The determinants of earnings management by the acquirer: The case of french corporate takeovers.

This paper analyses the determinants of earnings management by the acquirer of 60 takeover-bids that occurred between 1998 and 2008 on the French market. Four main findings are shown in this study. First, we find strong evidence that bidder firms manipulate earnings prior to takeovers suggesting that target managers have incentive to detect earnings manipulation to ensure the interests of the target shareholders. Second, managers manipulate their earnings either downward or upward and regardless of the method of payment. Third, bidder toehold influences negatively and significantly the discretionary accruals. Finally, the relationship between discretionary accruals and managerial ownership is negatively significant. This practice favors a resource transfer to the bidder controlling shareholder at the expense of minority shareholders.Corporate takeover, Earnings management, Information asymmetry, Discretionary accruals, Method of payment

Air Corporate Governance and Suspicion of Corruption in Supply Chain Management: The Case of Tunis Air Airlines

The corporate governance of airlines companies is not a well studied area. As corruption is a criminal act, the issue is sensitive, and the doors are not opened for researchers. This article aims to contribute to the scarce literature surrounding this topic in order to overcome the lack of research. By staying studying this topic at a general lever and analyzing most of the supply chain activities of real airline companies, we can detect which activities within the supply chain present the most potential where corruption could take place. Propositions will be developed about the characteristics that need to be built into the value chain activities to be robust against corruption. These analyses and propositions are grounded in a case study of the Tunisian airline, Tunis Air. Although this company is not among the biggest airlines in the world, it’s governance could be a structural example in this area of study

Weakly Charged Compact Stars in f(R)f \left( R \right) gravity

We study electrically charged compact stars in the framework of extended theory of gravity (ETG). We assume that the charge density is proportional to the energy density. The polytropic equation of state is chosen to describe the state of the charged perfect fluid. We aim to find the Oppenheimer Volkoff (OV) mass limit for charged compact stars. A detailed numerical study is performed. We show the dependence of the mass-radius diagram of the spheres on the values of the perturbatif parameter $\beta$, the polytropic exponent $\gamma$ and the charge fraction $\alpha$. Our results are compared with those found in the literature in the case of applying General Relativity (GR).Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Does Pay for Performance Reduce Earnings Management in France ?

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between performance-based CEO compensation and earnings management by French managers. The French context is worthy to study given that firms are mostly held by families. CEO compensation in such firms is used as a tunneling mechanism to expropriate minority shareholders. Using a sample of French listed firms, we study how bonuses and CEO stock-option compensation affect earnings management practices. The findings show that managers are inclined to increase the variable part of their compensation by engaging in earnings management practices. Furthermore, we find that the amount of stock-options granted and exercised is positively associated to upward earnings management. These findings highlight manager’s opportunistic behaviour upon performance-based compensation which rather acts as a tunnelling mechanism than a corporate governance device. Keywords: Stock-option, Bonus, Earnings managemen

Les déterminants technologiques de la persévérance des étudiants dans les cours à distance de niveau collégial : les modalités de cours jouent-elles un rôle?

Comprend des références bibliographiquesL’objectif de cette étude est d’identifier et d’analyser les déterminants technologiques de la persévérance dans les cours à distance de niveau collégial (n=61), issus du modèle Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). Les résultats des analyses par équations structurelles (Partial Least Square) indiquent que parmi ces derniers déterminants, seulement les conditions facilitantes ont un impact significatif et positif sur l’intention comportementale d’utiliser les technologies des cours à distance (R2 =54%) définie comme l’intention de l’étudiant de réaliser ce comportement, qui a son tour a un effet significatif et positif sur la persévérance, définie par l’intention de finir le cours à distance auquel l’étudiant est inscrit (R2 =14,2%) et par l’intention de s’inscrire dans le futur dans d’autres cours à distance (R2 =65%). Les analyses des ANOVA font ressortir des différences significatives entre les groupes d’étudiants assignés à des modalités différentes de cours à distance sur tous les facteurs technologiques laissant présager que des analyses différenciées, selon la modalité de cours, devraient être envisagées dans le futur

Do Women On Boards And In Top Management Reduce Earnings Management? Evidence In France

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of gender diversity on the boardroom and in top management positions on earnings management by French-listed firms. Based on a sample of 170 firms over 4 years, we find that the proportion of women on the board standing as a director or a chair reduces earnings management. This finding suggests that women are effective on their monitoring role and are then considered as a crucial corporate governance device. We also find that the relationship between the presence of at least three women on the board and earnings management is negative suggesting that by increasing the number of women on board through regulation and legislation, French firms are likely to enhance the effectiveness of the board to better detect earnings management. However, women standing in CEO and CFO positions do not affect earnings management practices. These findings suggest that efforts made by political bodies to promote equality between men and women on boards are beneficial for French-listed companies by limiting earnings management practices. However, regulating or imposing a quota of women on boards can create a temporal shortage of qualified women available to take up such positions

Corporate Disclosure, Ownership Structure And Earnings Management: The Case Of French-Listed Firms

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corporate governance devices on earnings management for French-listed firms. Particularly, it examines the relationship between corporate disclosure practices, ownership structure features and earnings management by French managers. Results show that the relationship between earnings management measures and disclosure scores is negative suggesting that less transparent firms are likely to engage in earnings management practices. The findings also show that families, institutional investors and multiple large shareholders negatively influence earnings management, and hence, act as good corporate governance devices to limit managerial discretion. This paper shed light on the monitoring role of corporate disclosures and ownership structure in the French context where minority shareholders interests are less protected than in common law countries

Les publications volontaires des résultats et le comportement des analystes financiers en France

Cette étude examine les relations entre les publications volontaires des résultats et le comportement des analystes financiers. Elle analyse la contribution des publications volontaires à expliquer le niveau de couverture des entreprises par les analystes et les caractéristiques de leurs prévisions. Les résultats montrent que la décision de publication volontaire influence le niveau de couverture par les analystes qui sont attirés par la politique de communication de l'entreprise. Ils montrent également que les entreprises ayant choisi d'informer le marché ont des prévisions plus précises et moins dispersées. Ces résultats suggèrent que la politique de publication volontaire est un déterminant important du comportement des analystes financiers.Publication volontaire; nombre des analystes; erreur de prévisions; dispersion des prévisions