A translog function is specified to represent the relation between revenue and human resource inputs in public accounting firms. Estimation of the model using a balanced panel of annual data for 64 large CPA firms for the period 1995–1999 indicates that increasing returns to scale prevail in the public accounting industry, justifying recent merger and acquisition activities among accounting firms. Average marginal revenue product of partners increased monotonically from 1995 to 1998, decreased slightly in 1999, and was about nine times that of other professionals during 1995–1999. The public accounting industry exhibited continuing improvement in productivity over the 5 years.

This paper investigates the effect of the “First Financial Restructuring” (FFR) on the operating efficiency of commercial banks in Taiwan. Applying data envelopment analysis (DEA) to operations data for 40 commercial banks over the 6-year period 2000–2005, we find that while the banks have lower operating efficiency on average during the reform period (2002–2003) compared to the pre-reform period (2000–2001), improved operating efficiency is reflected in the post-reform period (2004–2005). Our results remain unchanged even after controlling for the non-performing loan ratio, capital adequacy ratio, bank ownership, size, and GDP growth rate. These results suggest that the improved efficiency in the post-reform period is possibly due to enhanced banking and risk management practices and benefits obtained from compliance with the FFR.

We study the impact of banking system reforms during a crisis following a period of undisciplined lending. Regulatory changes aimed at strengthening the banks’ capital structure and risk management practices do not have a uniform impact on bank productivity, but rather favor financially sound or strategically privileged banks. We present evidence documenting the differential impact of regulatory reforms on Korean commercial bank productivity over the period 1995–2005. Average technical efficiency of banks decreased during the financial crisis of 1997–1998. It improved following the subsequent bank restructuring and continued to improve through 2005. The capital adequacy ratio is positively associated with banks’ technical efficiency. The non-performing loans ratio is negatively associated with technical efficiency. Both relationships are accentuated during the crisis but attenuated after the reforms.

This study examines how organized labor affects selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) cost behavior. Human capital is emerging as firms' most valuable asset, and we further the understanding of the interaction between employees and SG&A cost behavior. We predict and find that labor cost stickiness is higher for firms facing stronger unions, but the stickiness of SG&A costs is lower. This is consistent with our arguments that in firms with stronger unions, managers' discretionary decision to retain SG&A resources is negatively affected by higher labor adjustment costs that result in the retention of slack labor resources during periods of decreased demand. To assess the robustness of our main findings, we conduct an event analysis of labor union elections and find that SG&A cost stickiness decreases after firms experience new union certification. Cross‐sectional tests also show that the effect of labor union strength on SG&A cost stickiness is more pronounced for firms that are in better financial condition, have higher analyst coverage, and have higher net operating assets. We find a similar effect of union strength on discretionary spending when examining R&D costs. Overall, we contribute to the literature by showing that organized labor has a significant effect on cost behavior, which has implications for financial statement users and financial forecasting.

Recent work in the supply chain literature suggests that the variance in orders placed with suppliers will be larger than that of sales to buyers. This distortion in demand information increases as it is passed along the supply chain from customers to upstream suppliers and has been referred to as “the bullwhip effect.” In this paper, we argue that the bullwhip effect reduces the ability of order backlog to predict future sales and earnings for upstream suppliers. Results obtained from our empirical analysis support this proposition. We find that the impact of bullwhip on the predictive ability of order backlog is further accentuated in firms with longer operating cycles. Market intermediaries such as financial analysts, on average, are unable to fully account for differences in the predictive ability of order backlog. However, analysts belonging to employers that follow all firms in a vertical supply chain do a better job of understanding the impact of bullwhip on the predictive ability of order backlog. In additional tests, we find that the bullwhip effect also impedes the ability of inventory components to predict future sales and earnings.

The balanced scorecard provides a framework for selecting multiple performance measures that supplement traditional financial measures with operating measures of customer satisfaction, internal processes, and learning and growth activities. An essential aspect of the balanced scorecard lies in its articulation of the linkage between performance measures and business strategy. This study conducts an experiment to assess how individuals' evaluations of the performance of business unit managers depend on strategically linked performance measures of a balanced scorecard. Statistical test results indicate that performance evaluations are influenced by strategically linked measures more than non-linked measures only when evaluators are provided detailed information about business unit strategies. The results also confirm Lipe and Salterio's (2000) finding that evaluators rely more on common measures than on unique measures. Evaluators rely more on strategically linked measures than on common measures when they are provided information on strategic linkages, but the reverse relation holds when they are not.

We examine the impact on share prices of firms whose CEOs and CFOs certify their financial statements under oath, pursuant to the administrative order issued by the SEC on June 27, 2002. We hypothesize that (1) the certification provides assurance to investors by making disclosure more credible and by reducing information asymmetry between owners and management, and (2) the assurance value of certification is reflected in the stock price of the certifying company. Overall, the empirical results are consistent with our hypotheses. We observe, on average, positive abnormal returns for firms whose CEOs/CFOs certified their financial statements by August 14, 2002. Based on an analysis of bid-ask spreads, certifying firms experienced a significant decline in information asymmetry after certification. In cross-sectional analyses, we find abnormal returns are positively associated with firms that were under investigation, that used Andersen as their auditor, and that practiced aggressive revenue recognition.