Externally reported performance measures and benchmarks in Australia. (16th September 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Woodhouse, Kerrie; Mather, Paul; Ranasinghe, Dinithi
• Editors: Smith, Tom
• Is Part Of: Accounting and finance. Volume 57:Number 3(2017)
• Page Start: 879
• Page End: 905
• Publication Date: 2015-09-16
• Subjects: Earnings benchmarks -- External performance measures -- Australian CFOs; Accounting -- Periodicals; Finance -- Periodicals; 657.05
• DOI: 10.1111/acfi.12168
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0810-5391

Abstract

Abstract: We survey 116 Australian CFOs from the top 700 Australian Securities Exchange‐listed firms regarding externally reported performance measures and benchmarks. CFO responses are not always consistent with theory, and a comparison with a similar U.S. survey highlights differences consistent with the respective institutional settings. Conditional analyses of responses also find that characteristics such as firm size that differentiate the Australian market from the U.S. market are associated with differences in opinion between the CFOs in each domain. The key message to accounting researchers is that, given significant institutional differences, it is unwise to infer that U.S. findings will apply to Australia and similar market settings.