@phdthesis{Leidner2017,
  author    = {Leidner, Jacob Justus},
  title     = {Empirical Studies on Auditing in Germany and the U.S.},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-143901},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Chapter 2 concerns the audit market for German credit institutions (excluding savings banks and cooperative banks), and the presented study allows conclusions to be drawn regarding recent concentration levels of this particular audit market. The last reliable (statistical) studies concerning the audit market for German credit institutions were published several years ago (Grothe 2005; Lenz 1996b; Lenz 1997; Lenz 1998). This is surprising because parts of the new regulations concerning the audit market for public-interest entities—which should also apply to credit institutions (European Commission 2006c)—in Europe would require analyses of the audit market concentration to be performed on a regular basis. Therefore, this study begins to fill this research gap, and it reveals that the audit market for German credit institutions was highly concentrated (market leadership: KPMG AG WPG and PricewaterhouseCoopers AG WPG) in 2006 and 2010. Moreover, the findings also highlight that between these years, neither a notable trend toward higher levels of concentration nor a deconcentration process was evident. Finally, it is illustrated that the regulatory requirements for publishing audit fees and the corresponding right to claim exemption (\S\S 285 Sentence 1 No. 17, 314 (1) No. 9 Commercial Code) do not allow the calculation of concentration figures that cover the entire audit market for credit institutions. Thus, it will continue to be necessary to use surrogates for audit fees, and analyses reveal that the arithmetic mean of the total business volume (or total assets) of a credit institution and its square root is a very good surrogate for calculating concentration measures based on audit fees. Chapter 3 seeks to determine whether public oversight of public-interest entities (PIEs) increases audit fees specifically in the financial industry, which is already a highly regulated industry characterized by intense supervision. To answer this question, a sample of 573 German credit institutions is examined over the 2009-2011 period, as not all credit institutions were considered PIEs in Germany (until very recently). First, the results show that a credit institution's business risk is related to audit fees. In addition, the findings reveal not only that PIE credit institutions pay statistically significantly higher audit fees but also that this effect is economically substantial (representing an audit fee increase of 31.38\%). Finally, there are several indications that the relationship between (other) credit institutions' business risks and audit fees is greater for PIE credit institutions. Chapter 4 examines the association between the results of auditor ratification votes and perceived external financial reporting quality. As has been recently remarked by Wei et al. (2015), far too little is known about shareholders' interests in and perceptions of the election, approval or ratification of auditors. Although auditor ratification by shareholders is normally a routine, non-binding action and the voting ratios are in the range of 95\% or higher, the SEC emphasized the importance of this process by amending the disclosure requirements for such voting results in 2010 (SEC 2009; SEC 2010). This study demonstrates that the results of auditor ratification votes are associated with market reactions to earnings surprises (SEC registrants; 2010 to 2013). Moreover, there are moderate indications that this effect may be positively related to higher levels of information asymmetry between managers and shareholders, that such voting results contain incremental informational content beyond that of other publicly available audit-related information, and that the time lag between the ratification of an auditor and the earnings announcement influences the vote's importance. Finally, the study sheds additional light on an overlooked audit-related topic (e.g., Dao et al. 2012; Hermanson et al. 2009; Krishnan and Ye 2005; Sainty et al. 2002), and illustrates its relation to accounting. More importantly, the provided evidence indicates that disclosure of the results of auditor ratification votes might benefit (prospective) shareholders. Chapter 5 addresses the question of whether and when shareholders may have a negative perception of an auditor's economic dependence on the client. The results for a Big 4 client sample in the U.S. (2010 to 2014) show that the economic importance of the client—measured at the audit office-level—is negatively associated with shareholders' perceptions of external financial reporting quality—measured in terms of the earnings response coefficient and the ex ante cost of equity capital—and, therefore, is perceived as a threat to auditor independence. Moreover, the study reveals that shareholders primarily regard independence due to client dependence as a problem for firms that are more likely to be in financially distressed conditions.},
  subject      = {Deutschland},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Strohmenger2014,
  author    = {Strohmenger, Manuel},
  title     = {Three Essays on the Enforcement of Accounting Standards in Germany},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-97707},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {The dissertation at hand focuses on the enforcement of accounting standards in Germany. The legal basis of the external enforcement of accounting standards in Germany was created by the „Bilanzkontrollgesetz" (Financial Reporting Enforcement Act) at the end of 2004. An enforcement mechanism was installed to enforce accounting standard compliance by regular reviews of disclosed financial statements. The system was established as implementation of EU guidelines. Since 2005, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) shall be applied for consolidated financial statement of firms listed on a regulated market segment within the European Union (EU) (Regulation EC No. 1606/2002). Simultaneously to the harmonization of accounting standards, the EU fostered the standardization of enforcement systems to ensure compliance with international accounting standards. Par. 16 of the so-called "IAS Regulation" mandates the "Committee of European Securities Regulators" (CESR) to "develop a common approach to enforcement". Germany's unique two-tiered system operates since July 2005; it involves the "Deutsche Pruefstelle fuer Rechnungslegung" (Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel), a newly established private organization primarily assigned to conduct the reviews. As the second tier, the „Bundesanstalt fuer Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht" (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) has the sovereign authority to order the publication of errors („error announcements") and if necessary, to force the cooperation of firms in the review process. The dissertation is structured as follows. A general introduction focuses on the theoretical background and the reasoning for the need of external enforcement mechanisms. The common approach to enforcement in the European Union is described. Building on this, the thesis consists of three individual essays that analyze three specific questions in the context of the enforcement of financial reporting standards in Germany. The first paper focuses on the systematical evaluation of the information contained in 100 selected error announcements (from a total population of 151 evaluable announcements). The study finds that error announcements on average contain 3.64 single errors and 77\% affect the reported profit. Relatively small as well as big, highly levered and rather unprofitable firms are overrepresented in the sample of misstatement firms. In a second step, the essay investigates the development of censured firms over time; the pre- and post-misstatement development of the firms in terms of balance sheet data, financial ratios and (real) earnings management are tracked. The analysis detects increasing leverage ratios and a decline in profitability over time. In the year of misstatement firms report large total and discretionary accruals, indicating earnings management. Compared to matched control firms, significant differences in profitability, market valuation, earnings management and real activities manipulations are observable. A major contribution of this first study is the examination of trends in financial data and (real) earnings management over a number of years surrounding misstatements as well as the elaboration of the distinction to non-misstating firms. The results show the meaning of the enforcement of IFRS for the quality of financial reporting to standard setters, policy makers, and investors in Germany. The second paper examines the interrelation of enforcement releases, firm characteristics and earnings quality. Prior literature documents the correlation between underperformance in financial ratios and the probability of erroneous disclosure of financial statements; this study provides evidence for differences in characteristics between firms with enforcement releases and control firms as well as a broad sample of German publicly traded firms (4,730 firm-year observations). Furthermore, research affirms the connection of financial ratios to earnings quality metrics. The accuracy of financial information is considered to be correlated with its quality and therefore the differences in earnings quality between various sub-samples is examined. Overall, the results document the underperformance in important financial ratios as well as indicate an inferior earnings quality of firms subject to enforcement releases vis-a-vis the control groups. These results hold with regard to both different earnings quality specifications and different periods observed. This study appends the earnings quality discussion and contributes to develop a comprehensive picture of accounting quality for the unique institutional settings of Germany. The paper shows that a conjoint two-tier public and private enforcement system is effective and might be an adequate model for other countries. Implications for the regulation of corporate governance, the enforcement panel and the auditor are identified. The third essay additionally considers the role of the auditor. The firms subject to error announcements are used to evaluate the consequences of increasing earnings management over time on enforcement releases and their recognition in audit fees. Prior literature provides evidence on a phenomenon called „balance sheet bloat" that is due to income increasing earnings management and later influences the disclosure of misstated financial statements. The evidence of earnings management recognition in audit fees and findings on the content of future information in audit fees leads to the hypothesis that auditors recognize increasing audit risk in fees before the enforcement process starts. The study extends related earnings management and audit fee literature by modeling the development of earnings management within the misstatement firms and systematically link it to auditor reactions. Significant predictive power of different commonly used accrual measures for enforcement releases in the period prior and up to the misstatement period are found by the study. In the same period of time an increase in audit fees, e.g. the recognition of increased audit risk, can be observed. A possible audit fee effect after the misstatement period is investigated, but no significant relation is obtained. The dissertation closes with a summary of the main findings, a conclusion to the connection of the three essays as well as subsumption of findings in the accounting literature.},
  subject      = {Rechnungslegung},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Falkum2011,
  author    = {Falkum, Alexander},
  title     = {Rechnungswesenorientierte Unternehmensbewertung - Einsatz und Eignung der kennzahlenorientierten Fundamentalanalyse bei der Erweiterung LIM-gest{\"u}tzter Bewertungsverfahren},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-54459},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {Bereits in der ersten H{\"a}lfte des letzten Jahrhunderts wurden rechnungswesenorientierte Unternehmensbewertungsverfahren entwickelt. Insbesondere ist in diesem Zusammenhang der auf den Theorien von Preinreich (1937) und L{\"u}cke (1955) zur{\"u}ckzuf{\"u}hrende Residualgewinnansatz zu nennen, bei dem sich der Unternehmenswert aus dem Buchwert des Eigenkapitals und dem Barwert der zuk{\"u}nftig erwarteten Residualgewinne zusammensetzt. Darauf aufbauend entwickelte Ohlson im Jahre 1995 ein analytisches Bewertungsmodell, welches das zuk{\"u}nftige Verhalten der periodischen Residualgewinne anhand eines linear-autoregressiven Informationsverarbeitungsprozesses beschreibt. Durch die Einbindung dieses sog. linearen Informationsmodells (LIM) ist es m{\"o}glich, zuk{\"u}nftige Residualgewinne praktisch unabh{\"a}ngig von unsicheren Prognosen ausschließlich mit Hilfe vergleichsweiser einfacher {\"o}konometrischer Verfahren zu bestimmen. Neben den Residualgewinn enth{\"a}lt das Ohlson Modell noch eine weitere Bewertungsvariable, die sog. "anderen Informationen", welche zwar wertrelevante Informationen außerhalb der Rechnungslegung ber{\"u}cksichtigen soll, allerdings nicht n{\"a}her von Ohlson spezifiziert wird. Eine Vielzahl von empirischen Untersuchungen zum Ohlson Modell und zu Weiterentwicklungen des Ohlson Modells verdeutlicht jedoch in der Folge, dass deren Implementierung in der Praxis regelm{\"a}ßig zu erheblichen Problemen f{\"u}hrt. Zum einen liegt den Verfahren eine signifikante Unterbewertungsproblematik zu Grunde und zum anderen wird durch die regelm{\"a}ßige Einbindung von Analystenvorhersagen zur rechnerischen Bestimmung der „anderen Informationen" nach Auffassung des Verfassers das Objektivit{\"a}tspostulat LIM-gest{\"u}tzter Bewertungsmodelle verletzt. Aufbauend auf einer eingehenden Analyse bisheriger Untersuchungen zu o.g. Modellen werden daher zun{\"a}chst allgemeine Kriterien f{\"u}r eine optimierte Modellierung der Struktur der linearen Informationsmodelle entwickelt und anschließend in die Entwicklung eines eigenen Unternehmensbewertungsmodells transformiert. Um zudem s{\"a}mtliche subjektive Einflussnahme auf die Gestaltung und H{\"o}he der "anderen Informationen" zu eliminieren, werden die "anderen Informationen" nicht mehr auf Basis wie auch immer ermittelter subjektiver Analystenvorhersagen bestimmt, sondern durch einen zielgerichteten Einsatz von f{\"u}nf makro{\"o}konomischen und f{\"u}nf unternehmensspezifischen Kennzahlen der Fundamentalanalyse substituiert. In der empirischen Studie werden insgesamt 118 deutsche Unternehmen des CDAX aus insgesamt elf Branchen in einem Zeitraum von 1980 bis 2003 mit dem Median als prim{\"a}r verwendete Messgr{\"o}ße ber{\"u}cksichtigt. {\"U}ber empirische Regressionsuntersuchungen werden dann entsprechend branchenspezifisch strukturierte Bewertungsmodelle entworfen. Mit der retrograden Ermittlung der "anderen Informationen" wird ausgehend vom empirisch ermittelten Unternehmensmarktwert gem{\"a}ß den gesetzten Modellpr{\"a}missen rechnerisch auf den nicht durch Rechnungslegung erkl{\"a}rten Wertbeitrag der "anderen Informationen" geschlossen. Diese rekursiv ermittelten Werte dienen somit als Maßstab f{\"u}r die "richtige" Wertbeimessung der "anderen Informationen" und damit als Grundlage f{\"u}r die rechnerische Bestimmung der branchenspezifischen Bestimmungsmodelle f{\"u}r die „anderen Informationen". Die mit Hilfe der branchenspezifischen Kennzahlenmodelle generierten Unternehmenswerte liegen dabei sowohl im Durchschnitt als auch im Median n{\"a}her am tats{\"a}chlichen Unternehmenswert als bei Ausblendung der "anderen Informationen" und bei Verwendung von Analystenvorhersagen. Damit liefert der Einsatz der in dieser Untersuchung neu eingef{\"u}hrten, branchenspezifischen Modelle gegen{\"u}ber den traditionellen Modellen {\"u}berlegene Resultate. Zudem wird festgestellt, dass die auf Basis der Kennzahlenmodelle ermittelten Unternehmenswerte weniger schwanken als bei Verwendung von Analystenvorhersagen. Trotz einer mit dieser Arbeit erreichten verbesserten Abbildungf{\"a}higkeit der "anderen Informationen" erachtet der Verfasser dieser Arbeit das Konzept der LIM-gest{\"u}tzten Unternehmensbewertung aufgrund der festgestellten M{\"a}ngel im Zuge der praktischen Umsetzung den heute gebr{\"a}uchlichen Bewertungsverfahren wie z.B. dem DCF oder dem Ertragswertverfahren als noch immer deutlich unterlegen.},
  subject      = {Rechnungswesen},
  language  = {de}
}