Leif Atle Beisland

• Nyarko, Samuel Anokye; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2024). Lending to Women and Credit Risk in Microfinance Institutions: The Moderating Effects of Patriarchy and Female Leadership. Journal of Development Studies. ISSN 0022-0388. doi: 10.1080/00220388.2024.2434252. Full text in Research Archive
• Nyarko, Samuel Anokye; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2024). The Moderating Effects of Size and Experience in Balancing Social and Financial Performance in Social Enterprises: Evidence From Microfinance Institutions. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. ISSN 0899-7640. p. 40–40. doi: 10.1177/08997640241295663. Full text in Research Archive
• Djan, Kwame Ohene; Nyarko, Samuel Anokye; Mersland, Roy; Beisland, Leif Atle & Nakato, Linda (2023). Influence of international ownership on the performance of local social enterprises: Evidence from the global microfinance industry. Strategic Change. ISSN 1086-1718. 32(2-3), p. 53–71. doi: 10.1002/jsc.2536. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  International ownership positively impacts the social performance of social enterprises at the expense of financial performance. International owners mostly use their resources and controlling rights to improve social performance at the expense of financial performance. Current ownership theories do not address how the multidimensional utility function might affect the governance and financing of a social enterprise. There is a need to develop theories for firms with conflicting objectives.

• Beisland, Leif Atle; Zamore, Stephen & Mersland, Roy (2022). Does It Pay to be Green? A Study of the Global Microfinance Industry. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. ISSN 0899-7640. doi: 10.1177/08997640221110209. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article examines whether it pays to be green in the microfinance industry. Environmental issues are important for all businesses around the world, and thus many microfinance institutions (MFIs) started embracing them as an additional objective alongside their traditional social and financial objectives. This article is among the first to test the relationships between environmental performance and both the financial and social performance of MFIs. Using a sample of 234 rated MFIs in 58 countries, we find that being green is associated with higher social and financial performance. Specifically, MFIs with environmental policies have higher financial performance (i.e., higher returns on assets, lower operating costs, and lower cost of capital) and higher social performance (i.e., a higher social rating score) than those without environmental policies. Overall, the results suggest that it pays to be green in the microfinance industry and this should motivate MFIs considering being green to do so.

• Zamore, Stephen; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2021). Excessive Focus on Risk? Non-performing Loans and Efficiency of Microfinance Institutions. International Journal of Finance and Economics. ISSN 1076-9307. doi: 10.1002/ijfe.2477. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Djan, Kwame Ohene; Mersland, Roy & Randøy, Trond (2020). Measuring Social Performance in Social Enterprises: A Global Study of Microfinance Institutions. Journal of Business Ethics. ISSN 0167-4544. 171. doi: 10.1007/s10551-019-04417-z. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Social enterprises in the microfinance industry need to adhere to both financial and social demands. Critics argue that there is a mission drift away from the social mission, and this has motivated the introduction of social rating agencies to strengthen the business ethics of microfinance institutions (MFIs). Using a global dataset of 204 socially rated MFIs from 58 countries, we assess the factors that drive the social performance ratings of MFIs. Overall our results show that social ratings of MFIs are significantly related to financial performance, greater outreach especially in rural areas, well-defined social objectives, staff commitment, service quality and an enhanced customer service. We observe that various rating agencies attach different importance to each of the social indicators. The public policy implication is that social rating agencies need to become more transparent, to reduce the information asymmetries between heterogenous socially motivated investors and the focal MFI.

• Zamore, Stephen; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2019). Geographic diversification and credit risk in microfinance. Journal of Banking & Finance. ISSN 0378-4266. 109. doi: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2019.105665. Full text in Research Archive
• Mersland, Roy; Beisland, Leif Atle & Ndaki, Daudi Pascal (2019). The Origin of Chief Executive Officers and Performance in Hybrid Businesses: The Case of Microfinance. Journal of Small Business Management. ISSN 0047-2778. 57(4), p. 1578–1594. doi: 10.1111/jsbm.12381. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Holter, Truls Erik Dahl & Bugge, Thomas (2019). Verdirelevansen av norsk regnskapsinformasjon ved oppkjøp av unoterte aksjer. Magma forskning og viten. ISSN 1500-0788. 22(1). Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Ndaki, Daudi Pascal (2019). Influence of Ownership Type and CEO Power on Residual Loss: Evidence From the Global Microfinance Industry. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. ISSN 0899-7640. 48(5), p. 998–1022. doi: 10.1177/0899764019848498. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle (2018). Når investeringsanalysen og regnskapet gir motstridende signaler. Praktisk Økonomi & Finans. ISSN 1501-0074. 34 [i.e. 35](2), p. 131–146. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-2871-2018-02-06. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Strøm, R. Øystein (2018). Use of Big Four auditors and fund raising: evidence from developing and emerging markets. International Journal of Emerging Markets. ISSN 1746-8809. 13(2), p. 371–390. doi: 10.1108/IJoEM-11-2016-0321. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Purpose: The traditional view in audit research has been that high-quality auditors are associated with improved access to funding. This study is motivated by recent research suggesting that the funding benefits of using Big Four auditors may not be as uniform as was previously assumed. To further examine the contention that the implications of audit quality are context dependent, we turn to the microfinance industry. Specifically, we apply data from microfinance institutions in developing and emerging countries, a population typically not investigated in accounting research, to analyze the relationship between use of Big Four auditors and access to debt capital. Design/methodology/approach: We apply a unique hand-collected dataset from 59 developing and emerging markets and empirically investigate whether access to various sorts of debt is related to the use of Big Four auditors. Findings: Controlling for firm characteristics found in prior research to affect access to capital, we are unable to document a significant relation between use of Big Four auditors and access to debt capital. Thus, we conclude that one of the main benefits of using Big Four auditors seems not to extend to the poor countries of the world. Originality/value: Big Four auditors are expensive. Our findings potentially have implications for auditor choice in poor countries; why should an organization pay extra for auditing if no benefits from the higher price can be documented?

• Ndaki, Daudi Pascal; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2018). Capital structure and CEO tenure in microfinance institutions. Strategic Change. ISSN 1086-1718. 27(4), p. 329–337. doi: 10.1002/jsc.2205. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2017). Exploring Microfinance Clients with Disabilities: A Case Study of an Ecuadorian Microbank. Journal of Development Studies. ISSN 0022-0388. 53(11), p. 1929–1943. doi: 10.1080/00220388.2016.1265946. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; D'Espallier, Bert & Mersland, Roy (2017). The Commercialization of the Microfinance Industry: Is There a `Personal Mission Drift? Among Credit Officers? Journal of Business Ethics. ISSN 0167-4544. p. 1–16. doi: 10.1007/s10551-017-3710-4. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Heskestad, Terje (2016). Regnskapsføring av goodwill : en sammenligning av GRS og IFRS. Praktisk Økonomi & Finans. ISSN 1501-0074. 32 [i.e. 33](2), p. 216–227. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-2871-2016-02-10. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Zamore, Stephen (2016). Motivations for Business Start-up: Are There any Differences Between Disabled and Non-disabled Microfinance Clients? Journal of International Development. ISSN 0954-1748. 28(1), p. 147–149. doi: 10.1002/jid.3196. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Strøm, R. Øystein (2015). Audit Quality and Corporate Governance: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry. International Journal of Auditing. ISSN 1090-6738. 19(3), p. 218–237. doi: 10.1111/ijau.12041. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study uses a unique, hand-collected sample of microfinance institutions from 73 countries that typically are not investigated in accounting research to analyze the relationships between audit quality and governance mechanisms. We examine two measures of audit quality, namely, the use of Big Four auditors and the presence of internal auditors who report to the boards of these institutions. The empirical analysis of this study reveals that these two quality metrics are highly related, although we also demonstrate that these metrics capture distinctive aspects of audit quality. In particular, the presence of internal auditors is related to other indicators of stricter governance, whereas the use of Big Four auditors is generally unrelated to other control mechanisms. This study illustrates that there is no single association between audit quality and governance; instead, the relationships between these two characteristics are dependent on the specific mechanism that is investigated. However, for situations in which a significant relationship between audit quality and governance does exist, the sign of this relationship is always positive. Thus, our data support the complementarity view of these two traits that is espoused by prior research. We find no support for the contention that these control mechanisms function as substitutes.

• Beisland, Leif Atle & Frestad, Dennis (2015). Hedge Effectiveness Testing as a Screening Mechanism for Hedge accounting - Does it work? Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance. ISSN 0148-558X. 30(1), p. 35–56. doi: 10.1177/0148558X14549457. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Randøy, Trond (2015). Transparency and Disclosure in the Global Microfinance Industry. In Forssbäck, Jens & Oxelheim, Lars Christer (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Economic and Institutional Transparency. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780199917693. p. 434–455. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199917693.013.0021. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Knivsflå, Kjell Henry (2015). Have IFRS changed how stock prices are associated with earnings and book values? Evidence from Norway. Review of Accounting and Finance. ISSN 1475-7702. 14(1), p. 41–63. doi: 10.1108/RAF-06-2013-0079. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Randøy, Trond (2014). The association between microfinance rating scores and corporate governance: A global survey. International Review of Financial Analysis. ISSN 1057-5219. 35(5), p. 268–280. doi: 10.1016/j.irfa.2014.10.012. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2014). Microfinance and Disability: Recommendations for Policymakers and Practitioners. In Heymann, Jody; Stein, Michael Ashley & Moreno, Gonzalo (Ed.), Disability and Equity at Work. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780199981212. p. 174–193. Full text in Research Archive
• Mersland, Roy & Beisland, Leif Atle (2014). Staff characteristics and the exclusion of persons with disabilities: evidence from the microfinance industry in Uganda. Disability & Society. ISSN 0968-7599. 29(7), p. 1061–1075. doi: 10.1080/09687599.2014.902362. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2014). Income characteristics and the use of microfinance services: evidence from economically active persons with disabilities. Disability & Society. ISSN 0968-7599. 29(3), p. 417–430. doi: 10.1080/09687599.2013.816625. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2014). Earnings Quality in Nonprofit Versus For-Profit Organizations: Evidence From the Microfinance Industry. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. ISSN 0899-7640. 43(4), p. 652–671. doi: 10.1177/0899764013478491. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle (2014). Equity valuation in practice: The influence of net financial expenses. Accounting Forum. ISSN 0155-9982. 38(2), p. 122–131. doi: 10.1016/j.accfor.2013.04.008. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Randøy, Trond (2014). Microbank Regulation and Earnings Quality: A Global Survey. In Mersland, Roy & Strøm, R. Øystein (Ed.), Microfinance Institutions: Financial and Social Performance. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9781137399656. p. 271–294. doi: 10.1057/9781137399663_14. Full text in Research Archive
• Hamberg, Mattias & Beisland, Leif Atle (2014). Changes in the value relevance of goodwill accounting following the adoption of IFRS 3. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation. ISSN 1061-9518. 23(2), p. 59–73. doi: 10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2014.07.002. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle (2013). The Value Relevance of Accounting Information During the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Norway. International Journal of Economics and Accounting. ISSN 2041-868X. 4(3), p. 249–263. doi: 10.1504/IJEA.2013.055901. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2013). Earnings Quality in the Microfinance Industry. In Gueyie, J.P.; Manos, R. & Yaron, J. (Ed.), Microfinance in developing countries: Issues, policies and performance evaluations. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9780230348462. p. 241–255. doi: 10.1057/9781137301925.0009. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Frestad, Dennis (2013). How fair-value accounting can influence firm hedging. Review of Derivatives Research. ISSN 1380-6645. 16(2), p. 193–217. doi: 10.1007/s11147-012-9084-y. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The potential influence of accounting regulations on hedging strategies and the use of financial derivatives is a research topic that has attracted little attention in both the finance and the accounting literature. However, recent surveys suggest that company hedging can be substantially influenced by the accounting for financial instruments. In this study, we illustrate not only why but also how the accounting regulations may affect hedging behavior. We find that under mark-to-market accounting, most firms concerned with earnings smoothness adopt myopic hedging strategies relative to the benchmark, cash flow hedging. The specific influence of the accounting regulations depends on market and firm-specific characteristics, but, in general, the firms dramatically reduce the extent of hedging addressing price risk in future accounting periods. We illustrate that the change in hedging behavior significantly dampens the increase in earnings volatility stemming from fair value accounting of derivatives. However, the adjusted hedging strategies may substantially increase the firms’ cash flow volatility.

• Beisland, Leif Atle & Hamberg, Mattias (2013). Earnings sustainability, economic conditions and the value relevance of accounting information. Scandinavian Journal of Management. ISSN 0956-5221. 29(3), p. 314–324. doi: 10.1016/j.scaman.2013.02.001. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2012). The use of microfinance services among economically active disabled people: Evidence from Uganda. Journal of International Development. ISSN 0954-1748. 24, p. S69–S83. doi: 10.1002/jid.1720. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2012). Barriers to microfinance for disabled persons: Evidence from economically active persons in Uganda. Enterprise Development and Microfinance. ISSN 1755-1978. 23(1), p. 11–24. doi: 10.3362/1755-1986.2012.003. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle (2012). Verdirelevansen til norsk regnskapsinformasjon :. Magma forskning og viten. ISSN 1500-0788. 15(2), p. 34–41. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2012). An Analysis of the Drivers of Microfinance Rating Assessments. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. ISSN 0899-7640. 41(2), p. 213–231. doi: 10.1177/0899764011433616. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Rating assessments of microfinance institutions (MFIs) are claimed to measure a combination of creditworthiness, trustworthiness, and excellence in microfinance. Using a global data set covering reports from 304 microfinance institutions, this study suggests that these ratings are mainly driven by size, profitability, and risk. The overall results suggest that microfinance ratings convey information similar to that communicated by traditional credit ratings. All results are remarkably consistent across rating agencies. The determinants of the rating grades are found to be the same in all subsamples.

• Beisland, Leif Atle (2011). The Value Relevance of Losses Revisited: The Importance of Earnings Aggregation. Global Business and Economics Review (GBER). ISSN 1097-4954. 13(2), p. 126–146. doi: 10.1504/GBER.2011.040728. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Prior research has suggested that earnings explain a larger portion of the variation in stock returns when disaggregated into components. This study shows that the increase in explanatory power stems primarily from disaggregation of negative earnings. When accounting earnings are sufficiently disaggregated into items, there is no longer a statistical difference in the value relevance of positive and negative earnings. Thus, negative earnings are also useful to stock investors. The findings are attributed to earnings persistence; even if losses are not persistent on an aggregate level, it may be the case that individual earnings items can provide information with respect to the future cash flow-generating capabilities of the firm.

• Beisland, Leif Atle (2011). The Predictive Ability and Value Relevance of Accounting Measures. International Journal of Economics and Accounting. ISSN 2041-868X. 2(3), p. 215–241. doi: 10.1504/IJEA.2011.041894. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Empirical accounting research sometimes assumes that the value relevance of accounting variables can be indirectly assessed by studying the ability of the variables to forecast future cash flow and earnings. This study investigates the relationships between short-term cash flow and earnings prediction tests and value relevance analyses. I find that earnings prediction tests might be good substitutes for value relevance analyses, whereas cash flow prediction tests merely provide indications with respect to value relevance. Cash flow prediction tests appear unable to capture the significant association between accounting accruals and the company value. Overall, this study suggests that the value relevance of accounting variables can be investigated through their ability to predict future earnings but not future cash flow.

• Beisland, Leif Atle (2011). The effects of earnings variables on stock returns among public companies in Norway: A multiple regression analysis. International Journal of Management. ISSN 0813-0183. 28(3), p. 773–783. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle (2010). Is the Value Relevance of Accounting Information Consistently Underestimated? The Open Business Journal. 3(1), p. 7–7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study investigates the importance of accounting for the sign of earnings as well as disaggregating earnings in empirical value relevance research. The paper presents evidence that value relevance as measured by the explanatory power of regression analysis more than doubles if both the sign and the disaggregation effect are incorporated into the analysis. Thus, traditional value relevance regressions may seriously understate the value relevance of accounting information. However, value relevance is not equally underestimated across sub-samples. Hence, the conclusions of prior studies that have compared value relevance between sub-samples from different time-periods, industries, countries, etc. may be biased.

• Beisland, Leif Atle & Frestad, Dennis (2010). IFRS og risikostyring kan regnskapsstandarder påvirke selskapers sikringsstrategier? Magma forskning og viten. ISSN 1500-0788. 13(4), p. 20–26. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Denne artikkelen illustrerer hvordan innføringen av internasjonale regnskapsstandarder (IFRS) potensielt kan påvirke selskapers risikostyring. Slik påvirkning vil kunne forekomme dersom bedriftene gjennom sikringsstrategiene ønsker å stabilisere sine regnskapsresultater. IFRS vil da influere selskapers faktiske posisjonstaking i sikringsinstrumenter, og standardene vil således ha reelle konsekvenser for selskapenes agering. Dersom bedriftene initielt har tilpasset seg optimalt ut i fra en målsetting om å minimere kontantstrømsrisikoen, vil man kunne hevde at de nye regnskapsstandardene kan ha en verdireduserende effekt gjennom påvirkningen på selskapenes risikostyringsstrategier.

• Beisland, Leif Atle (2010). A Note on Fair Value Accounting in a Crisis: The Influence of the Hedge Accounting Regulations. Business and Economics Journal. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The role of fair value accounting in the financial crisis is controversial and heavily debated. Some claim that fair value accounting of financial instruments contributed to the recent crisis. This note acknowledges that, in many industries, a significant proportion of the financial instruments are entered into for hedging purposes. I examine if a crisis, through the hedge accounting regulations, can affect the overall use of fair value accounting in an economy. I present analytical evidence that the boosting price volatility during the crisis lead to more companies complying with the hedge accounting requirements, and thus to an increased extent of hedge accounting at the expense of fair value accounting. Hence, the analysis suggests that the hedge effectiveness provisions ensure more hedge accounting in uncertain and turbulent times, which are exactly the periods when hedge accounting is especially called for.

• Beisland, Leif Atle (2009). A review of the value relevance literature. The Open Business Journal. 2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Value relevance research empirically investigates the usefulness of accounting information to stock investors. Accounting information is denoted as value relevant if there is a statistical association between the accounting numbers and market values of equity. This review provides a comprehensive study of the value relevance literature. The review focuses mainly on high-quality value relevance research from the last two decades, but it also covers seminal studies from the late 1960s. The primary focus is on research on U.S. financial data, but some international evidence is also presented. The articles are generally selected from top accounting journals. The review offers an introduction to the methodology employed within this research tradition and presents the main results from studies regarding the value relevance of the two summary measures used in financial reports, namely, earnings and book equity. Furthermore, the review describes studies on the development in value relevance over time and shows how value relevance from different accounting methods can be compared. Overall, the review provides in-depth information on the value relevance literature to readers who wish to familiarise themselves with this line of empirical accounting research.

View all works in NVA

• Beisland, Leif Atle (2025). Introduksjon til aksjesparing for ikke-økonomer. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle (2024). EU's new sustainability reporting - consequences for theory and practice. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Nyarko, Samuel Anokye (2022). Lending to Women and Lending Risk in Micro-Banks: The Moderating Effects of Patriarchy and Female Leadership. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Djan, Kwame & Mersland, Roy (2019). What Drives the Social Scores in Microfinance Ratings? Full text in Research Archive
• Djan, Kwame Ohene; Nyarko, Samuel Anokye; Mersland, Roy; Beisland, Leif Atle & Nakato, Linda (2019). The Impact of International Ownership on the Performance of Social Enterprises: A Global Survey of Microfinance Shareholder Firms. Full text in Research Archive
• Zamore, Stephen; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2018). Geographic diversification and credit risk in microfinance. Full text in Research Archive
• Zamore, Stephen; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2018). Non-performing loans and efficiency of microfinance institutions. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy; Nyarko, Samuel Anokye; Nakato, Linda & Djan, Kwame Ohene (2018). The Impact of International Ownership on the Performance of Microfinance Institutions: A Global Survey. Full text in Research Archive
• Mersland, Roy; Beisland, Leif Atle & Pascal, Daudi (2017). The Origin of Chief Executive Officers and Performance in Hybrid Businesses: The Case of Microfinance. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Ndaki, Daudi Pascal & Mersland, Roy (2017). Capital Structure and CEO Tenure in Microfinance Organizations. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Strøm, R. Øystein (2017). Audit Quality and Access to Debt Capital: A Global Survey of the Microfinance Industry. Full text in Research Archive
• Zamore, Stephen; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2017). Non-performing loans and efficiency of microfinance institutions. Full text in Research Archive
• Zamore, Stephen; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2016). Geographic diversification and credit risk in microfinance. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Ndaki, Daudi Pascal (2016). The influence of CEO power on agency costs for non-profit organisations: evidence from the global microfinance industry. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Strøm, R. Øystein (2016). Use of Big Four auditors and fund raising: Evidence from developing and emerging markets. Full text in Research Archive
• Ndaki, Daudi Pascal; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2016). The origin of CEOs and its influence on microfinance performance and risk-taking. Full text in Research Archive
• Ndaki, Daudi Pascal; Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2016). The origin of CEOs and its influence on the microfinance performance and risk-taking. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & D'Espallier, Bert (2015). The commercialization of the microfinance industry: Is there a 'personal mission drift' among credit officers? Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & D'Espallier, Bert (2015). The commercialization of the microfinance industry: Is there a 'personal mission drift' among the credit officers? Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2014). Microfinance inclusion: A case study of disabled clients in an Ecuadorian bank. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Strøm, R. Øystein (2013). Audit Quality and Corporate Governance: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2013). Staff Characteristics and the Exclusion of Persons with Disabilities: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry in Uganda. Full text in Research Archive
• Mersland, Roy; Beisland, Leif Atle & Randøy, Trond (2013). The Effect of Corporate Governance on Microfinance Rating Scores. Full text in Research Archive
• Mersland, Roy; Beisland, Leif Atle & Randøy, Trond (2013). The Effect of Corporate Governance on Microfinance Rating Scores. Full text in Research Archive
• Mersland, Roy; Beisland, Leif Atle & Randøy, Trond (2013). Transparency in microfinance. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Randøy, Trond (2013). Corporate Governance and Microfinance Performance: A Rating Score Approach. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2012). Barriers to microfinance for people with disabilities - the staff perspective. Full text in Research Archive
• Mersland, Roy & Beisland, Leif Atle (2012). Barriers to microfinance for people with disabilities - the staff perspective. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2012). Earnings Quality and Regulation: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Strøm, R. Øystein & Mersland, Roy (2012). Audit Quality and Corporate Governance: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2012). Earnings Quality and Regulation: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle; Mersland, Roy & Strøm, R. Øystein (2012). Audit Quality and Corporate Governance: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry. Full text in Research Archive
• Frestad, Dennis & Beisland, Leif Atle (2011). Implications of firm heterogeneity for the accounting of cash flow hedges under SFAS 133. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2011). Earnings Quality in Non-Profit versus For-Profit Organizations: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study uses the microfinance industry to analyze differences in earnings quality between for-profit and non-profit organizations. The two sets of organizations differ with respect to both governance mechanisms and managerial incentives, and little research has been conducted to investigate how such differences may affect the quality of the financial reporting. We find that earnings are smoother and more predictable in for-profit organizations compared to their non-profit counterparts. The results are consistent with a larger demand for high-quality financial reporting in for-profit organizations (the demand hypothesis). However, several earnings quality tests do not find any difference in earnings quality between the two groups of organizations. The latter results may suggest that managers of for-profit organizations have larger private incentives to influence the financial reporting process (the opportunistic behavior hypothesis), thus, dampening the effect of the higher demand for earnings quality in profit-maximizing entities.

• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2011). Earnings Quality in Non-Profit versus For-Profit Organizations: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2011). Barriers to Microfinance for Disabled Persons: Evidence from Uganda. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2011). Earnings Quality in the Microfinance Industry. Full text in Research Archive
• Frestad, Dennis & Beisland, Leif Atle (2011). Implications of firm heterogeneity for the accounting of cash flow hedges under SFAS 133. Full text in Research Archive
• Mersland, Roy & Beisland, Leif Atle (2010). Earning Quality in the Microfinance Industry. Full text in Research Archive
• Beisland, Leif Atle & Hamberg, Mattias (2010). Variations in the Value Relevance of Accounting Information. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Accounting conservatism limits the ability to capitalize investments in valuable resources. Most investments give rise to future cash inflows, and, as a result, firms that immediately expense investments introduce distortions in the association between reported earnings and value. We show that these unsustainable earnings components affect the measures of accounting information?s value relevance. Value relevance varies over time, and, in particular, firms that immediately expense investments experience considerably more variance. These firms provide less value-relevant information in good times when reported earnings are unrepresentatively low. We also find that value relevance is negatively associated with stock market sentiment.

• Beisland, Leif Atle & Knivsflå, Kjell Henry (2010). Have IFRSs changed how investors respond to earnings and book values? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Firms listed on European stock exchanges are required to report according to International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS, from 2005. We choose a Norwegian sample to examine whether this shift from domestic GAAP to IFRS has changed how investors respond to accounting information. We find that while the association between stock prices and book values has increased after IFRS adoption, the earnings response coefficient has decreased. The increased associa-tion between book value and stock market value is attributed to more measure-ment at fair value. However, increased recognition of intangible assets according to IFRS moderates the positive balance sheet effect accredited to fair value. The reduced investor response to earnings is found to be driven by non-recurring items. Thus, fair value revaluations hurt the value relevance of earnings. Increased recognition of intangible assets, by contrast, moderates the negative effect on earnings response coefficients attributed to fair value, suggesting that capitaliza-tion of intangible assets at cost contributes to increased earnings persistence through better matching of investment expenditures with corresponding revenues in the future.

• Mersland, Roy & Beisland, Leif Atle (2009). The use of microfinance series among economically active disabled people - evidence from Uganda. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study investigates the use of microfinance services among economically active disabled people in Uganda. The findings suggest that disabled people make more use of microfinance services than previously assumed. A total of 89 per cent of the survey?s respondents state that they have used at least one type of microfinance service. Informal self-help schemes are more easily accessed than formal institutional schemes, and disabled people access more savings than loans. The multivariate analysis shows that access to microfinance services is positively related to education level. In addition, deaf people generally have less access to microfinance than those in other disability categories.

• Beisland, Leif Atle (2009). Predictive ability and value relevance of accounting measures. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper presents evidence that the earnings component cash flow is a significant predictor of short term firm performance as measured by future cash flow and earnings. The findings also assert that the accrual component is related to future earnings but not to future cash flow. However, both cash flow and accruals are value relevant, i.e., statistically related to current stock return. Because company value is the present value of future cash flows/earnings, studies on accounting variables¿ relation to short term future cash flows and earnings may provide indirect evidence with respect to the variables¿ value relevance. The analysis shows that while prediction tests may provide indications with respect to value relevance, there is not a one-to-one relationship between cash flow and accruals¿ ability as short term cash flow and earnings predictors and their value relevance. In fact, cash flow and/or earnings prediction analyses may act as poor substitutes for value relevance studies.

• Beisland, Leif Atle (2009). Is the value relevance of accounting information consistently underestimated? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Two decades ago, Lev (1989) suggested that there is a remarkably low association between stock returns and earnings. Prior research has proposed several reasons for the seemingly poor value relevance of accounting earnings. For instance, Hayn (1995) and Joos and Plesko (2005) find that the value relevance of accounting information is sign dependent, and they propose that one has to account for the sign of earnings in empirical value relevance studies. In addition, Ohlson and Penman (1992) and Barth, Beaver, Hand and Landsman (2005), among others, document that value relevance increases if accounting earnings is disaggregated into components. My study further investigates the sign and aggregation effect in value relevance studies. I find that the value relevance of accounting earnings increases dramatically both if earnings are disaggregated into cash flow and accruals items and if the sign of bottom line earnings is accounted for. Specifically, value relevance as measured by explanatory power more than doubles when earnings are disaggregated and a dummy variable for the sign of earnings is included in the regression analyses. The study strongly suggests that the value relevance of accounting earnings may be severely understated if the sign effect and the disaggregation effect are disregarded. However, my study also shows that value relevance may not be equally underestimated across sub-samples. Hence, the conclusions of prior studies that have compared value relevance between sub-samples created from different time-periods, industries, countries, etc. may be biased.

• Beisland, Leif Atle & Mersland, Roy (2009). Do disabled people microfinance? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study investigates the use of microfinance services among economically active disabled people. The findings suggest that disabled persons have easier access to microfinance services than previously assumed. A total of 89% of the survey¿s respondents state that they have used at least one type of microfinance services. The findings indicate that disabled people don¿t differ much from non-disabled people in their access to microfinance. For instance, informal self-help schemes are more easily accessed by disabled people than are formal institutional schemes, and disabled people access more savings than loans. Moreover, the multivariate analysis shows that access to microfinance services is positively related to education level and that women are more likely than men and married people are more likely than unmarried people to use microfinance services. Income from farming is generally negatively related to the use of microfinance services.

• Beisland, Leif Atle (2008). The Value Relevance of Accounting Information across Industries: What happened to the New Economy? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We investigate differences in the value relevance of accounting information between companies located in traditional and non-traditional industries using a large sample of Swedish quoted companies. Using both ¿price level¿ and ¿return¿ models we find no evidence that the mean explanatory power of accounting information is worse in non-traditional industries. While ¿price level¿ models reveal a low variance in value relevance over time for traditional industries, there is a substantial variation for non-traditional industries. We link these variations to market sentiments and show that in good times (positive market sentiments) the relative value relevance of non-traditional industries is low, and vice versa in bad times. Finally, we show that while measures of sustainable earnings have incremental value relevance, its benefits are similar in traditional and non-traditional industries.

• Beisland, Leif Atle (2008). Essays on the value relevance of accounting information. Norges Handelshøyskole. ISSN 9788240502065. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The dissertation consists of five independent essays on the value relevance of accounting information. Value relevance is defined as the ability of financial statement information to capture and summarise firm value. Value relevance is measured as the statistical association between financial statement information and stock market values or returns. The first essay of the dissertation is a thorough description of recent value relevance research. The remaining four essays are all empirical studies, conducted on Norwegian and Swedish samples. The first study concludes that if accounting earnings are a significant predictor of short term firm performance, it is reasonable to expect that they are also value relevant. However, this prediction may not be reversed. The second study finds that accounting information on average is equally value-relevant in traditional, mostly manufacturing, industries, and non-traditional, typically high-tech, industries when the higher frequency of transitory earnings in the non-traditional industries is taken into account. Still, the value relevance is significantly more unstable in non-traditional industries than in traditional ones. Specifically, the accounting information in non-traditional industries has particularly low information content, relatively speaking, to stock investors when the economy is doing well. The third study presents evidence that the value relevance of earnings increases dramatically if earnings are disaggregated and the sign of earnings is taken into account in the empirical analysis. The fourth and final empirical study concludes that the stock price’s association with book equity has increased after Norwegian exchange listed companies switched accounting regime to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). However, the stock price’s response to earnings has actually gone down.

View all works in NVA