The purpose of the Steve Berlin/CITGO Grant program is to foster academics' understanding of the contemporary external reporting and governance challenges faced by preparers. Proposals are evaluated by a four-person committee chaired by the American Accounting Association's Vice President-Research (Arnie Wright) and representatives from the Financial Accounting and Reporting, Management Accounting, and Auditing Sections of the AAA. This year the following two grants were awarded.
Darrell Brown, R. Scott Marshall (both at Portland State University), and Marlene Plumlee (University of Utah). Voluntary disclosures and firm choices across time: The case of environmental disclosures.
This study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the complex interrelationship between a firm and its stakeholders in the voluntary disclosure decision. Voluntary disclosures provide a unique and efficient method for a firm to distinguish itself from its competitors. In this study, environmental voluntary corporate disclosures are examined by investigating the interaction between investors and corporate reporters through both in-depth interviews and empirical observations. By gathering both field-based interview data from experts involved in preparing and using the disclosures and corporate report-derived empirical data, this study examines corporate responses to investor demands for voluntary corporate disclosures. From the interviews a set of propositions relating to the quality and influence of the investor/firm relationships will be developed.
Cheryl L. Linthicum (University of Texas at San Antonio), Ann Tarca (University of Western Australia), and Walter Aerts (University of Antwerpen Belgium). Factors affecting informative MD&A disclosures by SEC domestic and foreign registrants.
The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which listed companies following the Securities and Exchange Commission's Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) requirements provide informative reports and to identify factors that are associated with such disclosures. The investigation centers on SEC registrants, which are leading international firms, from four countries (the USA, Canada, UK and Australia). This study will contribute evidence from archival and field research that, taken together, will identify firm level and country level factors that are associated with informative MD&A reporting practices. An analysis will be conducted of the explanatory cause and effect statements included in MD&A reports based on an established methodology of attribution analysis.
