Contenu du sommaire : Varia

The purpose of this study is to extend the research on the information content of accounting numbers in two directions. Firstly, we test whether the explanatory power of accounting variables (earnings and cash flows) can be improved by using a nonlinear specification. Secondly, we investigate how firm-specific attributes such as size, debt level and firm life-cycle influence the relative relevance of accounting measures. Results support a nonlinear relationship between stock returns and accounting variables. They indicate also that the relevance of earnings is conditional on size, debt level and life-cycle of the firm.

The formation of monitoring committees (e.g. audit, compensation, and selection) within boards of directors is one of the recommendations Anglo-Saxon institutional investors have brought to France. We question, however, the potential for such committees to meet the expectations of those investors. The empirical study conducted on a sample of 120 listed firms indicates that, in the French context, the formation of monitoring committees can only partly be interpreted in terms of a device aimed at reducing agency costs.

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) provide intriguing and controversial issues for accounting theory. The article analyses rules for impairment test (IFRS 36) and intangibles (IFRS 38) from a theoretical viewpoint, renewing the old-fashioned distinction between static (market-based) and dynamic (process-based) accounting, that is fair value or accruals. It concludes that, concerned with non financial assets, the IASB rule for impairment is more closely related to accommodating « lower of cost or market value » than to advancing fair value revolution. Further developing the theoretical distinction, two different bases for notion of asset are discussed, either as (economic) actualization of future cash inflows or as (accrual) capitalization of actual cash outflows. As consequence, accrual accounting is contrasted both with fair value and actualization. Its informational content, indeed, may be complementary to financial market valuations, especially if equity interest calculation is provided on accrual basis.

This study examines earnings management to avoid losses and decreases. We analyze distributions of earnings and distributions of earnings changes among 294 french listed firms, and provide evidence of earnings management to meet the earnings targets tested.

We investigated the possible explanations for differences between the market value and book value of a company. We propose the hypothesis that this difference can be attributed to the fact that intangible assets are not reflected in financial statements. Our results indicate a statistical link between the « capitalised goodwill » and die market-to-book ratio, but do not indicate any association with the « expensed intangible intensity » nor the « capitalised intangible intensity ».

This study relies on an exploratory approach based on in-depth interviews with 14 commercial directors, in order to explore the dimensions of budget emphasis, also referred to as Reliance on Accounting Performance Measures (RAPM). It analyses the relationships between budget emphasis and budget participation and examines the consequences of budget emphasis on managers' behaviour.

This paper analyses and compares the basic concepts founding ABC in the French literature. It shows that the main converging and diverging points are related to the definition of basic notions (task, activity, process) and to cost calculation. The authors diverge mainly on the definition of processes and on the assembling of activities during the cost allocation procedure.

This article deal with ABC/M diffusion problem in the intra-organizational perspective. A survey on Activity-Based Cost Management in Banks shows difficulties whereas few elements allow to consider is a good tool The fact of considering the system of banking costs as a whole of elements in interaction offers a grid of reading of these difficulties. The use of the theory of the management of the information system for management makes it possible to make recommendations adoption and setting of the APA in the banking field.