Population structure, connectivity, and demographic history of an apex marine predator, the bull shark <i>Carcharhinus leucas</i>

Knowledge of population structure, connectivity, and effective population size remains limited for many marine apex predators, including the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas. This large‐bodied coastal shark is distributed worldwide in warm temperate and tropical waters, and uses estuaries and rivers as nurseries. As an apex predator, the bull shark likely plays a vital ecological role within marine food webs, but is at risk due to inshore habitat degradation and various fishing pressures. We investigated the bull shark\u27s global population structure and demographic history by analyzing the genetic diversity of 370 individuals from 11 different locations using 25 microsatellite loci and three mitochondrial genes (CR, nd4, and cytb). Both types of markers revealed clustering between sharks from the Western Atlantic and those from the Western Pacific and the Western Indian Ocean, with no contemporary gene flow. Microsatellite data suggested low differentiation between the Western Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific, but substantial differentiation was found using mitochondrial DNA. Integrating information from both types of markers and using Bayesian computation with a random forest procedure (ABC‐RF), this discordance was found to be due to a complete lack of contemporary gene flow. High genetic connectivity was found both within the Western Indian Ocean and within the Western Pacific. In conclusion, these results suggest important structuring of bull shark populations globally with important gene flow occurring along coastlines, highlighting the need for management and conservation plans on regional scales rather than oceanic basin scale

The Persistence of Earnings and Earnings Components after the Adoption of IFRS

Purpose - This paper seeks to examine the persistence of earnings and earnings components after the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Design/methodology/approach - The study analyses two years before and two years after the adoption of IFRS in order to examine whether the adoption of IFRS materially affects the persistence, as well as the explanatory power of earnings and earnings components. Findings - The results confirm that disaggregating reported earnings into operating income, nonoperating income and extraordinary charge and credit, captures differences in the information content of the underlying events. Consequently, earnings disaggregation can be used to improve prediction of future profitability. The results suggest that IFRS measurement and reporting guidelines do not seem to improve the persistence of earnings and earnings components. Originality/value - This is the first study that examines whether the mandatory adoption of IFRS has an impact on the information content of earnings components for future profitability. Keywords Earnings, Financial reporting, Greece Paper type Research pape

The Accrual Anomaly in the U.K. Stock Market: Implications of Growth and Accounting Distortions

On the basis of an accrual decomposition into two components capturing output growth and accounting distortions, this paper analyzes the effects of accounting accruals on firms' future performance in the U.K. stock market. Findings reveal a strong negative association of accruals with future profitability and stock returns. The effect of accruals on future earnings performance is driven only by the component attributable to accounting distortions, and the accrual effect on stock price performance is driven by both the component attributable to accounting distortions and the component attributable to growth. These two components complement each other in driving the accrual effect on stock returns

Corporate Governance and Accrual Earnings Management

This study examines the association between corporate governance and accruals earnings management using a corporate governance index consisting of 55 individual corporate governance measures. Prior literature has focused primarily on certain individual corporate governance measures, overlooking the multidimensional character of corporate governance. Based on a sample of firms listed on the Athens, Milan and Madrid Stock Exchanges, we find an inverse relationship between corporate governance and earnings management. Corporate governance provisions seem to constrain the tendency of management to manage earnings leading to higher credibility for financial statements. Additional tests suggest that the negative relationship holds for large and middle capitalization firms but not for the small capitalization sample. In addition, corporate governance provisions limit upwards but not downwards earnings management. This study emphasizes the multilevel character of corporate governance and suggests the usage of comprehensive measures of corporate governance in the academic research. This study also stresses the importance of introducing corporate governance mechanisms in order to ensure the integrity of the financial reporting process. Practitioners are expected to evaluate the corporate governance provisions that each firm has put in place, whereas policy makers are expected to mandate the application of a wide range of corporate governance mechanisms

Tax Management and IFRS Financial Reporting Synergies

This paper investigates whether taxes presented according to the IFRS financial statements convey value relevant information. We ask the following questions: do taxes derived from published IFRS financial statements convey information on tax planning policies and thus be used to predict future taxation? Are the IFRS deferred taxation treatments used as vehicles for achieving management's planning strategies? Is IFRS tax information value relevant and fully appreciated by stock market participants? The empirical evidence suggests that past income taxes provide information regarding firms' future tax position. Firms use deferred taxation strategies in order to reduce future tax expenses and meet their tax planning policies. Tax strategies in the framework of IFRS adoption provide value relevant information to stock market participants. Misinterpretation in assessing the tax effects of accounting choices can lead to wrong investment decisions which reveal the necessity for increased regulation on the disclosure of the tax information

Do Goodwill Impairments by European Firms Provide Useful Information to Investors?

In 2004, the IASB adopted the mandatory annual impairment-test-only of goodwill (IAS 36) instead of amortization of goodwill. We present and discuss the academic literature regarding the association between the goodwill impairment, under this new standard, and the revision of investors' expectations about a company's future cash flows. The academic literature highlights that, in some specific cases, IAS 36 may help investors to revise their expectations. More precisely, goodwill impairment seems relevant when: (a) there is strong asymmetry of information between managers and investors, (b) managers disclose detailed information in the notes regarding their own assumptions about future cash flows, and (c) managers do not manage earnings and provide reliable information to investors. In many cases, goodwill impairment is probably useless for investors because they are able to revise their expectations based on public information, or because they cannot trust the accounting numbers and additional information in the notes about the impairment test, which are provided by (undisciplined) managers. More research is, however, needed to understand in which circumstances impairment-test-only is more useful, as well in which cases it is less adequate. Our analysis relates to the current post-implementation review and should be useful to standard-setters. Before any modification, we argue that standard-setters should carefully consider the economic and the institutional contexts when issuing a new accounting standard

Internal marketing as an agent of change – implementing a new human resource information system for Malaysian Airlines

The first part of this research determines the relationship between ten selected variables andemployees’acceptanceofaplannedchangeinMalaysianAirlines.Thesecondpartdrawsontheoriginal findings to conceptually investigate the potential role, degree and nature of internalmarketing as a positive agent of change. The findings initially determine the causality of theprimary research results. Subsequently and prescriptively, they indicate that ‘perceptionmanagement’ through internal marketing may play a critical role in both the acceptance andthe implementation of change, especially regarding the more professional positions/processesof an organisation. The paper finally develops a provisional prescriptive model of internalmarketing towards organisational change and expands on the practical and managerial implica-tions of the findings. The value of the research lies primarily in its unorthodox introduction of internal marketing as a catalytic agent of organisational change, as well as in its prescriptivemanagerial implications and its innovative contemporary marketing contex