Welcome to the Gray Zone: Shades of Honesty and Financial Misreporting

We examine the influence of CFO/CEO honesty perceptions on earnings management for the largest publicly traded companies in America, and show that visual cues play a significant role. Specifically, after controlling for incentives (i.e. stock-based compensation, bonuses, leverage) and opportunities (i.e. auditor independence, internal control deficiencies), members of senior management perceived to be less honest engage in higher levels of both accruals management and real earnings management. Interestingly, the beneficial impact of perceived honesty on earnings quality is most pronounced when both the CFO and the CEO are perceived to be honest. Findings are consistent with our conjecture that both the CFO and CEO independently contribute to a firm’s reporting environment

Le Projet PIE : une stratégie prometteuse de dépistage des aînés qui présentent des problèmes de santé mentale

Environ 50 % des aînés qui ont un problème de santé mentale ne reçoivent pas les services en lien avec leur situation. Le Projet PIE (Prévention-Intervention-Éducation), une stratégie de dépistage proactif mise sur l’implication des sources de référence non traditionnelles, nommées liaisons communautaires, pour identifier et référer les aînés vers le CSSS. Les auteurs présentent l’évaluation de ce projet qui démontre des résultats encourageants. En plus d’être utile, pertinent et efficace pour dépister ces aînés et leur offrir l’aide nécessaire, le projet PIE semble aussi un moyen d’accroître le sentiment de solidarité sociale.Approximately fifty percent of older adults with a mental health problem do not receive services. A proactive outreach strategy, Project PIE (Prevention-Intervention-Education) relies upon the assistance of non-traditional referral sources, namely community liaisons, to identify and refer to the CSSS vulnerable or isolated elders with a mental health problem. An evaluation of this project reveals encouraging results. The project appears useful, relevant and efficient to detect elders with a mental health problem and offer the required assistance. This project also appears to be a means to foster social solidarity,Alrededor de 50% de los ancianos que tienen un problema de salud mental no reciben los servicios relacionados con su situación. El Proyecto PIE (Prevención-Intervención-Educación) es una estrategia de diagnóstico proactivo que se apoya en la implicación de las fuentes de referencia no tradicionales, tales como los miembros de la comunidad, para identificar y referir a los ancianos a los Centros de Salud y Servicios Sociales (CSSS). Los autores presentan la evaluación de este proyecto que demuestra resultados alentadores. Además de ser útil, pertinente y eficaz para diagnosticar a estos ancianos y ofrecerles la ayuda necesaria, el proyecto PIE parece además un medio de aumentar el sentimiento de solidaridad social.Cerca de 50% das pessoas idosas que sofrem problemas de saúde mental não recebem os serviços de acordo com sua situação. O Projeto PIE (Prevenção-Intervenção-Educação), uma estratégia de identificação proativa, concentra-se no envolvimento das fontes de referência não tradicionais, como membros da comunidade, para identificar e encaminhar as pessoas idosas para o CSSS. Os autores apresentam a avaliação deste projeto que demonstra resultados encorajadores. Além de ser útil, pertinente e eficaz para identificar estas pessoas idosas, e lhes oferecer a ajuda necessária, o projeto PIE também é um meio de aumentar o sentimento de solidariedade social

Post-CEO retirement appointments and financial accounting—Evidence from CEO turnovers

Prior research has shown that when boards seek to appoint CEOs as outside directors, the director labor market rewards CEOs’ accounting performance. This study examines whether the external labor market’s assessment of the accounting performance is moderated by CEOs’ past exercise of financial reporting discretion in the form of accruals and real earnings management and financial statement readability. Our results show a positive association between post-CEO board opportunities and within-GAAP accruals management as well as to more readable financial statements. Earnings restatements are associated with fewer board positions and director pay. However, the director labor market appears to punish R&D expenditure above the industry median, suggesting that boards view overinvestment as a risky avenue for growth. Finally, the results suggest that for CEOs with planned retirement, the director labor market provides some mitigating effect on the horizon problem.The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC

Managerial replacement strategies and severance pay

This paper demonstrates the benefits to shareholders of offering severance packages to managers. We show that severance pay is not merely a way to coax underperforming managers to step aside. Rather, a manager's efforts can pave the way for the manager's successor, and thereby attract more talented potential replacements. We consider two settings that differ on whether or not the shareholder can fully commit to a replacement strategy. In both settings the shareholder makes replacement decisions based on output and the availability of a suitable replacement candidate at the end of the first period. When the shareholder can fully commit to the circumstances of replacement, severance pay serves solely to improve contract efficiency, because the probability of the replacement candidate emerging is influenced by the incumbent manager's effort. In the setting without full commitment, severance pay not only improves contract efficiency but also allows the shareholder to expand the set of credible output–contingent replacement strategies. Generally, severance pay motivates managers to build value in the firm despite the possibility that in doing so, they make their own services obsolete

Cu(H(2)btec)(bipy)](infinity): a novel metal organic framework (MOF) as heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidation of olefins

A new extended metal-organic framework [Cu(H(2)btec)(bipy)](infinity) (1) (H(4)btec=1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic acid; bipy= 2,2'-bipyridine) has been hydrothermally synthesized. Violet crystals are formed in a monoclinic system with a space group C2/c; a = 10.1810(18) angstrom, b = 14.4360(18) angstrom, c= 12.894(3) angstrom, beta= 112.94(3)degrees. In the title compound 1 each Cu(II) centre has a distorted square planar environment, completed by two N atoms from one bipy ligand and two O atoms belonging to two dihydrogen benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylate anions (H(2)btec(2-)). The {Cu(bipy)}(2+) moieties are bridged by H(2)btec(2-) anions to form an infinite one-dimensional coordination polymer with a zig-zag chain structure along the c axis. A double-chain structure is formed by hydrogen bonds between adjacent zig-zag chains. There are also p-p stacking interactions between the bipy ligands, with an average distance of 3.62 angstrom resulting in a two-dimensional network structure. Compound 1 was tested as a catalyst for the oxidation of cyclohexene and styrene, with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as oxidant. The catalytic activity (24 h and 75 degrees C) found for [Cu(H(2)btec)(bipy)](infinity) shows a high value for the conversion of cyclohexene (64.5%), and a lower one for styrene (23.7%). High turnover frequency (TOF) values for the epoxide products were observed, indicating that the catalyst synthesized in this work, not only has a high activity and selectivity for epoxidation reactions but is also very efficient

Exchange Interactions Through π π Stacking in the Lamellar Compound [{Cu(bipy)(en)}{Cu(bipy)(H2O)}{VO3}4]n

Structural, magnetic, and powder and single crystal electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies are reported for [{Cu(bipy)(en)}{Cu(bipy)(H2O)}{VO3}4]n, a new copper-vanadium hybrid organic-inorganic compound containing CuII and VV centers. This first single crystal EPR study of an oxovanadium based organo-inorganic hybrid material functionalized with CuII complexes allows evaluating extremely weak exchange couplings and observing a dimensional quantum phase transition.Fil: Venegas Yazighi, Diego. Centro para el Desarrollo de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología; Chile. Universidad de Santiago de Chile; ChileFil: Brown, Kareen. Centro para el Desarrollo de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología; Chile. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Vega, Andrés. Centro para el Desarrollo de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología; Chile. Universidad Andres Bello; ChileFil: Calvo, Rafael. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Aliaga, Carolina. Centro para el Desarrollo de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología; Chile. Universidad de Santiago de Chile; ChileFil: Santana, Ricardo. Universidade Federal de Goias; BrasilFil: Cardoso Gil, Raul. Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Physik fester Stoffe; AlemaniaFil: Kniep, Rüdiger . Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Physik fester Stoffe; AlemaniaFil: Schnelle, Walter. Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Physik fester Stoffe; AlemaniaFil: Spodine, Evgenia. Centro para el Desarrollo de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología; Chil

Vessel morphology and function in the West Jefferson Phase of the Black Warrior Valley, Alabama

This thesis is a morphological and functional analysis of pottery that explores whether technological changes in pottery reflect the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to complex agricultural ones that occurred circa A.D. 1070 in the Black Warrior Valley of Alabama. During the West Jefferson phase (A.D. 1020-1120) of the Late Woodland period, indigenous hunter-gatherer groups lived contemporaneously with, yet peripheral to, the earliest Mississippian agriculturalists and were beginning to adopt some Mississippian traits, including shell-tempered vessels of a shape known as the “standard Mississippian jar.” Although it is well known that Mississippian lifeways gradually replaced those of hunter-gatherers, the processes by which this transition took place are largely unclear. By morphologically and functionally analyzing vessels of this transitional period, this study examines how, or if, technological changes in pottery reflect the adoption and intensification of agriculture by hunter-gatherers. Specifically, it examines whether West Jefferson pottery, the majority of which consists of cooking vessels, reflects a traditional nut-processing technology or if it instead indicates that indigenous groups were essentially copying Mississippian vessel forms and maize-processing technologies. The supplemental file includes all raw data collected during the study. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries