International Accounting Standards Harmonisation: the Case of Iran Privatisation

Accounting standards harmonisation literature shows that from the beginnhg of the twenty first century IASs and IFRSs are receiving increasing attention from professional accounting bodies and stock market authorities of developed and developing countries more than ever before. Consequently number of countries chose to join the lAS users have incresed dramatically in recent years. The objective of this paper is to explore how Iranian Accounting Standards Board achieves harmonisation with IASs and lFRSs while govemment using some efforts to develop local stock market as means of privatisation. Tehran Stock Exchange which is involved in the third wave of country privatisation required companies to prepare their financial reports using National Accounting Standards. These standards are in harmony with lASs and lFRs as they are developed based on the same procedure of lASB\u27s “due process”. In the same way, proposed projects of lran Accounting Standards Boards aim to develop conceptual framework in order toestablish a platform for standard setting. Due to recent development in privatisation in relation to Internationally harmonised national accounting and auditing standards the standard setting in lran is in the state of flex national and International wise

Attitudes of Educators and Practitioners in the UAE Towards Elements of General Education in Learning Accounting

Most universities and higher education institutions in developing countries seem to concentrate on areas of specializations inteaching accounting. Many do not seem to give attention to general education despite the fact that local and International accreditation bodies (i.c. AACSB) require general education to be pan of the accounting degree. This paper aims at finding out how educators and practitioners differ in terms of their preference ratings of general education knowledge in accounting curriculum. A survey was conducted and discriminant analysis was applied to the collected data. The results suggest that. The two groups differ in their preference in general education. Practitioners seem to give more emphasis on general knowledge in the areas of art and science and business mathematics and statistics. while educators seem to pay more attention to general knowledge in marketing and economics

Information Asymmetry: Evidence From Iran Listed Companies

Inherent in the International and indigenous accounting standards is managerial discretion in the application of accounting methods, preparation of financial reports and disclosures. Extent literature indicates that almost all companies are engaged in some type of earnings management (Healy, 1985; Perry & Williams, 1994; Defond & Jiambalvo, 1994; Jordon, Clark, & Pate, 2008). A crucial question posed for accounting research is to identify the environmental conditions under which managerial discretion (i.e. accounting choices) are exercised. Using empirical analysis this paper investigates one of the fundamental conditions of earnings management, information asymmetry between managers and investors. When information asymmetry is high, stakeholders including investors do not have sufficient resources, incentives, or access to relevant information to monitor managers\u27 actions, which gives rise to earnings management. Empirical results show that the level of information asymmetry index which is the combination of five important Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) relevant proxies (volume of trade, stock price variation, P/E ratio, number of trading days and firm age) has a positive statistically significant effect on the extent of earnings management practiced by companies listed on the TSE

Information asymmetry and earnings management: Evidence from companies listed on the Tehran stock exchange

Accounting standards allow managerial discretion in the application of accounting methods, preparation of financial reports and disclosures. Previous literature indicates that almost all companies are engaged in some type of earnings management (Healy, 1985; Perry & Williams, 1994; Defond & Jiambalvo, 1994; Jordon, Clark, & Pate, 2008). A fundamental question posed for accounting research is to identify the environmental conditions under which accounting choices are made by managers. Using empirical analysis this paper examines one of the fundamental conditions of earnings management which is information asymmetry between managers and investors. When information asymmetry is high, stakeholders do not have sufficient resources, incentives, or access to relevant information to monitor managers’ actions, which gives rise to earnings management. Empirical results show that the level of information asymmetry index which is the combination of five important Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) relevant proxies (volume of trade, stock price variation, P/E ratio, number of trading days and firm age) has a positive statistically significant effect on the extent of earnings management practiced by companies listed on the TSE

Forces shaping working capital management practices: A preliminary study

This exploratory study is an attempt to identify forces that influence working capital management practices. Focus groups and unstructured interviews were conducted to identify factors influencing decision making process in working capital particularly in complex organizational settings. The qualitative data analysis showed that organizational context played an important role in working capital management practices. Finally, this study develops a number of propositions and future research directions are suggested

The evolution of working capital management research

This study aims to develop an understanding about the evolutionary process of Working Capital Management (WCM) research, explaining WCM in particular environments from the 1900’s until the present. The study discusses relevant studies in the literature, exploring the relevance of models, concepts or frameworks developed to serve managers needs in particular operating environments and speculating future research directions. The evolution of WCM and influencing factors illustrate the integrative nature of WCM, appears to be dynamic as changes in managerial focus would reflect how companies manage WCM components. However, the review reveals that the WCM literature unable to provide relevant information to explain WCM in current environment. The study is particularly value in making sense of WCM research today and likely future directions. The pathway of development while vital for research exposes needs and responds that is fundamental for forecast of future prospects of WCM