| 1. |
- Barkfeldt, Carl, 1985-
(författare)
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Asset Mispricing
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation studies the pricing of stocks in capital markets. It comprises five chapters, where the first serves as an introduction. The subsequent four chapters are each written as self-contained research papers. While the theory of efficient markets serves as the theoretical foundation, I approach the research from a conceptual starting point that recognizes market mispricing.The first paper investigates a testing methodology of market efficiency based on fundamental valuation. The methodology is based on an investment strategy where stocks with high (low) V/P-ratios are assigned into long (short) portfolios. We conjecture that under the assumption of independence between the portfolio assignment and systematic risk, a positive return from such investing strategy is inconsistent with market efficiency. We estimate fundamental values based on a flexible residual income valuation model via the state-space framework and implement the investment strategy on a sample of U.S. stocks spanning 1980–2017. The implementation shows a significant positive monthly return. Moreover, the results are substantiated in a standard five-factor model. In sum, these results appear anomalous with respect to market efficiency, at least as given by the five-factor model.The second paper examines whether improvements in earnings forecasting translate into improvements in implied cost of capital estimates of expected returns. I attain high-performing earnings forecasting via a machine learning approach. In particular, I implement and evaluate six popular machine learning methods to forecast earnings. The evaluation demonstrates that the machine learning algorithms can generate earnings forecasts that consistently outperform state-of-the-art benchmarks. Moreover, I estimate the implied cost of capital on a sample of U.S. stocks spanning 2000–2017. The general result indicates that improvements in earnings forecasting do not translate into improvements in return predictability. While issues with the implied cost of capital methodology could explain the results, another possible explanation is market mispricing.The third paper compares the performance between the implied cost of capital and factor model approaches in estimating the cost of capital in an inefficient market. I conduct the comparison in a Monte Carlo simulation experiment. The simulation results indicate that the implied cost of capital approach is more robust to market inefficiency.The fourth paper analyzes investor learning of cash flow expectations in the context of market efficiency. I argue that the bias-variance tradeoff translates into inefficiencies in market pricing. Moreover, in a simple model, I prove that these inefficiencies can be exploited by an investor aware of whether market prices exhibit a bias or suboptimal variance.
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| 2. |
- Cieslak, Katarzyna
(författare)
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Agency conflicts, executive compensation regulations and CEO pay-performance sensitivity : evidence from Sweden
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Management and Governance. - : Springer. - 1385-3457 .- 1572-963X. ; 22:3, s. 535-563
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on a unique country set up with concentrated ownership of firms, strong representation of major shareholders on boards and one of the highest percentages of firms with dual-class shares worldwide I study CEO pay-performance sensitivity in Swedish listed firms in the years 2001–2013. Focusing on Type II agency conflict, I find that that pay-performance sensitivity in family-controlled firms with family CEOs is significantly lower than in other types of firms, and that dual-class firms have significantly lower sensitivity of pay to accounting performance than non-dual-class firms. The results suggest that in firms with type II agency conflicts compensation practices may be driven either by family ties or by the power preferences of the controlling shareholder that uses compensation to align CEO’s interest with his/her will rather than with financial performance. The study also documents that the link between CEO pay and performance disappears in the 2010–2013 period following the implementation of the European Recommendations regarding executive compensation. This finding is in contrast to the stipulated goal of the European Commission, ‘to ensure pay for performance’ (European Commission 2009).
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| 3. |
- Cieslak, Katarzyna
(författare)
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Agency within constraints: Exploring the effects of organizational structural arrangements on ‘business partner’ role of controllers.
- 2013
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The literature about roles of controllers has been growing in the last years, but research focused more on descriptions and labeling of these roles, and still not enough is known about the drivers of the different roles of controllers (Byrne and Pierce, 2007, Hartmann and Maas, 2011, Graham et al, 2012). Lately Hartman and Maas (2011) investigated quantitatively a link between controllers’ roles and uncertainty. By focusing on organizational context they developed previous research that ascribed explanatory power mainly to individual characteristics of controllers or ‘interplay’ with other organizational members (Sathe, 1983, Mouritsen, 1996, Pierce and O´Dea, 2003, de Loo, 2011). The current study also focuses on organizational context, in particular on different dimensions of organizational structure. However, it uses a case study method to provide an illustration based on a case company from a paper packaging industry of how different aspects of organizational structure can enable/constraint the ‘business partner’ role of controllers. The theoretical contribution is threefold. First, the study suggests ‘agency within constraints’ perspective to understand controllers’ roles, where organizational circumstances cannot be downplayed. Second, the study outlines a number of organizational enablers/constraints of the ‘business partner’ role of controllers. Third, it provides a sketch of a possible mechanism of an impact of the ‘business partner’ role on creating value in organizations.
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| 4. |
- Cieslak, Katarzyna, et al.
(författare)
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Controlleruppdraget
- 2018. - 11
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Ingår i: Controllerhandboken. - Stockholm : Liber. - 9789147127016
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Cieslak, Katarzyna, et al.
(författare)
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Executive compensation disclosure, ownership concentration and dual-class firms: An analysis of Swedish data
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation. - : Elsevier BV. - 1061-9518 .- 1879-1603. ; 45, s. 18-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We study how executive compensation disclosure (ECD) is affected by the economic incentives of owners and managers in a Swedish setting where agency conflicts are not so much between managers and owners, but between controlling and non-controlling owners. In our sample, control is often enhanced through mechanisms such as dual share classes. The analysis relies on detailed hand-collected ECD data from 2837 annual reports. As expected, disclosure decreases with ownership concentration and the owner’s excess voting rights. In Sweden, overpaid Chief Executive Offices (CEOs) improve ECD quality, but this is not the case when the controlling owner has excess control rights. This suggests that when managers have a bond with controlling owners, ECD is part of the agency problem between controlling and non-controlling owners, and executive compensation plays a different role than in previously studied Anglo-Saxon settings.
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| 7. |
- Cieslak, Katarzyna, et al.
(författare)
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Organising for quality in sustainability assurance : A literature review
- 2024
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Ingår i: Auditing transformation. - New York : Routledge. - 9781032533032 - 9781003411390 - 9781032533056 ; , s. 228-249
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter reviews 40 recent articles from top-ranked accounting journals, addressing the current state of knowledge about quality in sustainability assurance. The articles centre around four themes: understanding the process and quality of sustainability assurance; drivers of assurance quality; the relationship between assurance and the quality of sustainability reports; and the impact of assurance on investor reactions to the reported information. The reviewed literature reflects that the traditional focus of accounting firms may expand to cover not only substantive procedures and error restatements but also judgements on completeness under broadened reporting entity boundaries. We identify the role of specialists and the potential needs for specialisation in establishing sustainability report quality and assurance, especially in the context of detecting ‘greenwashing’. Importantly, we find indications that sustainability assurance does affect investor reactions, but does not necessarily control report quality in the same way as financial assurance. The review acknowledges the view that bringing sustainability assurance under the purview of accounting firms may result in positive spill-over effects on financial audit activities, but may also result in potential negative effects from increased distraction and workload, and decreased independence.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Cieslak, Katarzyna
(författare)
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The Work of the Accounting & Controlling Department and its Drivers: understanding the concept of a business partner
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The role of accountants in organizations is intriguing in the current context of the broad changes in the profession observed by many. Mainly because of technological advancements, what has previously required a considerable amount of time and effort, i.e. bookkeeping & reporting, has been assumed to ‘just happen’ easily, with a corollary that it should not be taken for granted, that the accounting department has to exist in companies in the way it has in the past. Seen in a positive light, the technological changes create opportunities for accountants to develop the management accounting/controlling aspects of their work and become increasingly involved in managing the business, contributing to the company’s performance. However, although the rhetoric of the accounting & controlling department be(com)ing a ‘business partner’ has been present for a number of years in both academy and business, theory about the business orientation of accountants is claimed to be underdeveloped and often anecdotal. Building on previous empirical research and theory about the work of the accounting & controlling department and incorporating thoughts from management control and practice theories, this empirical study of five accounting teams within one international company - a leading supplier of packaging solutions, tries to address this theoretical gap. This is achieved through entering a micro organizational realm, whereas previous literature has tended to look at macro–level drivers of change. In sum, the framework built in this study tries to address two questions: ‘what does it mean to be a business partner?’ and ‘which micro organizational forces drive the work of the department and why?’ The study describes the different dimensions of the work of accountants including activities, interactions and used competences; and it explores and explains how organizational forces influence these dimensions, creating a local environment conducive, or not, to business partnering. The identified organizational drivers include, for example, issues linked to organizational design, organization of the accounting department, schedule of management meetings, attitudes of general managers and IT systems. The study framework hopefully offers an increased understanding of the phenomenon of business partnering, and it may also help practitioners in their transformation journey.
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| 10. |
- Sikora, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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NMDA Receptors on Dopaminoceptive Neurons Are Essential for Drug-Induced Conditioned Place Preference.
- 2016
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Ingår i: eNeuro. - 2373-2822. ; 3:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plasticity of the brain's dopamine system plays a crucial role in adaptive behavior by regulating appetitive motivation and the control of reinforcement learning. In this study, we investigated drug- and natural-reward conditioned behaviors in a mouse model in which the NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity of dopaminoceptive neurons was disrupted. We generated a transgenic mouse line with inducible selective inactivation of the NR1 subunit in neurons expressing dopamine D1 receptors (the NR1(D1CreERT2) mice). Whole-cell recordings of spontaneous EPSCs on neurons in the nucleus accumbens confirmed that a population of neurons lacked the NMDA receptor-dependent component of the current. This effect was accompanied by impaired long-term potentiation in the nucleus accumbens and in the CA1 area of the ventral, but not the dorsal, hippocampus. Mutant mice did not differ from control animals when tested for pavlovian or instrumental conditioning. However, NR1(D1CreERT2) mice acquired no preference for a context associated with administration of drugs of abuse. In the conditioned place preference paradigm, mutant mice did not spend more time in the context paired with cocaine, morphine, or ethanol, although these mice acquired a preference for sucrose jelly and an aversion to naloxone injections, as normal. Thus, we observed that the selective inducible ablation of the NMDA receptors specifically blocks drug-associated context memory with no effect on positive reinforcement in general.
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