reporting benefits. As a form of external funding, it also creates moral hazard and adverse selection problems (information costs). Using convertible debt as a comparative form of external funding, we find that debt-related (but not equity-related) financial reporting benefits affect the decision to form RDFOs, the evidence is mixed on whether taxes influence the formation decision, and the information costs of RDFOs restrict their use.

This study examines whether the provisions of a firm's bank debt contracts affect its accounting choices. Starting with a sample of firms who have bank debt and who also voluntarily changed accounting methods, we investigate whether the likelihood that the change in accounting method increased (rather than decreased) the borrower's income depends on (1) whether the change in accounting method affects the bank debt contract calculations, (2) the expected costs of violating the bank debt covenants, (3) whether performance pricing provisions affect the interest rate on the loan, and (4) whether the bank debt contract contains accounting-based dividend restrictions. After controlling for other motives for changing accounting methods, we find that borrowers whose bank debt contracts allow accounting method changes to affect contact calculations are more likely to make income-increasing rather than income-decreasing changes. This increase in likelihood of an income-increasing change is attenuated when expected costs of technical violation are lower because there is a single lender, and occurs for borrowers whose debt contacts have performance pricing and dividend restrictions. These results suggest that incentives to lower interest rates through performance pricing or to retain dividend payment flexibility influence borrowers' accounting method choices, thereby addressing the fundamental questions posed by Fields et al. (2001) of whether, under what circumstances, and how accounting choice matters.

We investigate how private information and monitoring affect the role of accounting quality in reducing the investment-cash flow sensitivity. We argue that access to private information and direct restrictions on investments are likely to affect the extent to which accounting quality reduces financing constraints. Our results suggest that for financially constrained firms, banks' access to private information decreases the value of accounting quality. We further find that, for both financially constrained and unconstrained firms, covenants directly restricting capital expenditures also mitigate the importance of accounting quality. Our results suggest that when information asymmetry problems are likely to be the largest, accounting quality is most important. However, the importance of accounting quality is mitigated if outside capital suppliers have access to private information and is eliminated if they impose contractual restrictions on investment. We also provide evidence that banks' access to private information reduces the cash flow sensitivity of cash and mitigates the importance of accounting quality in reducing this sensitivity. This additional evidence suggests that our investment-cash flow sensitivity results are not driven by measurement error of the investment opportunity set.

We investigate how private information and monitoring affect the role of accounting quality in reducing the investment–cash flow sensitivity. We argue that access to private information and direct restrictions on investments are likely to affect the extent to which accounting quality reduces financing constraints. Our results suggest that, for financially constrained firms, banks’ access to private information decreases the value of accounting quality. We further find that, for both financially constrained and unconstrained firms, covenants directly restricting capital expenditures also mitigate the importance of accounting quality. Our results suggest that, when information asymmetry problems are likely to be the largest, accounting quality is most important. However, the importance of accounting quality is mitigated if outside capital suppliers have access to private information and is eliminated if they impose contractual restrictions on investment. We also provide evidence that banks’ access to private information reduces the cash flow sensitivity of cash and mitigates the importance of accounting quality in reducing this sensitivity. This additional evidence suggests that our investment–cash flow sensitivity results are not driven by measurement error of the investment opportunity set.

Les auteurs étudient comment l’information privilégiée et le contrôle continu influent sur le rôle de la qualité de la comptabilité dans la réduction de la sensibilité des investissements aux flux de trésorerie. Selon eux, l’accès à l’information privilégiée et les restrictions directes dont les investissements font l’objet sont susceptibles d’influer sur la mesure dans laquelle la qualité de la comptabilité réduit les contraintes financières. Les résultats de l’étude semblent indiquer que, dans le cas des sociétés soumises à des contraintes financières, l’accès des banques à l’information privilégiée atténue l’importance de la qualité de la comptabilité. Les auteurs constatent en outre que dans les sociétés, qu’elles soient ou non soumises à des contraintes financières, les clauses restrictives qui s’appliquent directement aux dépenses en immobilisations atténuent également l’importance de la qualité de la comptabilité. Les résultats de l’étude donnent à penser que, si les problèmes d’asymétrie de l’information sont susceptibles d’être très importants, la qualité de la comptabilité est elle aussi très importante. Toutefois, l’importance de la qualité de la comptabilité est moindre si les bailleurs de fonds externes ont accès à l’information privilégiée, et elle est nulle si ces bailleurs de fonds imposent à la société des restrictions contractuelles applicables aux investissements. Les auteurs démontrent également que l’accès des banques à l’information privilégiée réduit la sensibilité des liquidités aux flux de trésorerie et atténue l’importance de la qualité de la comptabilité dans la réduction de cette sensibilité. Cette preuve supplémentaire indique, semble‐t‐il, que les résultats obtenus par les auteurs en ce qui a trait à la sensibilité des investissements aux flux de trésorerie ne sont pas le fait d’une erreur de mesure de l’ensemble des occasions d’investissement.