IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/joares/v54y2016i3p827-861.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Explaining Rules‐Based Characteristics in U.S. GAAP: Theories and Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • DAIN C. DONELSON
  • JOHN MCINNIS
  • RICHARD D. MERGENTHALER

Abstract

Despite debate on the desirability of rules‐based standards, no studies provide evidence on why accounting standards take on rules‐based characteristics. We identify and test five theories from prior research (litigation risk, constraining opportunism, complexity, transaction frequency, and age) that could explain why some U.S. accounting standards contain rules‐based characteristics. Litigation risk and complexity are most consistently related to cross‐sectional and time‐series variation in rules‐based characteristics. We find more limited evidence that frequent transactions, age, and desires by regulators to constrain opportunistic reporting are related to rules‐based standards. We note, however, that our findings are necessarily descriptive because standards arise endogenously from market and political forces, limiting causal interpretation. Further, it is difficult to perfectly separate rules‐based characteristics of the standard from both the complexity of the standard and the characteristics of the underlying transaction, including the complexity of the transaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Dain C. Donelson & John Mcinnis & Richard D. Mergenthaler, 2016. "Explaining Rules‐Based Characteristics in U.S. GAAP: Theories and Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 827-861, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:joares:v:54:y:2016:i:3:p:827-861
    DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12112
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.12112
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1475-679X.12112?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. S.P. Kothari & Karthik Ramanna & Douglas J. Skinner, 2009. "Implications for GAAP from an Analysis of Positive Research in Accounting," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-137, Harvard Business School, revised Sep 2010.
    2. Demerjian, Peter R., 2011. "Accounting standards and debt covenants: Has the “balance sheet approach” led to a decline in the use of balance sheet covenants?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 178-202.
    3. Isaac Ehrlich & Richard A. Posner, 1974. "An Economic Analysis of Legal Rulemaking," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 257-286, January.
    4. Oliver Hart, 2009. "Regulation and Sarbanes‐Oxley," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 437-445, May.
    5. Basu, Sudipta, 1997. "The conservatism principle and the asymmetric timeliness of earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 3-37, December.
    6. Ray Ball, 2009. "Market and Political/Regulatory Perspectives on the Recent Accounting Scandals," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 277-323, May.
    7. Ross Watts, 2006. "What has the invisible hand achieved?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(S1), pages 51-61.
    8. Kothari, S.P. & Ramanna, Karthik & Skinner, Douglas J., 2010. "Implications for GAAP from an analysis of positive research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 246-286, December.
    9. Glenn Ellison & Richard Holden, 2014. "A Theory of Rule Development," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 30(4), pages 649-682.
    10. Collins, Daniel W. & Maydew, Edward L. & Weiss, Ira S., 1997. "Changes in the value-relevance of earnings and book values over the past forty years," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 39-67, December.
    11. AC Pritchard, 2007. "Do the Merits Matter More? The Impact of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(3), pages 627-652, October.
    12. Bertomeu, Jeremy & Magee, Robert P., 2011. "From low-quality reporting to financial crises: Politics of disclosure regulation along the economic cycle," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 209-227.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ahsan, A.F.M. Mainul & Bose, Sudipta & Ali, Muhammad Jahangir, 2024. "Does Islamic religiosity influence professional accountants' judgments? Evidence from global convergence of IFRS," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Li, Dan & Xia, Ying, 2021. "Gauging the effects of stock liquidity on earnings management: Evidence from the SEC tick size pilot test," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. David Folsom & Paul Hribar & Richard D. Mergenthaler & Kyle Peterson, 2017. "Principles-Based Standards and Earnings Attributes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(8), pages 2592-2615, August.
    4. Pinto, Inês & Morais, Ana Isabel & Quick, Reiner, 2020. "The impact of the precision of accounting standards on the expanded auditor’s report in the European Union," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    5. Marc Badia & Miguel Duro & Bjorn N. Jorgensen & Gaizka Ormazabal & Hans B. Christensen, 2020. "The Informational Effects of Tightening Oil and Gas Disclosure Rules," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 1720-1755, September.
    6. Henry L. Friedman & Mirko S. Heinle, 2020. "Influence Activities, Coalitions, and Uniform Policies: Implications for the Regulation of Financial Institutions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(9), pages 4336-4358, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brandon Gipper & Brett J Lombardi & Douglas J Skinner, 2013. "The politics of accounting standard-setting: A review of empirical research," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 38(3), pages 523-551, December.
    2. Jiang, John (Xuefeng) & Wang, Isabel Yanyan & Wangerin, Daniel D., 2018. "How does the FASB make decisions? A descriptive study of agenda-setting and the role of individual board members," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 30-46.
    3. Dan Givoly & Carla Hayn & Sharon Katz, 2017. "The changing relevance of accounting information to debt holders over time," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 64-108, March.
    4. Hans B. Christensen & Valeri V. Nikolaev, 2017. "Contracting on GAAP Changes: Large Sample Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(5), pages 1021-1050, December.
    5. Richard Barker & Anne McGeachin, 2015. "An Analysis of Concepts and Evidence on the Question of Whether IFRS Should be Conservative," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 51(2), pages 169-207, June.
    6. Araceli Mora & Martin Walker, 2015. "The implications of research on accounting conservatism for accounting standard setting," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(5), pages 620-650, August.
    7. Stephen Taylor & Alex Tong, 2023. "How important are semi‐annual earnings announcements? An information event perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3585-3607, September.
    8. Baylis, Richard M. & Burnap, Peter & Clatworthy, Mark A. & Gad, Mahmoud A. & Pong, Christopher K.M., 2017. "Private lenders’ demand for audit," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 78-97.
    9. Bandyopadhyay, Sati P. & Chen, Changling & Wolfe, Mindy, 2017. "The predictive ability of investment property fair value adjustments under IFRS and the role of accounting conservatism," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-14.
    10. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    11. Scott D. Dyreng & Rahul Vashishtha & Joseph Weber, 2017. "Direct Evidence on the Informational Properties of Earnings in Loan Contracts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 371-406, May.
    12. Rolf Uwe Fülbier & Thorsten Sellhorn, 2023. "Understanding and improving the language of business: How accounting and corporate reporting research can better serve business and society," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(6), pages 1089-1124, August.
    13. Amneh Alkurdi & Munther Al-Nimer & Mohammad Dabaghia, 2017. "Accounting Conservatism and Ownership Structure Effect: Evidence from Industrial and Financial Jordanian Listed Companies," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(2), pages 608-619.
    14. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    15. Ettredge, Michael & Huang, Ying & Zhang, Weining, 2012. "Earnings restatements and differential timeliness of accounting conservatism," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 489-503.
    16. Biondi Yuri, 2011. "The Pure Logic of Accounting: A Critique of the Fair Value Revolution," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 1-49, January.
    17. Anagnostopoulou, Seraina C. & Tsekrekos, Andrianos E. & Voulgaris, Georgios, 2021. "Accounting conservatism and corporate social responsibility," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    18. Peter R. Demerjian & John Donovan & Chad R. Larson, 2016. "Fair Value Accounting and Debt Contracting: Evidence from Adoption of SFAS 159," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1041-1076, September.
    19. Henry Jarva, 2014. "Economic consequences of SFAS 142 goodwill write-offs," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(1), pages 211-235, March.
    20. Paul André & Andrei Filip & Luc Paugam, 2013. "Impact of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Conditional Conservatism in Europe," Working Papers hal-00862683, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:joares:v:54:y:2016:i:3:p:827-861. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-8456 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.