Opportunistic financial reporting and credit market participation in municipalities [electronic resource]
出版項
2016
說明
1 online resource (131 p.)
附註
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 77-10(E), Section: A
Adviser: Linda M. Parsons
Thesis (Ph.D.)--The University of Alabama, 2016
Includes bibliographical references
The concept of opportunistic financial reporting (OFR) is similar to earnings management in the corporate sector, but acknowledges several key differences in the governmental sector -- most importantly, (a) most governmental revenues are not "earned" in the traditional sense, and (b) governments follow a unique reporting model, which utilizes both full accrual and modified accrual accounting, resulting in two separate sets of financial statements. In this study, I use a unique dataset of hand-collected financial data from over 200 Californian municipalities over a five-year period (2009-2013) to provide insight into three important aspects of OFR: motivation, methods, and materiality. With respect to motivation, I find that governments are incentivized to use OFR to pursue a breakeven income in both the full accrual and modified accrual financial statements, and that credit market participation significantly influences these activities. With respect to the methods of OFR, I find evidence that municipalities use discretion over accruals, make general fund transfers, and time asset sales opportunistically. With respect to materiality, I find evidence that municipalities are more likely to use OFR to fully avoid reporting a deficit when creditor scrutiny is high. My findings contribute to existing research that examines the association between credit market participation and accounting choices in governments. I also contribute to an emerging stream of research that examines managerial opportunism within the governmental reporting model
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest, 2017
