Is the character of SEC comment letters relevant to recipients?: empirical evidence of constraining allowance for doubtful accounts

dc.contributorUnderwood, Shane E.
dc.contributorBarrett, Bruce E.
dc.contributorPollard, Troy J.
dc.contributor.advisorStone, Mary S.
dc.contributor.advisorBuchheit, Steven R.
dc.contributor.authorRippy, Jordan
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2017-07-28T14:12:52Z
dc.date.available2017-07-28T14:12:52Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractPrior research has provided mixed results regarding changes in firm behavior in response to comment letters from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (Johnston and Petacchi 2016; Kubick, Mayberry, Omer, and Lynch 2016; Robinson, Xue, and Yu 2011; Wang 2016). This study documents that comment letters come in two main categories: accounting-focused letters and disclosure-focused letters. I examine whether the character of comment letters (accounting versus disclosure) impacts a firm’s response to comment letters questioning the allowance for doubtful accounts (AFDA). I find that firms with abnormal accruals in the AFDA are more likely to receive an accounting-focused comment letter and these firms are also more likely to constrain AFDA-related earnings management behaviors in the period after comment letter resolution. Disclosure-focused comment letters exhibit no such patterns. The results of this study suggest (1) the lack of consistent findings in prior research may be partially attributable to homogenously classifying dissimilar comment letters and (2) the SEC filing review and comment letter process may be an effective tool in monitoring and constraining earnings management behaviors.en_US
dc.format.extent103 p.
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0002676
dc.identifier.otherRippy_alatus_0004D_13032
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/3272
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectAccounting
dc.titleIs the character of SEC comment letters relevant to recipients?: empirical evidence of constraining allowance for doubtful accountsen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Culverhouse School of Accountancy
etdms.degree.disciplineAccounting
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.leveldoctoral
etdms.degree.namePh.D.
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