The Impact of Carbon Emissions on Asset Values and Operating Cash Flows： Evidence From Australian Listed Companies

In November 2011, the Australian government approved the legislation （Clean Energy Act 2011） to introduce a reduction plan of carbon emissions in Australia. This plan will be implemented from July 2012. This is one of the first accounting studies to investigate the potential impacts of this plan on long-lived asset values and operating cash flows for Australian listed companies. A sample of Australian Securities Exchange （ASX） 200 indexed companies from 2＇006 to 2010 is used. Hypotheses are tested based on Heckman＇s （1979） two-stage approach. Three regression models are developed to examine the association between carbon emissions and asset values/operating cash flows. This study finds that asset values and operating cash flows will be adversely affected, if the reduction plan is implemented. Specifically, this study finds that the book value of long-lived assets will decrease, if listed companies are considered to be emissions-liable. The book value of long-lived assets is further found to be negatively associated with listed companies＇ carbon emission levels. This study also demonstrates that operating cash flows of emissions-liable companies will be adversely affected. However, this study does not find a relationship between operating cash flows and companies＇ emission levels. The empirical findings from Australian listed companies provide the evidence that the reduction plan of carbon emissions will adversely affect corporate entities＇ asset values and operating cash flows. The results further indicate that the magnitude of the impact will be proportional to the companies＇ emission levels. The implications of these empirical findings for listed companies, for the accounting profession, and for carbon emission regulators are also discussed.

The Effect of Net Working Capital on Jordanian Industrial and Energy Sectors＇ Net Cash Flows Employed in Operating Activities

The primary objective of the cash flow statement is to provide useful, meaningful, and relevant information about the cash receipts and cash payments of a firm during a given period of time. Decision makers can achieve extra features of the change in net assets, the firms＇ financial position （liquidity and solvency）, and the firm＇s ability to adapt to changing circumstances by affecting the amount and timing of cash flows. Cash flow statements improve comparability as they are not affected by differing accounting policies used for the same type of transactions or events. This study aims to verify the effect of net working capital （NWC）, as an indicator of a company＇s short-term liquidity or its ability to meet short-term obligations, on Jordanian industrial and energy sectors＇ net operating cash flows （NOCF）. A simple liner regression is used to test a period of 2008-2011 in order to conclude the extent of the effect on industrial and energy sectors. The study showed that there is a significant effect of the independent variable NWC on the dependent variable NOCF among industrial and energy sectors in Jordanian market. Whereas the adjusted R-squared of test is 0.854, changes in NOCF in Jordanian industrial and energy sectors have been described by NWC. Also, the study reached that the utilities and energy sector has the lowest NWC, while the mining and extraction sector has the highest. And, electrical industries sector has the lowest NOCF, while the mining and extraction sector has the highest. Moreover, the study showed that the printing and packaging sector has the lowest NWC, while the mining and extraction sector has the highest. And, glass and ceramic industries sector has the lowest NOCF, while the utilities and energy sector has the highest.

Cash Flow from Operations, Accruals and Earnings Persistency

Persistency of earnings is an important measure of eamings quality. It is generally accepted that the more the persistency is, the higher the quality of earnings is. We analyze the characteristic factors influencing earnings persistency, use data of A-share listed companies during 1998-2004, and find that earnings persistency is significantly related to the nature of earnings, the cash content of earnings and the quality of accruals.

Prediction Ability of Cash Flows, Net Income （NI）, and Auditors

The accounting information should help investors and creditors evaluate the amounts, timing, and uncertainty of firms＇ future cash receipts and disbursements. The Financial Accounting Standards Board （FASB） contends that accrual-based historical earnings are superior to cash flows in predicting future cash flows. But, Bowen, Burgstahler, and Daley （1986） showed that traditional measures of cash flows （net income （NI） plus depreciation and working capital from operations） appear to be better predictors of future cash flows than accrual accounting earnings. Since then, many researchers have articulated the importance of accounting data, especially cash flows and NI, in the predictive and forecasting processes. In this study, we empirically re-examined the ability of cash flows from operating activities （CFO） and accrual-based NI in predicting firms＇ bankruptcy. In the past, the results of this type of research were mixed. Differently from previous research, we focus on the timing of predictive ability, i.e., which indicator, cash flows or NI, is faster in predicting a firm＇s bankruptcy. We also investigate the timing of auditors＇ issuance of a going-concern opinion. The preliminary results show that the accrual-based NI is more accurate and faster than either CFO or audit opinion in predicting firms＇ failures. On average, NI signals a firm＇s bankruptcy 2.41 years before the bankruptcy filing, while CFO signals 1.48 years before filing. Auditors issued a going-concern opinion, another signal for firms＇ failure, to only 16 out of 41 bankrupt firms one year before bankruptcy, and no auditor issued the going-concern opinion two years before bankruptcy.

Earnings Management and Fraudulent Financial Reporting： The Malaysian Story

Earnings management research has a long and rich history. The agency conflict, incentives, rationalization, opportunity plus having the capability among the managers to manipulate the financial statements lead them to commit fraud. The loopholes in the standards or the deviation from real operational activities promote this situation to prolong. In relation to this issue, this study examines the earnings management behavior among fraud firms in Malaysia. Further, this study examines the relationship between accruals earnings management as a proxy variable for discretionary accruals and real earnings management as the proxy variable for discretionary cash flow. Sample of 57 alleged fraud firms was selected based on the fraudulent financial reporting offences announced in Bursa Malaysia website. The sample data are collected from public firms which committed fraud from 2001 to 2013. This study found a significant negative relationship between accruals earnings management and real earnings management among the fraud firms in Malaysia suggesting that these firms aggressively manage earnings downwards or upwards essentially to avoid regulators scrutiny apart from aiming to achieve personal incentives. The study significantly finds evidence that fraud firms manage earnings on a sequential basis between accruals earnings management and real earnings management prior to fraud year. The findings indicate that firms opt for real earnings management and make full use of its distinguished features of not easily traceable to continue managing earnings immediately subsequent to fraud year. This study may assist regulators, auditors, and policymakers to curb earnings management patterns that have high likelihood of becoming part of fraud antecedent.