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Copyright of Accounting & Finance / Oblìk ì Fìnansi is the property of Institute of Accounting & Finance and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper investigates the information content of two accrual variables which have been central to this debate: these are the current accruals variable, CA, and the noncurrent accruals variable, NA. Each is the aggregate of several accrual items listed separately in financial statements. The current accruals variable is defined here as cash from operations less working capital from operations, while the noncurrent accruals variable is working capital from operations less earnings. The sum of the current and noncurrent accruals variables is referred to as the total accruals variable, TA. This study investigates the relative information content of total accruals and cash from operations. It also considers separately the relative information content of noncurrent accruals and working capital from operations and of current accruals and cash from operations. None of the tests here considers jointly the relative information content of cash from operations, current accruals, and noncurrent accruals. This study differs from previous work by considering the implications of various hypotheses about information content of accruals on the joint behavior of stock returns at two information releases—the Wall Street Journal earnings announcement and the date the annual report arrives at the SEC. A model is introduced which structures the way information about the accrual and cash components of earnings is extracted from earnings when they are published in the Wall Street Journal and links the association between this component information and stock returns at the earnings announcement to the association between stock returns and component information released at a later date when the annual report arrives at the SEC. By restricting the parameters in this model, it is possible to test for the incremental information content of accruals over funds and for the incremental information content of funds over earnings. This study finds that the cash and total accruals... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conducts a capital market analysis of the oil and gas accounting method, "Reserve Recognition Accounting" (RRA). The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) first proposed RRA in Accounting Series Release No. 253 (ASR 253), issued in August 1978. In ASR 253, the Commission noted that "development of an accounting method based on a valuation of proved oil and gas reserves would provide significant useful information." To this end, the Commission required oil and gas firms to disclose RRA data as a supplementary item to their financial statements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, numerous research works have been reported on the flexural response of aluminium alloy tubular cross-sections. However, studies on monosymmetric cross-sections and particularly channel (C-) sections are limited, albeit their increased usage in structural applications. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap providing an improved understanding about the minor axis bending behaviour of C-sections through an experimental and numerical investigation. In total 14 specimens made from 6082-T6 heat-treated aluminium alloy were subjected to four-point bending. Tensile coupon tests were also performed to determine the mechanical properties of the examined aluminium alloy. The obtained experimental results are analysed and discussed. A series of geometrically and materially nonlinear analyses were also carried out to study the flexural performance of C-sections in two aluminium alloys and two bending orientations over a range of cross-sectional aspect ratios and slendernesses. The experimental and numerical results are utilised to assess the European design standards. The applicability of the Continuous Strength Method and the Direct Strength Method is also evaluated. An alternative design method based on the plastic effective width concept is proposed for slender C-sections subjected to minor axis bending. This method accounts for the inelastic reserve capacity which is in accordance with the experimental and numerical observations. • Flexural response of aluminium alloy C-sections is investigated. • 14 four-point minor axis bending tests are reported. • A wide parametric study is carried out. • Current codified design provisions are assessed. • The plastic effective width method is proposed for slender C-sections under minor axis bending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper investigates the difference between two widely used measures of accruals and their differential impact on accrual strategy returns. The two measures are accruals computed using consecutive changes in the balance sheet items and accruals computed as earnings minus cash flows from operating activities, both from the cash flow statement. Our investigations reveal that the difference between the two measures is caused by four items and non-articulations in changes in working capital accounts and depreciation expenses, in addition to non-articulation events as identified by Hribar and Collins (2002). We find that the non-articulation in working capital accounts and depreciation expenses between the cash flow statement and other financial statements is surprisingly prevalent and economically significant, and it can be attributed to special events, errors made by Compustat, firms' inconsistent definitions, and nonstandard classifications of assets/liabilities. We show that, after excluding non-articulation events, the accrual strategy returns are higher for accruals computed using balance sheet items than accruals computed using cash flow statement items. Further investigations suggest that the return differentials are mainly due to other funds from operations and the non-articulation in changes in accounts receivable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article cites a study evaluating the concepts concerning possible accounting solutions to the classification problem of research and development costs. This study, reportedly, is a continuation of a previous study that focuses on contra-equity accounting for research and development. In that study, the causal relation between research and development effort and benefit was defined operationally to be the coefficient of cross correlation between the ratio of research and development expense to total assets and the ratio of income to net worth. This article deals with conceptual foundations, procedural alternatives, the contra-equity proposal, hypotheses and evidence, and institutional matters. The original study treated amortization as if it started in the year of cost incurrence for all assumed lines. Thus, all three amortization patterns for one-year lives had coefficients identical with the coefficient for current expensing. The present replication extended the analysis by adding a one-year-lag alternative, with all amortization starting the year after cost incurrence. The present study also added one new relationship to test the capital loss alternative.

This article attempts to analyze the validity and significance of some conclusions on financial accounting allocation that are illustrated in two studies by economist Arthur L. Thomas. In the first, "The Allocation Problem in Financial Accounting Theory," published in 1969, he concluded that the allocations traditionally made in financial accounting are arbitrary and should cease. In the second, "The Allocation Problem Part Two," published in 1974, he concluded that financial accounting's allocations are not only arbitrary but also incorrigible and that they should cease. In the first study, Thomas concluded that financial accounting's allocations are arbitrary, with incorrigibility being distinguishable from and more important than arbitrariness. Considering the conclusion of the first study, the author argues that incorrigibility is the general underlying problem of which arbitrariness is one manifestation. It is noted that Thomas's conclusion regarding incorrigibility is founded on an implied starting point, that traditional accounting statements actually purport to make assertions about market-value numbers. The significant point, suggestively, is that Thomas is not justified in stating that allocations must cease because they are arbitrary. The proper conclusion for accounting is not to cease allocating, but either to cease allocating or to redefine accounting income in a manner that will allow effective algorithms which are uniquely objective-satisfying.