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The current study aims to investigate the notion of set sequences in the context of fuzzy anti-norm linear space. We define the fuzzy α-anti Wijsman convergence, fuzzy α-anti Wijsman statistical convergence, and fuzzy α-anti Hausdorrf statistical convergence, for 0 < α< 1, and presented some novel examples to support the definitions. Additionally, some original theorems which show how the notions are connected, are established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contemporary Accounting Research is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Contemporary Accounting Research is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Regulators have raised concerns that the current accounting treatment for leases may allow firms to behave opportunistically and that a lack of reporting transparency further raises the risk that operating leases will not be appropriately considered by users of financial statements, potentially resulting in capital misallocation. We examine whether banks incorporate operating leases in their credit assessments through the interest rate charged on loans and whether lease and lessee characteristics affect loan spreads. Our tests exploit the differential explanatory power and model fit of as-reported financial ratios versus lease-adjusted ratios in multivariate regressions of loan spreads. The results support that lease adjusted financial ratios better explain loan spreads, especially for larger lenders and that retailer leases are less relevant for credit risk assessments. We conclude that banks not only price operating leases, on average, but also make distinctions about which leases should be priced. Second, we explore the role of credit rating agencies and confirm that credit ratings also reflect capitalized operating leases and find support for an informational role for others’ credit assessments. Overall, our results suggest that banks and rating agencies adjust for the off-balance sheet presentation of operating leases and, at least in the case of banks, attempt to reflect the underlying economics of the leases. This evidence lessens concern over the potential negative consequences of existing operating lease accounting while it raises concern over proposed accounting that capitalizes all leases regardless of their economic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Financial Statement Balancing Model (FSBM) from Compustat, we examine whether financial statement data articulate for 10,681 U.S. nonfinancial firms for 24 years, a total of 92,951 firm-years. We accomplish three research goals. First, we build the first formal model of financial statement articulation, providing a benchmark for subsequent discussions of articulation. Second, we show how to handle missing data to ensure articulation, by either filling in zeros or inferring the missing data using other variables in the equations. Third, we produce modified variables that resolve exceptions in the articulating equations, so that these variables form relations that are consistent across time and firms. We then compare the "modified database" (MDB) using these updated variables with the original Compustat data, and find significant differences in many commonly used financial variables, such as Altman's Z-score. We believe that our MDB has the potential to help researchers increase sample size and data quality in empirical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To provide evidence on the role macroeconomic uncertainty plays in managers' decision to issue management earnings forecasts (MFs), this study develops and tests hypotheses about how such uncertainty affects the issuance and characteristics of MFs. Macroeconomic uncertainty is measured using the dispersion in GDP forecasts and the CBOE's Volatility Index (VIX). We find that during periods of high macroeconomic uncertainty there is a decrease in the likelihood of MF issuance, consistent with managers assigning a higher cost to releasing forward-looking information as macroeconomic uncertainty increases. We also find that managers issue fewer good and bad news MFs, but more neutral MFs, during periods of high macroeconomic uncertainty. Macroeconomic uncertainty also affects the characteristics of the MFs that managers do issue; for example, managers shift to more earnings preannouncements and to shorter-horizon, but more precise, MFs. Further analysis indicates that the regulatory changes imbedded in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act increased the costs of providing MFs, thereby increasing the sensitivity of MF issuance to macroeconomic uncertainty. The findings provide insight into the role macroeconomic uncertainty plays in managers' decision to issue MFs and the characteristics of the MFs they choose to issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the joint effects of intercompany investing and reporting of equity method investments on the accuracy and dispersion of analysts' annual earningsper- share (EPS) forecasts. We compare firm-year observations with and without equity method investments. We posit two non-mutually exclusive explanations for how equity method investments may affect analyst forecast properties. The Opacity Effect posits that the condensed equity method disclosures increase information asymmetry, increasing analysts' forecast errors and forecast dispersion. The Diversification Effect suggests that the diversification of the investor and its investee earnings streams enhances earnings predictability, decreasing analysts' forecast errors and forecast dispersion. Our findings are consistent with both effects operating in the analyst forecasting task. Additional analyses are consistent with the Opacity Effect dominating. This occurrence results, on net, in less accurate and more dispersed forecasts for firmyears with equity method investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]