Luzi Hail - Faculty Research in Knowledge@Wharton

Mind the GAAP: Analyzing the Proposed Switch to International Accounting Standards

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:13:39 EST

The federal Securities and Exchange Commission proposed last summer that U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles be set aside by 2014 and replaced by international standards followed in most other nations. The change is opposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, which would see its status as America's chief accounting authority diminished. A Wharton finance professor's research raises questions about the benefits that have been touted by proponents of the transition.

Do the Answers to Our Current Financial Woes Lie in the Past?

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:25:39 EST

Bad debt. Frozen credit. Stock market panic. Popular outrage. Political paralysis. The financial crisis that has dominated September's headlines may feel unprecedented to many Americans. But it feels altogether familiar to scholars who have examined the economies of other nations around the world that have undergone recent banking crises. During a panel discussion held the day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged a record 777 points, Wharton and University of Pennsylvania faculty offered their views on what the United States can learn from the past tribulations of markets as diverse as Japan, Mexico and Turkey.

Do International Financial Reporting Standards Live Up to Their Promise?

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:54:06 EST

At a time when many barriers to global trade have fallen, countries all over the world are taking steps to harmonize their accounting standards and develop a truly global language of business. Under the lead of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), more than 100 countries have either implemented International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or plan to do so. Yet while proponents of accounting harmonization say that IFRS will ultimately benefit firms and investors, Wharton accounting professor Luzi Hail says that there are reasons to be skeptical about these high hopes. He and three co-authors present their views in a new paper titled, "Mandatory IFRS Reporting Around the World: Early Evidence on the Economic Consequences."

U.S. Securities Law: Does 'High Intensity' Enforcement Pay Off?

Wed, 30 May 2007 15:38:15 EST

"The U.S. pursues securities law violations with a regulatory intensity unmatched elsewhere in the world," according to John C. Coffee, Jr., director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia University Law School. At a recent Wharton Impact Conference on international corporate governance, Coffee said that although securities law enforcement can lower the cost of capital, it may deter some foreign firms from cross-listing in U.S. markets. Still, he argues, strong enforcement is critical for creating good governance and adding value to corporations, and investors stand to gain from it.