Robert J. Bricker

An Empirical-Investigation Of The Structure Of Accounting Research

This study empirically infers and statistically validates a disciplinary structure of accounting research, and then examines the inferred structure for evidence of fragmentation and integration. Among a disciplines research areas, fragmentation and integration represent two extremes of a continuum of intellectual association, consisting of shared attributes such as models, theories, methods, findings, and implications. The research areas of an integrated discipline are characterized by shared attributes, while those of a fragmented discipline are not. The building blocks of particular research areas are individual research studies with common attributes whose distinctiveness corresponds to the level of specialization of the research area. Research areas that are separate at one level of specialization may belong to a single research area at a lower level of specialization, one whose common attributes are less distinctive. Thus, the structure of a discipline may be portrayed as a hierarchical arrangement of research areas. Accounting, for instance, may be conjectured to consist of a number of small, specialized research areas. As the level of specialization is reduced, the distinctions among the research areas disappear. Ultimately, at the disciplinary level, only accounting as a discipline is (or should be) individually identifiable.

Incentives, Discretion, and Asset Valuation in Closed-End Mutual Funds

This paper studies earnings management using 363 closed–end mutual fund firm–years of data. Closed–end fund assets consist of unrestricted and restricted securities, and realized and unrealized income. While unrestricted securities are not subject to earnings management, restricted security values are largely discretionary. Managerial valuation of restricted securities is modeled as contingent on unrestricted returns relative to a performance benchmark. Four unrestricted performance regions are identified. Known multi–period compensation incentives become the basis for hypothesizing earnings management behaviors in the regions in the form of restricted security valuation. Across several benchmarks, the results are consistent with multi–period maximization rather than simpler single–period compensation maximization or income smoothing. Funds with extreme unrestricted performance show relatively larger income–decreasing earnings management, and funds with slightly–below benchmark returns show relatively larger income–increasing earnings management than those slightly above. These results clarify the relationship between complex earnings management behavior and managerial incentives.

THE IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH ON FINANCE

Abstract This paper assesses the impact of accounting research on finance using citational methods and content analysis. The data are 715 articles published in seven finance journals. In contrast to previous research of the influence of finance research on accounting, the results show relatively little impact of accounting research on finance. The limited impact of accounting on finance is principally provided by four accounting journals and a small group of accounting authors. The impact found is often the result of bridging papers, in which either finance articles have accounting authors, or vice versa. These results suggest a substantial disregard of ostensibly pertinent capital-markets accounting research by finance scholars. The reasons for finance’s disregard of this work, whether for reasons of perceived value, quality, or for other reasons, is unclear. However, it is apparent that accounting capital-markets research is not as influential in finance as might be expected.

Financial Management (1972-1994): A Retrospective

Financial Management has published more than 800 papers from 1972 through 1994. This article documents the influence of FM on financial research, financial education, and financial practice. The evolution of subject coverage over time is discussed . The FM articles most cited in journals and text books are identified. FM ranks near the top of finance journals in every criterion examined.

Top finance journals: Do they add value?

This paper develops a methodology for determining the value added by journals to articles they publish and uses this methodology to study five leading finance journals in the period 1990 through 2002. The quality of an article is disaggregated into two components—a component inherent to the article and a component added by the journal. Inherent article quality is proxied by author reputation and the reputation of the authors school, while journal value added is proxied by editorial board quality, journal age, and journal readership characteristics. Our Tobit regression analysis results show that theJournal of Finance, theJournal of Financial Economics, and theReview of Financial Studies add significant value over and above inherent article quality.

Deriving disciplinary structures: Some new methods, models, and an illustration with accounting

This study demonstrates the use of two microcomputer based extensions of cocitation clustering, and content analysis to derive a disciplinary structure. The use of an independent data source and multiple discriminant analysis as a validation tool is also demonstrated. One extension of cocitation clustering is a form of non-hierarchical single-link clustering, and the second is sequential cocitation threshold stepping. These extensions can be used to cluster cocitations and syntactically represent cluster structure in the form of a dendogram. This structure can be given semantic content through the use of content analysis. The Research Markets Model of the behavior of research scholars provides a framework within which the heterogeneity and homogeneity apparent in the structure of scholarly disciplines is interpreted

Institutional Investors and Insider Trading Profitability

Abstract This study examines the relationship between institutional ownership and the profitability of insider trading. A priori the relationship is not clear. On the one hand, institutions possess superior information that erodes insider advantages and are also active in monitoring. On the other hand, institutions could treat insider trading as an incentivizing mechanism to induce manager effort, leading to improved aggregate shareholder welfare. The results indicate that, on average, institutional ownership is negatively related to the profitability of insider trading, and this relationship derives from both direct monitoring and trading/pricing. Further analysis indicates that this relationship is concentrated for insider sales. In contrast, the findings reveal a positive relationship between institutions and the profitability of insider purchases, indicating an incentivizing role.

Relevance, reliability and restricted security fair values: a look at investment trusts

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to assess the pricing effects of financial reporting decision usefulness in terms of its constituent elements of relevance and reliability. Although it has long been intuitively appealing to believe in the decision usefulness of more relevant and reliable disclosures, they have been troublesome to demonstrate empirically. The mixed results have often been attributed to the richness of operating company settings. Design/methodology/approach - This study addresses that problem by using 363 firm years of data from US market-priced mutual funds (termed closed end funds in some countries and investment trusts in others), whose assets are comprised almost entirely of investment securities. Findings - The results are consistent with the principal hypotheses – both relevance and reliability are valued by the market. Practical implications - Overall, these findings provide a basis not only for reconciling prior, conflicting results, but in adding to our understanding of how disclosure characteristics are valued by investors, a particularly pertinent topic given the IASBs and the FASBs projects in this area. Originality/value - The simplicity and elegance of the market-priced mutual fund setting facilitates development of a model that simultaneously distinguishes between the relevance and reliability. Cost (less relevant) and fair-value (more relevant) disclosures are gathered for both restricted (less reliable) and unrestricted (more reliable) securities for each firm year. Both levels and returns type methods are used to assess the effects of these separate elements of decision usefulness on securities valuation.