Three Essays on Financial Statement Comparability

Comparability is a central feature of financial reporting systems. Comparability is defined by FASB (2010, 19) as “the qualitative characteristic that enables users to identify and understand similarities in, and differences among, items.” The Accounting Principles Board ranked comparability as one of the most important objectives of financial reporting and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles have underscored the importance of comparability for the past four decades. Using empirical measures of financial statement comparability, studies confirm that comparability plays an important role in analyst following, audit fees, credit risk, acquisition decisions, stock price volatility, the cost of debt, the cost of equity, and cash holdings. This dissertation, investigates the impact of comparability on trade credit, earnings management through classification shifting, and on non-Big4 auditors. Prior studies find that comparable firms enjoy a lower cost of equity capital and a lower cost of debt. They should, therefore, require less trade credit. I also find that comparable smaller and/or financially distressed firms require less trade credit whereas they normally require higher levels of trade credit. The results presented in my first essay support this hypothesis in that comparability and trade credit are significantly negatively associated. The results presented in my second essay show that managers’ earnings management through classification shifting is significantly influenced by the degree of financial statement comparability with other firms. I also find that comparable firms engage in less classification shifting and that the impact of comparability is more pronounced after the passage of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. The results presented in my third essay show that companies audited by non-Big4 auditors are less comparable than the companies audited by Big4 auditors. Non-Big4 auditors are thus less likely to be able to apply the same audit process to multiple clients. I find that this results in greater audit effort, as proxied by higher audit fees, for Non-Big4 firms

TANGENT BUNDLE ENDOWED WITH QUARTER-SYMMETRIC NON-METRIC CONNECTION ON AN ALMOST HERMITIAN MANIFOLD

In this paper, we have studied the tangent bundle endowed with quarter-symmetric non-metric connection obtained by vertical and complete lifts of a quarter-symmetric non-metric connection on the base manifold and, also, proposed the study of the tangent bundle of an almost Hermitian manifold and an almost Kaehler manifold. Finally, we obtained some theorems for Nijenhuis tensor on the tangent bundle of an almost Hermitian manifold and an almost Kaehler manifold.\

LIFTS OF G(α, β)(3, 2, 1)-STRUCTURES FROM MANIFOLDS TO TANGENT BUNDLES

The aim of the present paper is to explore the lifts of an f(\alpha,\beta)(3; 2; 1)-structure and obtain its partial integrability and integrability conditions on the tangent bundle. Also, the prolongation of an f(\alpha,\beta)(3; 2; 1)-structure on the third tangent bundle T3M is studied

TANGENT BUNDLES ENDOWED WITH SEMI-SYMMETRIC NON-METRIC CONNECTION ON A RIEMANNIAN MANIFOLD

The differential geometry of the tangent bundle is an effective domain of differential geometry which reveals many new problems in the study of modern differential geometry. The generalization of connection on any manifold to its tangent bundle is an application of differential geometry. Recently a new type of semi-symmetric non-metric connection on a Riemannian manifold is studied and established a relationship between Levi-Civita connection and semi-symmetric non-metric connection. The various properties of a Riemannian manifold with relation to such connection are also discussed. The present paper aims to study the tangent bundle of a new type of semi-symmetric non-metric connection on a Riemannian manifold. The necessary and sufficient conditions for projectively invariant curvature tensors corresponding to such connection are proved and show many basic results on the Riemannian manifold in the tangent bundle. Furthermore, the properties of group manifolds of the Riemannian manifolds with respect to the semi-symmetric non-metric connection in the tangent bundle are studied.Moreover, theorems on the symmetry property of Ricci tensor and Ricci soliton in the tangent bundle are established

Inter-firm Relationships and Performance Factors in the Australian Beef Supply Chain: Implications for the Stakeholders

Recent study by Meat & Livestock Australia revealed that cost competitiveness and market development issues in supply chain are the major factors for a long term decline of the Australian Beef industry. This study, based on the explanation of transaction cost theory argues that competitive performance of an industry depends on improving cost efficiency across the whole of supply chain, the underlying value chain, and the relationship among the stakeholders in the industry. With a main objective to investigate the underlying factors of developing competent inter-firm relationship that influence the supply chain performance and competitiveness, this study presents details of a survey carried out and tests the hypothesis that inter-organizational relationships in supply chain and its antecedents have impact on the performance of Australian beef industry and thus have impact on the competitiveness of the industry. Data were collected through a telephone survey of 315 firms in the beef industry from the states of Western Australia and Queensland. The sample respondents were categorized as input suppliers, beef-cattle producers, processors, retailers/exporters, and wholesalers. The data were analysed using the partial least square based structural equation modelling. PLS analysis reveals that ‘Transaction Climate’ is the strongest determinants of developing a competent relationship, while negotiation power, presence of industry competitors, and the degree of vertical coordination significantly influence the relationship strength. Findings also demonstrate that relationship strength is the most prevalent source of performance and competitiveness, while SC performance highly positively influences the Competitiveness of beef industry. Thus this study identifies significant antecedents and consequences of Supply Chain Performance in Australian beef industry, which are strategic and extremely important information for beef producers, processors, retailers, and other stakeholders for appropriate planning and benchmarking.Beef Supply Chain, Agribusiness Management, Supply Chain Management, Agribusiness,

An investigation of thermal behaviour of a machine tool on the dimensional accuracy of parts

The thermal condition of machine tools can profoundly affect the dimensional accuracy of manufactured parts. Consequently, reducing its influence has become increasingly important to modern manufacturing. One of the most convenient and effective ways to reduce thermal error and enhance working accuracy is volumetric error compensation, especially for CNC machine tools. However, currently available compensation methods are highly complicated and difficult to apply in industry. They require a high-precision laser interferometer to measure 21 geometric error components and numerous thermocouples to monitor temperature variations. These requirements make such techniques costly and time consuming. This paper describes the development of a simplified and economical method of compensating for thermally induced errors. Compensation is implemented on the basis of only three axial positioning errors, which are assumed to be functions of ball screw nut temperature and travel distance. Instead of an expensive laser interferometer and many thermocouples, a simple laser Doppler displacement meter and only three thermocouples are required for the proposed method. Results show good agreement between measured and predicted thermally induced errors

Feasibility Study of Adopting Minimal Quantities of Lubrication for End Milling Aluminium

End milling is a very common metal cutting process used for the machining of most types of metal. The process is inherently intermittent causing the tool tip edge to constantly fluctuate between various levels of temperatures, specifically from cold to 300oC when cutting Al alloy. During dry end milling cutting temperatures need to remain within the design specifications of the tool tip. Even working with Al alloy the tool tip is subjected to thermal cyclic stresses. Conventional wisdom states that it is essential to use flood cooling during end milling, as intermittent cooling increases the effect of thermal shock and build up edge. Al alloy - unlike other materials - needs cutting fluid to avoid smearing the insert edges and to improve the surface finish. Modern machining companies constantly face the challenges of environmental issues that affect the manufacturing costs of machined parts. New environmental manufacturing techniques need to be developed for companies to remain competitive in the future. The research presented in this paper represents the experimentation involved in determining a suitable environmental alternative to using copious amounts of cutting fluid during end milling of Al alloy. Previous experimental evaluation of Minimal Quantities of Lubrication (MQL) when applied to the machining of Al alloy has proved to be inconclusive

Application of A Newly Developed Thermally Induced Volumetric Error Compensation Model in Improving Dimensional Accuracy of Parts

The thermally induced volumetric error of a machine tool has been recognised as a major contributor to the dimensional and geometric errors of component parts produced by that tool. Therefore, considerable research has focused on ways to compensate for this type of error. The traditional model of compensation for the thermally induced volumetric error of a three-axis machine tool requires the measurement of 21 geometric error components and their variations with temperature, which is difficult and time-consuming to conduct. In our previous research, we developed a simplified and economical method of compensation of thermally induced volumetric error by modeling the positioning error as functions of ball-screw nut temperature and travel distance. This paper describes the application of this newly developed compensation model in improving the dimensional accuracy of parts. The model was applied to reduce the positioning error of a number of drilled holes. The results showed an average reduction of absolute and relative errors by 30.44 µm and 77%, respectively