Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the incremental value relevance of cash flow from operations (CFO) given book value and earnings. It also examines the relative value relevance of earnings and CFO and changes therein between the 2008-2009 global financial crisis (GFC) and the pre-crisis period (PCP). Design/methodology/approach -Least square regressions are estimated using modified Ohlson model to examine the research questions. Relative and incremental value relevance is examined by adjusted R 2 and Vuong Z statistics. Findings -The findings suggest that CFO has value relevance incremental to book value and earnings. The findings also suggest that earnings has greater relative and incremental information content than CFO in the Australian market. The value relevance of earnings has increased and that of CFO has decreased during the GFC compared to the PCP. Research limitations/implications -This study focuses on a single country. Future studies can conduct cross-country examination of the impact of the GFC on the value relevance of earnings and CFO. Practical implications -This study contributes to the debate on the value relevance of CFO incremental to book value and earnings. It also extends the literature, showing that earnings has information content (value relevance) superior to CFO in the Australian market even during an economy-wide exogenous shock like the one of the 2008-2009 GFC. Originality/value -This is the first known study examining the value relevance of fundamental accounting information such as earnings and CFO in the context of the 2008-2009 GFC. It extends prior research in East Asian countries in the context of 1997 Asian financial crisis and provides evidence on the impact of a world-wide exogenous shock on the value relevance of earnings and CFO from a relatively mature and developed country with different legal, institutional and enforcement backgrounds.

This paper presents the results of a complex but challenging investigation into the global power play at the United Nations (UN) over the issue of international accounting regulation. It specifically attempts to explain why the host developing nations of most transnational corporations (TNCs), despite controlling a significant majority vote at the UN and thus possessing the necessary “political” power, conspicuously failed to impose their accounting disclosure agenda on the TNCs and on the (minority) developed nations. The political concept of power is used in examining the accounting standard setting process at the UN, in the context of regulatory reforms of the TNCs. While alternative models of power are considered, Robert Dahl’s decision‐oriented pluralistic model was adopted in the study because it proved to be the most consistent with the events, objectives and the empirical data presented. The research findings indicate that organized pressures from the TNCs, co‐ordinated under the joint forum of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), coupled with the economic and diplomatic manoeuvring of the developed market economy nations, had succeeded in overriding the rule of “one‐nation‐one‐vote” and securing a de facto veto over the majority view at the UN. The pioneering efforts of the UN in setting international reporting standards had been curbed and frustrated through the construction and use of such “veto” by the minority representation.

Purpose – This study aims to examine the impact of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis (GFC) on Australian firms' compliance with IFRS 36/AASB 136 for goodwill impairment testing. It also examines the factors associated with the cross-sectional variations in the compliance levels. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a survey of disclosure notes in companies' annual reports, firm-level compliance scores were developed and further analysed applying quantitative statistical methods. Findings – The findings suggest that firms' compliance has increased during the GFC compared to the PCP. There was no significant intra-period change in the compliance levels during the PCP. Firms belonging to goodwill intensive industries show greater compliance levels than firms in other industries. Audit quality is also a significant determinant of firms' compliance with IFRS for goodwill impairment testing. Goodwill intensity is a significant determinant of firms' compliance level during the GFC but not during the PCP. Firm size is associated with the compliance levels when the industry effects are not controlled for. When the industry effects are controlled for, the effect of size on firms' compliance levels disappears. Profitability is also associated with firms' compliance with IFRS for goodwill impairment testing. However, firms' leverage ratio is not significantly associated with compliance levels. Originality/value – This is the first known study to examine the issue of compliance with IFRS for goodwill impairment testing in the context of the GFC and the PCP.

On 4 March 1997, the Department of Treasury of the Australian Government announced sweeping measures to reform standard setting arrangements in Australia (CLERP Paper No.1, Commonwealth of Australia, 1997). The Government's agenda is profoundly reformist as it recommended the wholesale adoption of International Accounting Standards by Australian reporting entities, as well as advocating the introduction of market (selling) price accounting both nationally and internationally. While the notion of market value accounting is not new, this recommendation appears to be a historical first from a government, regulatory or standard setting body. Against this background, our study draws on a framework of ‘political agenda building’ proposed by Cobb and Elder (1972) and Cobb et al. (1976), in order to compare and contrast the competing standard setting reform agendas adopted by the Australian accounting profession and the Government. Using the Cobb and Elder framework, we discuss potential reasons why the CLERP agenda has supplanted that of the Australian accounting profession as well as some implications of these developments for the future of standards harmonization.

The early years are seen as a crucial period for the survival of ventures and yet only a limited number of studies have focused on successful new ventures when studying capital structure. Furthermore, only a few studies have included longitudinal data, tracking ventures over time, or have elaborated on the difference between short-term and long-term debt ratios when studying capital structure. In this paper, hypotheses are developed, based on capital structure theories and literature on new venture financing, and are tested on longitudinal empirical data. Results of multivariate analysis, through structural equation modeling, reveals that: (1) asset structure assists in explaining the variance in capital structure;(2) explained variance in dependent variables is decreasing for each of the four years studied; and (3) multi-group analysis reveals that the determinants influence short-term and long-term debt differently in the first four years of venture existence. Implications of this study suggest that determinants of capital structure in new ventures require theorizing of its own and demand special attention in entrepreneurial policy-making. Keywords: Capital structure; new ventures; entrepreneurship; financing; longitudinal study. 277 J. Dev. Entrepreneurship 2006.11:277-296. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com by UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND LIBRARY -SERIALS UNIT on 03/15/15. For personal use only. 278 D. Örtqvist et al.grow and become established. The study investigates financing decisions by analyzing the influences of capital structure determinants over several years in the context of new ventures, as opposed to small and medium enterprises (henceforth SMEs) or large established firms. Finally, this study separates short-and long-term debt ratio when studying the determinants of capital structure. This approach can further advance our understanding of the determinants of capital structure.The risk-return balance represented by the capital structure is critical in any business. However, it is more crucial in the case of new ventures as they often struggle to survive with very low or no income or revenue in the first few years. For this reason, we argue that this study on capital structure determinants of new ventures is important. Furthermore, understanding how capital structures evolve in new ventures undoubtedly has practical implication as it may help us advance our understanding of the reasons for the high mortality rate of new ventures. Any pattern of capital structure associated with potential mortality may then be addressed and possibly avoided. Extending knowledge about the determinants of capital structure in new ventures can then improve the situation for practicing and future entrepreneurs, their stakeholders and the research community.The importance of new ventures to an economy has been well-established in the literature. New ventures have shown great potential in providing employment and long-term economic growth (Romer, 1986;Sutton, 1997;Fritsch and Mueller, 2004). We suggest that studies of capi...