|
on Accounting and Auditing |
| By: | Ulf Mohrmann (Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Germany); Jan Riepe (Munich School of Management, University of Munich, Germany); Ulrike Stefani (Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Although the role of auditing is to increase the reliability of financial statements, surprisingly little is known about addressees’ perceptions of the auditor-client relationship. Using a sample of more than 1,000 U.S. bank-years from 2008 to 2011, we analyze the economic consequences of the joint announcement of audit fees and the level breakdown of fair value assets. We confirm prior findings that audit fees are higher for banks with larger proportions of Level 3 fair values. Moreover, we find that the market perception regarding fair value assets depends on the extent of managerial discretion in the estimation process. Most importantly, we find evidence consistent with the notion that addressees’ interpret abnormal audit fees as an indication of additional risk. Thus, unexpected audit fees are not interpreted as a signal for a more reliable audit, but further increase the market discount on Level 3 fair values. Bank managers have to consider these negative consequences in their reporting strategy. |
| Keywords: | Audit Fees, Fair Value Accounting, Fair Value Hierarchy, Banks, Valuation |
| JEL: | M41 M42 G21 |
| Date: | 2013–04–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:knz:dpteco:1308&r=acc |
| By: | Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge |
| Abstract: | Recent years have seen a growing interest among donors on taxation in developing countries. This reflects a concern for domestic revenue mobilization to finance public goods and services, as well as recognition of the centrality of taxation for growth and |
| Keywords: | tax policy, tax administration, tax effort, technical assistance |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2013-010&r=acc |
| By: | Vetter, Henrik |
| Abstract: | The efficiency of the Pigouvian tax suggests that price-based regulation is the proper benchmark for efficient regulation. However, results due to Carlton and Loury (1980, 1986) question this; when harm depends on scale effects a pure Pigou tax is inefficient regulation in the long run. In this note we make precise that there is an efficient tax scheme for controlling harm as long as social optimum exists. In particular, the efficient tax scheme is based on a tax rate equal to marginal harm. Hence, price regulation is the right benchmark for regulation even in the presence of scale effects in the harm function. -- |
| Keywords: | externalities,scale effects,Pigou-taxes |
| JEL: | D61 D62 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201329&r=acc |
| By: | Morten Ravn (University College London); Karel Mertens (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the dynamic effects of changes in taxes in the United States. We dis- tinguish between the effects of changes in personal and corporate income taxes using a new narrative account of federal tax liability changes in these two tax components. We develop an estimator in which narratively identified tax changes are used as proxies for structural tax shocks and apply it to quarterly post WWII US data. We find that short run output effects of tax shocks are large and that it is important to distinguish between different types of taxes when considering their impact on the labor market and the major expenditure components. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed012:638&r=acc |
| By: | Andrés Fuentes |
| Abstract: | The tax burden in Switzerland is low in international comparison, largely reflecting the substantial non-tax compulsory contributions towards the health and pension systems which are managed by private institutions. Taxation of personal income and labour earnings is relatively high, whereas the taxation of consumption is low. Empirical research on OECD economies and on Switzerland specifically indicates that shifting taxation away from personal income towards the taxation of consumption would strengthen incentives to engage in economic activity. The structure of the corporate tax burden could be improved to remove disincentives for small firms to grow. Reducing the generous provisions which allow interest payments to be deducted from taxable personal income would reduce incentives for households to excessively leverage their wealth, with benefits both for financial stability and equity in the tax system. While tax competition among sub-national authorities has reinforced fiscal discipline, adverse side effects on equity could be reduced, including through greater reliance on real estate taxation in municipalities. This Working Paper relates to the 2012 OECD Economic Survey of Switzerland (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/switzerland).<P>Réduire les distorsions dues au système fiscal en Suisse<BR>En Suisse, la pression fiscale est faible par comparaison avec les autres pays, ce qui s’explique dans une large mesure par l’importance des contributions obligatoires non fiscales aux systèmes de santé et de retraite qui sont gérés par des institutions privées. L’imposition des revenus des personnes physiques et des rémunérations du travail est relativement élevée, tandis que les impôts sur la consommation sont faibles. Une modification de la structure fiscale qui consisterait à réduire la part des impôts sur le revenu des personnes physiques au profit de celle des impôts sur la consommation renforcerait l’incitation à exercer une activité économique. La structure de l’impôt sur les sociétés pourrait être améliorée afin de supprimer les facteurs qui dissuadent les petites entreprises de se développer. Si l’on réduisait les dispositions avantageuses qui permettent de déduire les versements d’intérêts du revenu imposable des personnes physiques, les ménages seraient moins incités à exercer un effet de levier excessif sur leur patrimoine, ce qui serait bénéfique à la fois pour la stabilité financière et l’équité du système fiscal. Si la concurrence fiscale entre les autorités infranationales a renforcé la discipline fiscale, il serait possible de réduire ses effets collatéraux défavorables sur l’équité, notamment en ayant davantage recours à la fiscalité immobilière dans les communes. Ce Document de travail se rapporte à l’Étude économique de l’OCDE de la Suisse, 2012 (www.oecd.org/eco/etudes/suisse). |
| Keywords: | taxation, Switzerland, fiscalité, Suisse |
| JEL: | H2 |
| Date: | 2013–04–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1044-en&r=acc |
| By: | Xin Long (African Development Bank Group); Alessandra Pelloni (University of Rome "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | We consider the optimal factor income taxation in a standard R&D model with technical change represented by an increase in the variety of intermediate goods. Redistributing the tax burden from labor to capital will in most cases increase the employment rate in equilibrium. This has opposite effects on two distortions in the model, one due to monopoly power, the second to the incomplete appropriability of the benefits of inventions. Their relative momentum determines the sign of the welfare effect of the redistribution. We show that, for parameter values consistent with available estimates, the optimal tax rate on capital will be sizable. |
| Keywords: | Capital Income Taxes, R&D, Growth Effect, Welfare Effect. |
| JEL: | E62 H21 O41 |
| Date: | 2013–04–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:273&r=acc |
| By: | Govori, Fadil |
| Abstract: | Financial intermediaries perform indirect financing, and in this context, commercial banks are very important participants. They carry out the bulk of indirect financing transactions. On the other hand, the implementation mechanism of monetary policy is closely linked to the functioning of the banking system. Kosovo’s Commercial Banks performance is satisfactory compared with regional. In this paper we provide some of the performance indicators. The rates of return of commercial banks are greatly and directly affected by the net interest margin, provisions for loan losses, revenues and expenses by the non-interest, taxes and the equity multiplier. In this context, liquid assets do not appear to be of high impact in determining and variability the rate of return, high liquidity with low returns. Also, we address the impact of the global financial crisis “2008-20012” in the commercial banks performance in Kosovo, mainly through the impact of the decline in the asset use ratio. We think that was a positive approach that banks have followed the course of returns fall by the reduction in interest-expenditures, while the costs of provisions for loan losses to total average assets marked constant level throughout the period, despite the increasing ratio of nonperforming loans. Drawing on these findings it is recommended that banks even further engage in reducing operational costs; diversify income sources in order not to rely exclusively on the interests of loans, and to strengthen credit risk management in order to minimize the credit risk. |
| Keywords: | Banks, banking sector, banking performance, determinants of performance, profitability, rate of return, net interest margin, non-performing loans. |
| JEL: | G0 G01 G1 G11 G2 G21 G3 G32 |
| Date: | 2013–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46824&r=acc |
| By: | Kaier, Klaus; Müller, Christoph |
| Abstract: | A major aim of the recent updates of National Accounting standards (SNA2008 and ESA2010) is to provide a more complete picture of households' wealth. In this course it will become mandatory for European countries to publish annual estimates of unfunded public pension entitlements (UPPE) from 2017 onwards. This study describes the methodological concepts behind this new figure of national accounts. After a review of past studies on the subject of UPPE we provide a large cross-country comparison for 18 EU countries of this new pension wealth figures and discuss a number of possible applications for policy makers and researchers. This includes the use to estimate the offset between UPPE and savings (Feldstein 1974). Finally, we show the distribution of households' wealth across Europe including financial wealth, dwellings and UPPE. Many prosperity differences between countries with Beveridgean and Bismarkian pension systems as well as between western and central eastern European countries are eliminated when considering these three wealth categories. In addition, a direct comparison of UPPE with replacement rates shows that these two proxies for the generosity of pension systems are completely uncorrelated at the cross-country level. -- |
| Keywords: | households' wealth,pension liabilities,pension entitlements,household saving |
| JEL: | E21 H55 H63 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fzgdps:52&r=acc |
| By: | Sean Dougherty |
| Abstract: | Legal systems provide the basic institutions for firms and markets to operate. Their quality can have important consequences on the size distribution of firms, who rely on them for contract enforcement. This paper uses the variation in legal system quality across states in Mexico to examine the relationship between judicial quality and firm size. Although the country has a single legal system, its implementation and procedures vary widely, while development outcomes there are more imbalanced and unequal than in any other country of the OECD. The effect of the legal system on inter-state firm efficiency is therefore examined. Building on Laeven and Woodruff (2007), this study uses economic census microdata and contract enforcement ratings to examine the impact of state-level legal institutions on firm and industrylevel outcomes. A robust effect of judicial quality is observed on the firm size distribution and efficiency, instrumenting for underlying historical determinants of institutions. Indicative evidence is found that the effect is strongest in more capital-intensive industries. Market size and distance-to-market are also found to matter for firm size outcomes, consistent with the new trade literature.<P>La réforme juridique, la mise en application des contrats et la taille des entreprises au Mexique<BR>Les systèmes juridiques fournissent les institutions de base pour que les entreprises et les marchés fonctionnent. La qualité du système juridique peut avoir des conséquences importantes sur la distribution de la taille des entreprises. Ces mêmes entreprises comptent sur le système juridique pour la mise en application des contrats. Cet article utilise la variation de la qualité du système juridique dans tous les États du Mexique pour examiner la relation entre la qualité judiciaire et la taille des entreprises. Bien que le pays dispose d’un système juridique unique, sa mise en oeuvre et les procédures varient considérablement, tandis que les résultats de développement y sont plus déséquilibré et inégal que dans n’importe quel autre pays de l'OCDE. L’effet du système juridique sur l’efficacité des entreprises interétatique est donc examiné. S'appuyant sur les travaux de Laeven et Woodruff (2007), cette étude utilise les microdonnées du recensement économique et les notes sur la mise en application des contrats pour examiner l’impact des institutions juridiques étatiques sur l’entreprise et les résultats au niveau de l’industrie. Un effet significatif de la qualité judiciaire est observé sur la distribution de la taille des entreprises et leur efficacité, en instrumentation pour les déterminants sous-jacents historiques des institutions. Nous trouvons également que l’effet est plus important dans les industries à forte intensité de capital. La taille du marché et la distance aux marchés sont également influents sur les résultats de la taille de l’entreprise, conforme à la nouvelle littérature sur le commerce. |
| Keywords: | international trade, legal institutions, judicial efficiency, firm scale, commerce international, institutions juridiques, efficacité judiciaire, taille des entreprises |
| JEL: | F12 K4 L11 O12 |
| Date: | 2013–04–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1042-en&r=acc |
| By: | Mirdala, Rajmund |
| Abstract: | European Union member countries are currently exposed to negative implications of the economic and debt crisis. Questions associated with disputable implications of fiscal incentives seem to be contrary to the crucial need of the effective fiscal consolidation that is necessary to reduce excessive fiscal deficits and high sovereign debts. While challenges addressed to the fiscal policy and its anti-cyclical potential rose steadily but not desperately since the beginning of the economic crisis, the call for fiscal consolidation became urgent almost immediately and this need significantly strengthen after the debt crisis contagion flooded Europe. In the paper we provide an overview of main trends in public budgets and sovereign debts in ten European transition economies during last two decades. We identify episodes of successful and unsuccessful (cold showers versus gradual) fiscal (expenditure versus revenue based) consolidations by analyzing effects of improvements in cyclically adjusted primary balance on the sovereign debt ratio reduction. We also estimate VAR model to analyze effects of fiscal shocks (based on one standard deviation in total expenditure, direct and indirect taxes) to real output. It is expected that responses of real output to different types of (consolidating) fiscal shocks may vary and thus provide more precise ideas about a feasibility (i.e. side effects on the macroeconomic performance) of expenditure versus revenue based fiscal consolidation episodes. Economic effects of fiscal consolidating adjustments are evaluated for two periods (pre-crisis and extended) to reveal crisis effects on fiscal consolidation efforts. |
| Keywords: | fiscal policy adjustments, fiscal consolidation, cyclically adjusted primary balance, government expenditures, tax revenues, unrestricted VAR, Cholesky decomposition, SVAR, structural shocks, impulse-response function |
| JEL: | C32 E62 H20 H50 H60 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46792&r=acc |
| By: | Yaacov Fisher; Michael Eilan |
| Abstract: | The main objective of the ERAWATCH Annual Country Reports is to characterise and assess the performance of national research systems and related policies in a structured manner that is comparable across countries. The 2011 country reports assess the evolution on the national R&D investments targets, the efficiency and effectiveness of national policies and investments into R&D, the articulation between education, research and innovation, with an increased focus on the last two in terms of their wider governance and policy mix. The reports for EU MS and AS integrates in the assessment the evolution of the national policy mixes in the perspective of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals and on the realisation and better governance of ERA. |
| Keywords: | European research and innovation policy, ERAWATCH, European Research Area, Policy Mixes, Transnational and International Cooperation; NETWATCH; ERA Nets; Foresight; Joint programming of research; Researchers, Universities; European Foresight Platform (EFP); modelling, linking Qualitative and Quantitative methods. |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc77764&r=acc |
| By: | Pilar Gómez-Fernández-Aguado (Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Universidad de Jaén); Antonio Partal-Ureña (Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Universidad de Jaén); Antonio Trujillo-Ponce (Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Universidad Pablo de Olavide) |
| Abstract: | Using This paper analyzes the effects on the Spanish banking system of the EU proposal for a new Directive on deposit insurance systems based on risk-sensitive premiums. To do this, we examine the risk profile of Spanish banks during the 2007-2011 period according to several indicators reflecting capital adequacy, asset quality, profitability and liquidity. We conclude that most of banks would increase their contributions with the proposed system, evidencing the cyclical character of the new model. Our results also suggest that risk-based schemes could provide an incentive for sound management by reducing the premiums for those banks with better risk profiles. |
| Keywords: | Banking regulation; financial safety net; deposit insurance premiums; deposit insurance system; moral hazard; European banking system |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pab:fiecac:13.01&r=acc |
| By: | Bianca Poti (CERIS – CNR (Moncalieri, Italy)); Emanuela Reale (CERIS – CNR (Moncalieri, Italy)) |
| Abstract: | The main objective of the ERAWATCH Annual Country Reports is to characterise and assess the performance of national research systems and related policies in a structured manner that is comparable across countries. The 2011 country reports assess the evolution on the national R&D investments targets, the efficiency and effectiveness of national policies and investments into R&D, the articulation between education, research and innovation, with an increased focus on the last two in terms of their wider governance and policy mix. The reports for EU MS and AS integrates in the assessment the evolution of the national policy mixes in the perspective of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals and on the realisation and better governance of ERA. |
| Keywords: | European research and innovation policy, ERAWATCH, European Research Area, Policy Mixes, Transnational and International Cooperation; NETWATCH; ERA Nets; Foresight; Joint programming of research; Researchers, Universities; European Foresight Platform (EFP); modelling, linking Qualitative and Quantitative methods. |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc77750&r=acc |
| By: | Sirin Elci (Technopolis Group, Turkey); Mariana Chioncel (JRC-IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The main objective of the ERAWATCH Annual Country Reports is to characterise and assess the performance of national research systems and related policies in a structured manner that is comparable across countries. The 2011 country reports assess the evolution on the national R&D investments targets, the efficiency and effectiveness of national policies and investments into R&D, the articulation between education, research and innovation, with an increased focus on the last two in terms of their wider governance and policy mix. The reports for EU MS and AS integrates in the assessment the evolution of the national policy mixes in the perspective of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals and on the realisation and better governance of ERA. |
| Keywords: | European research and innovation policy, ERAWATCH, European Research Area, Policy Mixes, Transnational and International Cooperation; NETWATCH; ERA Nets; Foresight; Joint programming of research; Researchers, Universities; European Foresight Platform (EFP); modelling, linking Qualitative and Quantitative methods. |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc77770&r=acc |
| By: | Mariana Chioncel (JRC-IPTS); Arvanitis Spyros (ETH Zurich); Florian Seliger (ETH Zurich); Martin Wörter (ETH Zurich) |
| Abstract: | The main objective of the ERAWATCH Annual Country Reports is to characterise and assess the performance of national research systems and related policies in a structured manner that is comparable across countries. The 2011 country reports assess the evolution on the national R&D investments targets, the efficiency and effectiveness of national policies and investments into R&D, the articulation between education, research and innovation, with an increased focus on the last two in terms of their wider governance and policy mix. The reports for EU MS and AS integrates in the assessment the evolution of the national policy mixes in the perspective of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals and on the realisation and better governance of ERA. |
| Keywords: | European research and innovation policy, ERAWATCH, European Research Area, Policy Mixes, Transnational and International Cooperation; NETWATCH; ERA Nets; Foresight; Joint programming of research; Researchers, Universities; European Foresight Platform (EFP); modelling, linking Qualitative and Quantitative methods. |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc77777&r=acc |