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Acquisitions analysis for media and entertainment industry
(2023-06-30) Σκλαβούνος, Σταμάτιος; Sklavounos, Stamatios; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Doukakis, Leonidas; Karatzimas, Sotirios; Siougle, Georgia
Η παρούσα εργασία πραγματεύεται το θέμα των Εξαγορών και Συγχωνεύσεων. Επιχειρεί να δώσει μια ολοκληρωμένη προσέγγιση των Ε&Σ με θεωρητική αναφορά και ανάλυση περίπτωσης δυο μεγάλων παγκόσμιων συγχωνεύσεων
Bankruptcy prediction models
(2023-01-31) Μπαλογιάννη, Ευθυμία-Ελένη; Balogianni, Efthimia-Eleni; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of International European Economic Studies; Pagratis, Spyros; Topaloglou, Nikolaos; Siougle, Georgia
Η παρούσα εργασία στοχεύει να εξετάσει και να αναλύσει τα παρακάτω: εάν τα μοντέλα πρόβλεψης πτώχευσης μπορούν να προβλέψουν με ακρίβεια τη χρεοκοπία και, επίσης, εάν ο αριθμός των πτωχεύσεων αυξήθηκε λόγω της περιόδου του Covid. Οι ευρωπαϊκές επιχειρήσεις που λειτουργούσαν και αυτές που είχαν αποτύχει ερευνήθηκαν προκειμένου να δοθούν οι απαντήσεις. Οι τράπεζες και οι ασφαλιστικές επιχειρήσεις παραλείφθηκαν από το δείγμα. Η παρούσα έρευνα χρησιμοποιεί μη ισορροπημένο δείγμα με βάση την πραγματική αναλογία πτωχευμένων-ενεργών επιχειρήσεων για τα έτη 2009-2018 και 2018-2020.
Corporate mergers: capital structure and post-merger performance
(2021) Georgiou, Ioannis; Γεωργίου, Ιωάννης; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Doukakis, Leonidas; Demirakos, Efthymios; Siougle, Georgia
Considered to be an extremely important component of corporate finance and a factor with major impact on corporate performance and profitability, capital structure is an aspect expected to report changes before, during and after major corporate events such as Mergers and Acquisitions. Any decision and adjustment of capital structure may have an unprecedent impact on a company’s performance or even its existence. Literature of corporate structure has related adjustment of capital structure to corporate business performance. This paper aims to examine the effect of adjustments on capital structure, through changes on leverage and adjustments on leverage deficit, on the financial performance of acquiring companies listed in the U.S. stock market. Out of all companies that engaged in M&A activity during 2006 and 2015, we have chosen the 415 acquirers with the biggest M&A deals. The sample at hand was selected to cast away limitations such as lack of financial data and non-published M&A information. To measure the financial performance of the firms, the Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA) ratios were deployed as indicators and consider our independent variables to be the changes on leverage and adjustments on leverage deficit. The analysis was conducted through the Tobin’s Analysis, also known as a censored regression model, during the pre-merger year as well as five years after the completion of the merger. Our results show that changes on leverage have a negative effect on both short term and long-term business performance after the merger. Also, we find that companies that sustain higher levels of financial flexibility report better post-merger performance. Moreover, our findings indicate that companies that move closer to their target ratio of leverage achieve better performance. Finally, we conclude that financial flexibility is indeed more important to acquirers on the long-run and lower levels of leverage seem to move companies to better business performance.
The differential effect of M&As on corporate performance: evidence from Eurozone
Gkikopoulos, Spyridon; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Siougle, Georgia
This thesis examines the effect of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on corporate performance, on a sample of 37 M&As in Eurozone between 2009 and 2013. The analysis is founded on comparisons of the corporate performance of merged firms versus a sample of non- merged firms between the pre- and post- acquisition period, using the quasi- experimental “Difference-in-Differences” methodology. I employ two earnings based and two cash flow based performance indicators, to examine how sensitive the estimated differential effect is to the type of performance metric and deflator. Moreover, i combine Difference-in-Differences with Propensity Score Matching, to control for the risk of selecting an unrepresentative sample of non- merged firms. I provide evidence that M&As improve the corporate performance of the combined firms and directly benefit the shareholders. Profitability measures, (a) return on equity and (b) return on assets, are found to increase significantly for merged firms relative to their non- merged industry counterparts in the post- acquisition period. Operating cash flow metrics, (c) operating cash flow return and (d) operating cash flow to total assets, also show that M&As have a positive differential effect on corporate performance, although weak. Further exploration of the increased efficiency of the combined companies in the post- acquisition period, shows that the improvements are due to increased accrual earnings rather than enhanced asset productivity. However, the market value of the combined entities increases significantly in the post- acquisition period, indicating that markets view M&As as value- adding transactions.
The effect of hedging on firm value: evidence from Greece
(2021-12-23) Trampas, Dimitrios; Τράμπας, Δημήτριος; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Doukakis, Leonidas; Demirakos, Efthymios; Siougle, Georgia
The purpose of this research is to investigate as to what extent the use of financial derivatives for hedging affects the value of a firm. Derivatives are multi-purposed financial instruments used by firms and individuals for speculation, arbitrage, and risk management. In recent years, the financial derivatives markets have experienced exponential growth. The global outstanding volume has increased by approximately 600% from the end of 1999 to 2021. The rapid growth of the financial derivatives markets as well as their complex nature has contributed to their increased popularity among firms. Managers engage in the use of such instruments to minimize risk hoping that an increase in firm value may result. Over the years researchers have attempted to explain the effect of the use of financial derivatives for hedging on firm value. While some corporate finance theories and empirical studies argue that there is in fact a positive correlation between the two, others find contradicting evidence. Most of the empirical studies on the topic base their analysis on data gathered from nonfinancial firms that operate in large developed markets given the vast availability of information on derivatives, while little attention has been paid to the firms of the emerging economies. This research focuses on the effects of hedging on the values of firms that operate in the Greek economic environment. The sample used, comprises of both financial and nonfinancial firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, with observations from an 11-year period. We propose three measures of firm value and consequently three regression models to test our hypothesis, after controlling for several factors that influence value. Consistent with the existing literature, one of three proxies for firm value is Tobin’s Q. We find no evidence in support of the argument that hedging is a value-increasing activity for firms.
The effects of IFRS on investment decisions
(2018-03-07) Kapellas, Konstantinos A.; Καπέλλας, Κωνσταντίνος Α.; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Ghicas, Dimitrios; Ballas, Apostolos; Papadaki, Afroditi; Xevas, Dimosthenis; Demirakos, Efthimios; Tzovas, Christos; Siougle, Georgia
This thesis studies the relation between the financial reporting framework after IFRS adoption and investment decisions. This thesis is structured around three parts the first part (1st) contains academic literature review in the area of financial reporting practices and investment decisions and the second part (2nd) in the area of the effects of IFRS adoption (the change in financial reporting system) on investment management. The third part (3rd) of this thesis is the empirical research on the effects of IFRS adoption in investment decisions in terms of financial reporting quality, cost of equity capital, return on invested capital, and level of new investments. Additionally the third part studies the effects under crisis and non-crisis economic conditions. The empirical research is focused on European evidence and especially on Eurozone countries.The motivation of this research is based on that corporate investment is a fundamental determinant for future sustainability and growth. The extent to which IFRS adoption does affect corporate investment is essential to our understanding of how financial reporting impact real economic activity and especially focusing on investments on operating assets.
The effects of M&As on acquirer's pre and post company performance
(2022-02-25) Antonopoulos, Nikolaos; Αντωνόπουλος, Νικόλαος; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Siougle, Georgia; Demirakos, Efthymios; Spyrou, Spyros
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are a global business strategy allowing organizations to enter new potential markets or new business sectors. M&As can have a significant effect on the performance of both the participating companies. In this work, we focus on full acquisitions, and we study how the acquisition affects the performance of the acquiror company. We constraint our study to the sector of Oil &Gas and in the geographical region of North America (i.e., USA, Canada). Towards that goal, we investigated the acquirors’ performance utilizing a number of financial indices such as return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), earnings per share,net profit margin, etc. We employed statistical analysis methods (i.e., test hypothesis) and regression techniques to assess the impact of these indices on the companies’ performance. Through our analysis, we found that both ROA and ROE increased, on average, after the acquisition took place, thus supporting the hypothesis that acquisition have a positive impact on the companies’ performance.Our results are in line with existing research on the subject. The thesis concludes with a discussion of advantages and potential limitations of our findings.
ESG and ESGC scores impact on stock returns of firms in STOXX Europe 600 index
(2022-09) Margonis, Konstantinos-Raphail; Μαργώνης, Κωνσταντίνος-Ραφαήλ; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Karatzimas, Sotirios; Vlismas, Orestes; Siougle, Georgia
Η παρούσα μελέτη παρουσιάζει τις επιπτώσεις των βαθμολογιών ESG στις αποδόσεις των μετοχών του δείκτη STOXX Europe 600 για την περίοδο επτά ετών (2015-2021). Επισημαίνονται τα σημαντικότερα γεγονότα στην αγορά κατά τη διάρκεια αυτής της περιόδου, αποτελούμενα κυρίως από την πανδημία Covid-19 και ελαφρώς από τις επιπτώσεις του ενεργειακού κόστους. Η βιβλιογραφία που εμπλέκεται στην παρούσα μελέτη περιστρέφεται γύρω από την υπόθεση ότι οι μετοχές με υψηλή βαθμολογία ESG θα υπεραποδίδουν έναντι εκείνων με χαμηλή βαθμολογία ESG, στο πλαίσιο της απόδοσης. Το δείγμα αποτελείται από 592 επιχειρήσεις που περιλαμβάνονται στον δείκτη STOXX Europe 600, οι οποίες έχουν υποβληθεί σε μια διαδικασία διαλογής και τελικά χωρίστηκαν σε δύο ομάδες. Στην παρούσα μελέτη, η προσέγγιση αντανακλά τη σχέση των αποδόσεων των μετοχών με τις δύο βαθμολογίες, ESG και ESG με αντιπαραθέσεις (Controversies), και τα αποτελέσματα παρουσιάζονται για κάθε περίπτωση. Η μέθοδος διαλογής κατηγοριοποιεί τις επιχειρήσεις με βάση τις βαθμολογίες με τις οποίες αυτές αξιολογούνται. Στην περίπτωση μιας βαθμολογίας ESG ή βαθμολογίας ESGC υψηλότερη από τον μέσο όρο του δείγματος, οι επιχειρήσεις χαρακτηρίζονται ως υψηλού ESG ή υψηλού ESGC, αντίστοιχα, ενώ οι επιχειρήσεις που έχουν βαθμολογία χαμηλότερη από τον μέσο όρο είναι χαμηλού ESG ή χαμηλού ESGC. Στο δείγμα βάσει του ESG που χρησιμοποιήθηκε στη μελέτη, υπάρχουν 202 επιχειρήσεις με υψηλό ESG και 175 επιχειρήσεις με χαμηλό ESG, ενώ στο δείγμα με βάση το ESGC υπάρχουν 206 επιχειρήσεις με υψηλό ESGC και 171 επιχειρήσεις με χαμηλό ESGC. Σημειώνεται ότι, οι βαθμολογίες ESG εξάγονται με βάση την πλατφόρμα Refinitiv Datastream και παρέχονται από την Datasteam. Κατά την εξέταση της υπόθεσης, εφαρμόστηκαν μοντέλα γραμμικής παλινδρόμησης για να δικαιολογηθεί εάν υπάρχει συσχέτιση μεταξύ των βαθμολογιών και των αντίστοιχων αποδόσεων των μετοχών των επιχειρήσεων. Τα αποτελέσματα και τα σχόλια της κάθε υπο-μελέτης παρουσιάζονται αναλυτικά σε αντιπαραβολή με τους αντίστοιχους πίνακες. Εκτός από τα μοντέλα γραμμικής παλινδρόμησης μεταξύ δύο μόνο συνιστωσών, δηλαδή των βαθμολογιών και των αποδόσεων των μετοχών, υπήρξε μια πιο εκτεταμένη ανάλυση με την προσθήκη στο μείγμα δύο μεταβλητών ελέγχου. Οι μεταβλητές αυτές είναι η μερισματική απόδοση και ο δείκτης τιμής προς κέρδη (P/E). Το αποτέλεσμα των μοντέλων παλινδρόμησης χρησιμοποιείται για τον καθορισμό των συμπερασμάτων της μελέτης και αναδεικνύει ορισμένες πτυχές της ανάλυσης που πρέπει να εξεταστούν περαιτέρω. Στην παρούσα μελέτη, τα κύρια συμπεράσματα καταλήγουν στη μη σημαντικότητα των βαθμολογιών ESG και των βαθμολογιών ESGC ως προς τις αποδόσεις των μετοχών, στην ευρωπαϊκή αγορά. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, τα περισσότερα από τα μοντέλα παλινδρομησης δεν έγιναν αποδεκτά, καθώς οι μηδενική υπόθεση δεν μπορούσε να απορριφθεί και, ως εκ τούτου, τα μοντέλα δε μπορούσαν να χρησιμοποιηθούν περαιτέρω για την εξαγωγή πληροφοριών. Τα μοντέλα που έγιναν αποδεκτά αντιπροσωπεύουν ένα μικρό κλάσμα των δεδομένων, οπότε ως τελικό συμπέρασμα προέκυψε η ασημαντότητα της σχέσης μεταξύ των αποδόσεων των μετοχών και της βαθμολογίας ESG και ESGC. Τα ευρήματα της μελέτης συνεπάγονται την περαιτέρω διερεύνηση του θέματος με την χρήση περισσότερων μεταβλητών ελέγχου για την εξισορρόπηση του μοντέλου παλινδρόμησης, και αφήνουν, επίσης, περιθώρια για περισσότερο εξελιγμένη ποσοτική ανάλυση των βαθμολογιών ESG. Η έλλειψη συνοχής των ESG βαθμολογιών, που απορρέει από τις διαφορετικές αναλύσεις και τις διαφορετικές πλατφόρμες δημοσίευσης δυσκολεύουν το έργο της ακαδημαϊκής κοινότητας. Η ύπαρξη ενός συστήματος αξιολόγησης ESG που είναι αποδεκτό παγκοσμίως θα μπορούσε να οδηγήσει τις μελέτες σε μια σημαντική ανακάλυψη σχετικά με την πραγματική συσχέτιση του ESG και της οικονομικής απόδοσης των μετοχών.
How does crude future price imply bunker & LNG imports prices: cointegration & forecasting analysis
Τσιγάρα, Μαρία; Tsigara, Maria; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Chalevas, Constantinos; Tzovas, Christos; Siougle, Georgia
Στόχος αυτής της μελέτης είναι να αξιολογήσει τη συσχέτιση των συμβολαίων μελλοντικής εκπλήρωσης αργού πετρελαίου με τις τιμές φυσικού αερίου και τις τιμές των bunkers . Το σκεπτικό αυτής της έρευνας ήταν να εξεταστεί εάν τα συμβόλαια μελλοντικής εκπλήρωσης αργού πετρελαίου είναι ένα ακριβές μέσο αντιστάθμισης κινδύνου έναντι ανεπιθύμητων διακυμάνσεων της τιμής των καύσιμων συσχέτισης. Χρησιμοποιήθηκαν δεδομένα LNG από τις τιμές εισαγωγών τεσσάρων χωρών (Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο, Ρωσία, Νορβηγία και Ισπανία), και δεδομένα τιμών από τα ναυτιλιακά καύσιμα από το λιμάνι Ρότερνταμ. Όσον αφορά τα συμβόλαια μελλοντικής εκπλήρωσης αργού πετρελαίου, για τους υπολογισμούς χρησιμοποιήθηκαν τα ICE Brent και Nymex. Στο πρώτο βήμα της διπλωματικής πραγματοποιήθηκε ανάλυση συσχέτισης με δοκιμές Johansen. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι υπάρχει επαρκές επίπεδο συσχέτισης και μακροπρόθεσμη σχέση σε αυτές τις χρονοσειρές μεταξύ των τιμών του crude oil και των τιμών των ναυτιλιακών καύσιμων και των εισαγωγών LNG. Στο δεύτερο μέρος δημιουργήθηκε ένα μοντέλο πρόβλεψης που προσπαθεί να παρουσιάσει τα στοιχεία των τιμών των καύσιμων μέχρι το τέλος του 2023. Ωστόσο, η τεράστια αστάθεια αυτών των εμπορευμάτων έχει επηρεάσει αρνητικά την προγνωστική ικανότητα του μοντέλου που προτάθηκε μέσω αυτής της μελέτης.
Market reactions to merger announcements: an econometric study on volatility and stock performance
(2024-12-09) Αλαμάνας, Θεόδωρος; Alamanas, Theodoros; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Doukakis, Leonidas; Papadaki, Afroditi; Siougle, Georgia
Η μελέτη αυτή χρησιμοποιεί οικονομετρικά μοντέλα, όπως το OLS και το GARCH, για να αναλύσει τις αντιδράσεις της αγοράς στις ανακοινώσεις συγχωνεύσεων, εστιάζοντας στη μεταβλητότητα και την απόδοση των μετοχών. Η μελέτη εξετάζει πώς διαφορετικοί οργανισμοί από διάφορους κλάδους αντιδρούν σε σημαντικές χρηματοοικονομικές μεταβλητές που επηρεάζουν τις αποδόσεις των μετοχών. Τα αποτελέσματα δείχνουν ότι οι τιμές των μετοχών αντιδρούν σημαντικά στις ανακοινώσεις συγχωνεύσεων, με τη μεταβλητότητα μετά την ανακοίνωση να αυξάνεται, όπως προβλέπει το μοντέλο GARCH. Τα ευρήματα καταδεικνύουν ότι οι ανακοινώσεις συγχωνεύσεων επηρεάζουν ουσιαστικά τη συμπεριφορά της αγοράς, συχνά οδηγώντας σε αυξημένη αβεβαιότητα και ασταθή απόδοση των μετοχών. Αυτά τα αποτελέσματα ενισχύουν την κατανόησή μας σχετικά με το πώς οι συγχωνεύσεις επηρεάζουν το επενδυτικό κλίμα και τη μεταβλητότητα της αγοράς, παρέχοντας στους συμμετέχοντες της αγοράς και στις ρυθμιστικές αρχές πολύτιμες πληροφορίες για την αξιολόγηση των κινδύνων και των πιθανών επιπτώσεων από τις δραστηριότητες συγχωνεύσεων.
The role of earnings management in financial statement analysis
(2024-08-28) Σταμογιώργου, Παρασκευή; Stamogiorgou, Paraskevi; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Doukakis, Leonidas; Karatzimas, Sotirios; Siougle, Georgia
Η εργασία εξέτασε κατά πόσον η διαχείριση κερδών σχετίζεται με τα θεμελιώδη μεγέθη μιας επιχείρησης. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό, εξετάστηκε αν το μέγεθος της επιχείρησης, η χρηματοοικονομική μόχλευση και η κερδοφορία επηρεάζουν την πιθανότητα υιοθέτησης πρακτικών διαχείρισης κερδών. Αρχικά, πραγματοποιήθηκε ανάλυση παραμέτρων και στη συνέχεια εφαρμόστηκε γραμμική παλινδρόμηση.Η εργασία υπέθεσε ότι οι εταιρείες με μεγαλύτερη κεφαλαιοποίηση αντιμετωπίζουν αυξημένες προκλήσεις και υψηλότερες απαιτήσεις από τους μετόχους, γεγονός που τις καθιστά πιο επιρρεπείς στη διαχείριση κερδών. Παρομοίως, υποτέθηκε ότι οι επιχειρήσεις με αυξημένες ανάγκες δανεισμού είναι πιο πιθανό να υιοθετήσουν πρακτικές διαχείρισης κερδών, προκειμένου να παρουσιάσουν στους δανειστές τους μια βελτιωμένη εικόνα των θεμελιωδών μεγεθών τους. Ένα κρίσιμο ζήτημα που επίσης εξετάστηκε ήταν αν η κερδοφορία των επιχειρήσεων επηρεάζει την υιοθέτηση πρακτικών διαχείρισης κερδών, δεδομένου ότι η ανάγκη επίτευξης των προσδοκιών της αγοράς και των μετόχων σχετικά με κρίσιμους δείκτες κερδοφορίας, όπως η απόδοση ενεργητικού (ROA) και η απόδοση κεφαλαίου (ROE), μπορεί να οδηγήσει σε αυξημένη διαχείριση κερδών.Τα ευρήματα της ανάλυσης παλινδρόμησης έδειξαν ότι το μέγεθος της επιχείρησης δεν επηρεάζει τη διαχείριση κερδών, οδηγώντας στο συμπέρασμα ότι οι μεγαλύτερες εταιρείες δεν φαίνεται να αντιμετωπίζουν τις προβλεπόμενες αυξημένες πιέσεις για διαχείριση κερδών. Επίσης, η ανάλυση παλινδρόμησης έδειξε ότι η μόχλευση δεν επηρεάζει την υιοθέτηση πρακτικών διαχείρισης κερδών, υποδηλώνοντας ότι οι ανάγκες δανεισμού μπορεί να μην είναι τόσο καθοριστικές όσο πιστευόταν προηγουμένως. Τέλος, η κερδοφορία δεν είχε στατιστικά σημαντική επίδραση στη διαχείριση κερδών, υποδηλώνοντας ότι η πίεση για επίτευξη υψηλών επιδόσεων δεν συνδέεται απαραίτητα με τη διαστρέβλωση των οικονομικών αποτελεσμάτων.Από τα ευρήματα της ανάλυσης, μπορεί να συναχθεί ότι η διαχείριση κερδών δεν επηρεάζεται από τις θεωρούμενες κρίσιμες μεταβλητές, όπως το μέγεθος της επιχείρησης, η μόχλευση και η κερδοφορία. Αντίθετα, φαίνεται ότι άλλοι παράγοντες, όπως οι εξωτερικές πιέσεις της αγοράς, οι κανονιστικές ρυθμίσεις ή η εταιρική κουλτούρα, μπορεί να είναι πιο σημαντικοί για την κατανόηση των πρακτικών διαχείρισης κερδών. Αυτό υποδηλώνει την ανάγκη για περαιτέρω έρευνα, ώστε να εντοπιστούν οι πραγματικοί παράγοντες που οδηγούν τις εταιρείες σε αυτές τις πρακτικές και να αναπτυχθούν πιο αποτελεσματικά εργαλεία για την πρόληψή τους.Αυτό σημαίνει ότι, δεδομένης της έλλειψης συσχέτισης μεταξύ των μεταβλητών, και ιδιαίτερα μεταξύ της εξαρτημένης μεταβλητής και των ανεξάρτητων μεταβλητών, μπορεί να συναχθεί ότι οι πρακτικές διαχείρισης κερδών δεν οδηγούν ούτε σε μακροπρόθεσμη βελτίωση της κερδοφορίας ούτε σε αύξηση της αγοραίας αξίας των επιχειρήσεων. Αυτό υποδηλώνει ότι οι επιχειρήσεις που υιοθετούν τέτοιες πρακτικές μπορεί να μην επιτυγχάνουν τους επιθυμητούς στόχους τους για βιώσιμη ανάπτυξη και αύξηση της αγοραίας αξίας τους, γεγονός που αναδεικνύει την ανάγκη αναθεώρησης των κινήτρων πίσω από αυτές τις πρακτικές και εστίασης σε πιο υγιείς στρατηγικές για τη βελτίωση της οικονομικής τους απόδοσης.
Voluntary Management Forecasts: Implications on Financial Reporting Quality
Chronopoulos, Panagiotis I.; Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting and Finance; Siougle, Georgia
The start of the millennium was marked by the information technology bubble and high profile financial scandals which put under examination the existing financial reporting regulation frame. Regulation Fair Disclosure (2000) and Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) were enforced as reaction to the vulnerable, as it was proved eventually, regulated environment for corporate financial reporting. More specifically, Reg FD (2000) aimed to prohibit firms from selectively releasing material information to individuals, such as institutional investors or analysts, under the scope of avoiding the likelihood to “… trade on the basis of material nonpublic information …” (SEC 2000). Towards the same direction, SOX (2002) aimed to improve the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures by promoting corporate responsibility and management accountability, by imposing great penalties for managerial misconduct. Corporate information is of seminal importance for the opposing forces of demand and supply for a company’s shares within a capital market. Financial reporting information has been attributed the important role of mitigating the information gap, derived from these paration of ownership and management. Capital providers demand access to corporate information for valuation reasons. In order to distinguish between high profitable or growth firms and less profitable or declining ones, reported financial figures are essential inputs for their analysis process. Lack of adequate and useful information may result in mispricing of firms’ value and eventually in resource misallocation, within the capital market. Furthermore, financial information is valuable for stewardship reasons. Granted the management motivation to withhold private information (Verrecchia 2001), the regulation of mandatory guidelines for the release of such private information, as it was enforced through Reg FD(2000), and the promotion of management accountability against penalties in cases of misconduct, as it was enforced through SOX (2002), operate towards the direction of enhancing information efficiency and optimizing resource allocation for financing purposes. Beyer (2010) argues that information environment is shaped according to three basic pillars: a) mandatory disclosures as regulated by supervisory authorities, b) analyst opinions as formed through the financial or technical analysis implemented based on the available information and c) managers’ voluntary disclosures. Disclosure regulation through Reg FD(2000) and SOX (2002) is directly affiliated to the first shaping pillar, the mandatory disclosures. Nevertheless, through the enforcement of communication boundaries to the top management, such regulation is witnessed to have impacted the other two pillars, i.e. managers and analysts, indirectly (Zhang et al 2003, Herrmann et al 2008). The dissertation focuses its analysis on the third pillar, the management voluntary disclosures. The basic key element of my motivation is the information content of management forecasts, as it is supposed to exist since they are provided by the most affiliated parties, to the company, the management team. As the timeline shows, voluntary management disclosures are published well after (B) the release of previous year’s historical accounting figures (A) and well before the publication of current year’s accounting figures (C). Thus the new information, that is not contained in historical numbers and is not presented until the publication of current numbers, remains unutilized. Furthermore, the specific pillar of information environment, i.e. management forecasts under Reg FD (2000) and SOX (2002) frame, is the less investigated area within the disclosure environment, compared to analyst forecasts, and the most growing one, in terms of new firms adopting voluntary disclosure activity (Bailey 2003, Nichols 2009).The dissertation develops arguments on the direction that the Reg FD (2000), mainly, and SOX (2002), secondly, have forced significant changes on the field of voluntary disclosures and it seeks to investigate them. Management voluntary disclosures are described as management forecasts/guidance, since managers make forecasts about future economic incidents’ outcomes and provide estimations for the basic accounting figures of the following years. Since management forecasts are delivered from top management, which has access to company inside information and forms corporate strategic decisions, it is asserted that they enclose significant information valuable to external users, mainly to capital providers, for the capital investment decisions. For this reason I apply my research on management forecasts in an attempt, first to verify the value of their content, secondly to draw implications for the interesting parties and third to identify whether and to what degree do the market participants respond to their voluntary provision by the manager. The dissertation focuses on the performance figures delivered through financial reporting, i.e. sales and earnings. I treat them as performance benchmarks capturing significant amount of investors’ attention (King et al 1990) and build the hypotheses around their impact on the market participants’ perception. The dissertation attempts to provide answers to specific questions within the topic of management forecasts. Specifically, I examine corporate voluntary disclosure practice and provide supporting evidence to the following matters: a) Does forecasting activity draw implications for reporting quality? b) Does forecasting profile (optimistic versus pessimistic management forecasts) draw implications for reporting quality? c) Does the market recognize (efficiently price) the implications drawn from the existence of forecasting activity and manager’s forecasting profile? d) Are management forecasts valuable towards beating the information asymmetry? Except from the above topics I extend the analysis further, on the analysis of accruals. The dissertation proposes, estimates and tests for market efficiency a new accrual measure, the Incremental accruals. Incremental accruals are estimated as the difference between Forecasted accruals and Historical accruals. Our proposed forecasted accruals model derives from a different version of the forward looking model (Dechow 2003) adjusted with the inclusion of a forecasting variable, the management sales forecasts. As a result, the traditional forward looking model (Dechow 2003) transforms from an a posteriori decomposition accrual model into an a priori forecasting accrual model. In order to draw conclusions for the above research questions and collect supporting evidence for my research, I conduct the analysis of management forecasts under three basic scopes: a) Materiality: referring to the magnitude of the forecasted figure in terms of statistical significance. b) Existence: referring to the fact that a forecast is provided or not. c) Profile: referring to forecast’s comparison with the actual figure reported in the yearend, i.e. optimistic or pessimistic. The sample consists of US capital market data and especially concentrates on S&P 500Composite Index constituents for the years 2006-2012. For the analysis I collected historical accounting data, analyst estimations and management forecasts. I collected historical accounting data from Compustat. Management and analyst forecasting data were hand collected from Thomson Reuters. I limited the sample period to 2006 and after years, since it was the earliest year that there were available forecast data in Thomson Reuters1. The dissertation is organized and presented through three separate, in terms of hypotheses and research design, but consecutive, in terms of conclusions, sections: Section 1 deals with the matters of forecast materiality and forecast profile. First I document that management forecasts operate as unique benchmarks of manager’s estimations. The analysis is concentrated on range forecasts, as provided through upper and lower limits, by the manager. I document that range forecast bounds are significant numbers, rather than naïve estimations, whose importance needs further analysis. Second, I confirm that forecasting profile should operate as a signal for investors. The results support that forecasting activity is mainly optimistically biased in accordance with previous literature’s findings (Libby et al 2012, Myers et al 2013). Third, I conclude that forecast profile should signal accuracy implications to the related parties. Pessimistic forecast attitude, on behalf of the manager, is proven more accurate and reliable relative to optimistic one. The initial conclusions of Section 1 support the view that a) management forecasts do have information content, thus their existence should operate as signal to the market, and b) forecasting profile is meaningful, thus forecasting attitude encloses implications for related parties, as well. Section 2 extends the analysis on the field of reporting quality. Having concluded that management forecast existence and profile enclose valuable information, we attempt to identify such value. I assert persistence of accounting figures as the indicator of reporting quality, in accordance with previous literature (Richardson et al 2005, Dechow et al 2003). I calculate persistence for earnings figure and its components, operating cash flows and accruals. First I examine persistence changes under the scope of management forecast existence. I divide the sample into forecasting firms (Forecasters) and non-forecasting firms (non Forecasters) and test for differences of persistence levels between the groups. Second I examine persistence changes under the scope of management forecast profile. I divide the sample into optimistic firms (Optimists) and pessimistic firms (Pessimists) and test for differences of persistence levels between the groups. I conclude significant differences of persistence levels for both the pairs Forecasters – non Forecasters and Optimists – Pessimists for earnings figures. An important finding is that the differing earnings persistence levels, as confirmed by the tests conducted, result from the accrual component rather than the cash component of earnings. Finally, I examine whether market participants are aware of the differing persistence levels of accrual component, as implied from both the existence of a management forecast and its forecasting profile. The results present efficient, nevertheless marginal, pricing of the above firm characteristics, i.e. for Forecasters and Pessimists, regarding the accrual component of earnings, implying that there is ground for further implications’ absorption on behalf of the market. Section 3 presents the new incremental accrual indicator. Having identified the accrual component as the source of reporting quality variations between the groups of Forecasters and non Forecasters and having witnessed market’s ability to recognize and price such variation, I attempt to further understand the implications of the accrual component for earnings. I built on previous literature’s forward looking accrual model (Dechow et al 2003)in order to obtain an alternative calculation base for accruals. Particularly, first I enrich the information content of historical accruals, calculated as the difference of operating cash flows from net income, by estimating a new measure of accruals with the inclusion, in the forward looking model (Dechow 2003), of one year ahead sales forecasts, voluntarily disclosed by firms’ management. I name the alternative version of accruals as forecasted accruals. Forecasted accruals, due to their nature, i.e. they derive as a combination of a) previous year’s reported accounting figures and b) voluntarily released next year’s forecasted figures, can be estimated well in advance the calculation of the actual accruals, i.e. at the official release of actual yearend accounting figures. Thus I transform forward looking model into a forecasting model rather than an ex post accrual decomposition model. Second I use the forecasted accruals to estimate an incremental component over historical accruals in an attempt to isolate the new information content that a management forecast encloses over and above the already utilized information content of actual reported figures (historical figures). I foresee in that incremental component to explain management forecast errors, i.e. to help to reduce uncertainty. Finally, I investigate if the incremental accrual component is efficiently priced by the market. The results conclude that the proposed forecasted accruals are calculated significantly lower than the historical accruals, confirming initial assertion that voluntary management forecasts enclose new information helpful to mitigate information gap. Further I present evidence that incremental accrual component operates in the direction of uncertainty reduction since it is negatively associated to management forecast errors. As far as market reaction is concerned, I conclude that market participants recognize, though marginally, the additional information value of the incremental component. The current research offers significant contribution to the existing research. First, it highlights the materiality of forecast bounds, in the case of range forecasts. Upper and lower forecast limits enclose significant information and should be examined separately within the terms of an analysis procedure. Second, it highlights the importance of voluntary disclosure activity and forecasting profile as influencing variables for reporting quality and transparency. Evident voluntary disclosure activity and managers’ forecasting direction have effect on the persistence and accuracy of accounting figures. Third, it stresses accrual component’s importance for interpreting high persistence levels that accompany voluntary disclosure activity. Fourth, it emphasizes the importance of voluntary management disclosures in assessing firm performance. Finally, it generates an incremental component of accruals that incorporates part of the unrealized business performance voluntarily disclosed by firms’ management and operates as an informative indicator for stock returns prediction. I believe that my research draws significant implications for market participants, regulators and researchers. Market participants could consider including the existence or not of management guidance into their perception, in order to improve their predictive ability for future performance. Further, investors could consider estimating incremental accruals when voluntary sales forecasts are released and improve their investment decisions. Regulators should further consider the implications that forecasting activity encloses and take analogous actions by endorsing voluntarily disclosed forecasting activity. The encouragement of voluntary disclosures could lead to an improvement in the diffusion of value relevant information in an increasing uncertain economic environment. Finally, researchers could reexamine the already drawn literature conclusions for management forecasts, under the scope of forecasting profile and discrete forecast bounds. Future research should focus on the isolation and valuation of voluntary disclosures’ information content, over and above the mandatory reported figures, probably extending the research field to include more voluntary reported figures such as capital expenditures and operating cash flows.