Edizioni FrancoAngeli - Last issue of FINANCIAL REPORTING (1/2012)

Editoriale Per aspera ad astra: 2012, un anno molto importante per Financial Reporting

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Alberto Quagli

Un nuovo approccio statistico per l’individuazione delle manipolazioni degli utili: evidenze empiriche dal mercato italiano

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Antonio Fabio Di Narzo, Marzia Freo, Marco Maria Mattei
Accruals models are usually estimated cross-sectionally by year and by two-digit SIC code. This estimation approach, however, on the one hand is not applicable in small capital market countries, such as Italy, due to the lack of observations, and on the other hand relies on the implicit assumption of homogeneity of the accrual-generating processes within industries, which sometimes does not hold within two-digit SIC codes. We propose a new estimating technique, the mixture approach, which does not rely on industry classifications and allows researchers to estimate abnormal accruals for the vast majority of firms in small capital market countries. Our analyses suggest that accruals model tests are not less effective in Italy than in other countries and that the mixture approach provides the most powerful test for earnings management.

La disclosure del bilancio in forma abbreviata delle piccole imprese

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Marco Bisogno, Gaetano Matonti
Prior literature has investigated the disclosure of financial statements in two main directions: i) disclosure level evaluation, analysing the approach firms have towards accounting (mandatory and voluntary) disclosure; ii) disclosure determinants analysis, investigating the reasons why some firms disclose more or less information than others. While literature prevalently investigates listed firms, this paper tries to exami- ne disclosure level evaluation and disclosure determinants analysis of small firms, which represent a key drive for growth and innovation. In addition, the paper compares the level of disclosure of small healthy and unhealthy Italian entities, by an analysis of two non-paired samples. The main expected result is that the crisis of a firm affects the disclosure index.

La disclosure dei resoconti semestrali di gestione IAS-compliant. Evidenze empiriche sulle società quotate italiane

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Manuela Lucchese
In this study we investigate empirically the extent of the financial disclosure presented in the notes of IAS 34-compliant interim financial reports. Particularly, we observe, first, if there is an increase of the detail level of interim disclosure despite the compliance with the minimal requirements of the international standard. Second, we examine if the different degree of interim disclosure depends on some specific characteristics of firms such as company size, profitability, leverage, business and market risk. The sample used for the empirical analysis includes the half-yearly reports of 64 Italian listed companies for the period 2005-2009. The main results show that it is not found an increase of interim disclosure detail degree and that the large company size and a higher profitability play, at interim, a major role in the disclosure policy of firms.

The determinants of segment disclosure: an empirical analysis on Italian listed companies

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Sabrina Pisano, Loris Landriani
In November 2006 the International Accounting Standards Board issued IFRS 8, which replaced IAS 14-Revised and became effective for the fiscal year beginning on or after 2009. IFRS 8 changed the items of information that companies have to disclose for each segment. The aim of the research is to examine the determinants of segment disclosures provided by Italian companies in both 2008 and 2009 using the framework of the proprietary costs theory. Moreover, the research investigates whether the implementation of IFRS 8 has brought companies operating in less competitive industries to adopt some opportunistic behaviors, reducing the level of segment disclosure provided in 2009, compared to that disclosed the previous year under IAS 14-R. The results show that higher levels of industry competition are associated with higher levels of segment disclosure. Moreover, we find that firms operating in less competitive industries decreased the items of information provided for each segment under IFRS 8, compared to those released the previous year.

Audit e professioni contabili. Nuova linfa alla Fiscalità differita attiva dalle modifiche al regime di riporto delle perdite fiscali

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Enrico Macario. A cura di Alesandro Gaetano

Book Review / Accounting for Value

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Lorenzo Neri. A cura di Roberto Di Pietra, Stefano Zambon, Stephen Penman