JIT Adoption: The Effects of LIFO Reserves and Financial Reporting and Tax Incentives*

Using matched samples of JIT adopters and nonadopters, we examine the association of JIT adoption with firms' financial reporting and tax incentives, earnings‐management histories, and LIFO reserve levels. We find evidence that adoption decisions are influenced by the interaction of firms' LIFO reserves with their income smoothing, debt covenant, and tax incentives. We also find that adoption is less likely for firms historically engaging in high degrees of earnings management, particularly when such firms have no substantial LIFO reserves. Our study extends earlier research demonstrating a relation between inventory valuation method and year‐end inventory transactions, and documents a relation between earnings‐management incentives and a fundamental supply‐chain design choice.     

股权的家族化、家族高管与家族企业业绩

文章利用2004-2015年中国A股家族控股上市公司的相关年度数据,从家族企业股权家族化视角出发,实证检验了股权家族化对家族企业业绩以及对企业是否聘任家族成员担任公司高管的经验影响关系。结果发现：（1）同等条件下,控股家族股权分配的家族化水平越高,其经营业绩表现越差;（2）家族成员担任CEO或董事长等关键高管会加剧股权家族化对家族企业业绩的负向影响关系;（3）同等条件下,公司股权的家族化更可能促使家族企业聘请家族成员担任CEO或董事长。此外,文章进一步分析发现,非核心家族成员参股企业会降低股权家族化与聘请家族成员担任公司CEO之间的正向影响关系。     

FDI如何影响本地企业出口——来自中国制造业的发现

文章从理论上分析了外资进入影响本地企业出口行为的机制，并在构造外资溢出三类指标的基础上，运用1998-2007年中国制造业企业数据实证检验了外资溢出对本地企业出口参与决策和出口规模的影响。研究表明：（1）外资企业通过行业内水平溢出和行业间前向关联溢出显著促进了本地企业的出口参与决策，并提高了本地企业的出口规模；（2）外资行业间后向关联溢出对本地企业出口参与决策的影响不明显，但扩大了已出口企业的出口规模，控制内生性后结论仍成立；（3）外资进入对本地企业出口行为的影响因外资来源地和本地企业所有制性质的不同而存在显著的差异性。     

出口固定成本、融资约束与中国企业出口参与

本文基于新新贸易理论和中国企业面临融资约束的现实,建立离散动态出口模型,发现克服出口固定成本和缓解融资约束可以促进企业出口参与。进而运用2004～2008年中国七十余万家制造业企业数据,从内源融资、银行信贷和商业信贷3个维度衡量融资约束,实证检验理论分析。结果发现,克服出口固定成本是企业参与出口的关键,商业信贷对企业出口参与贡献最大,银行信贷次之,内源融资贡献最小。细化样本后发现,克服出口固定成本仍然是出口的关键,但是,无内源融资企业较之有内源融资企业,内资企业较之外资企业,出口融资都更多依赖商业信贷和银行信贷;国有企业出口融资更多依赖银行信贷,而民营企业更多依赖商业信贷。变化融资约束衡量方法后,结果依然稳健。     

融资约束对现金持有动机强弱影响的实证分析

在不同的财务背景下公司现金持有动机强弱表现是否存在差异,这是学术界近年研究的热点。文章以1998—2006年连续四年有数据的沪深上市公司为样本,通过公司规模四分位数、样本期间发生股利支付与否作为融资约束与否的判别标准,分析融资约束公司与非融资约束公司现金持有动机强弱表现差异。实证结果表明：我国上市公司融资约束与否直接影响到现金持有决策过程中动机强弱的表现。为了避免现金短缺和投资机会的丧失等情况的发生,我国上市公司在整个现金持有决策中均表现谨慎,注重现金持有的预防性动机和交易性动机作用的发挥。     

U-shaped relationship between vertical integration and competition: Theory and evidence

This paper considers how competition can affect aggregate innovative activity through its effects on firms' decision whether or not to vertically integrate. A moderate increase in competition enhances innovation incentives and too much competition discourages innovative effort. These effects generate an inverted-U relationship between competition and innovation and between competition and the incentive to vertically integrate. Preliminary evidence finds that there is a nonlinear relationship between competition and the propensity of firms to vertically integrate. These results seem to be more consistent with the Property Right Theory of vertical integration than with the Transaction Cost Economics approach.     

地区营商环境对企业出口贸易的影响

文章利用世界银行于2013年公布的中国制造业企业问卷调查数据,实证检验地区营商环境对企业出口贸易的影响。研究发现,营商环境体系中的关贸监管效率、行政审批效率、基础设施条件、融资便利程度、高素质劳动力等因素显著阻碍了企业出口强度的提升,这几个方面应当成为政府部门改善营商环境的政策着力点。不同类型企业对营商环境的诉求存在显著差异,大型企业的出口贸易对营商环境各项指标的质量都更加敏感,高生产率企业的出口贸易则更易受到低质量税制环境和高素质劳动力短缺的制约。东部发达地区的企业出口贸易受要素市场条件的约束相对更多,而中西部欠发达地区的企业出口贸易受贸易便利条件的约束更为突出。     

金融发展、融资约束与中国本土企业出口绩效——基于省际面板数据的经验研究

通过纾缓融资约束提高企业出口能力是开放条件下金融发展影响一国(地区)经济增长的重要渠道之一。本文利用1999～2006年省际面板数据,构建衡量金融发展的综合指标体系,运用系统广义矩估计方法进行实证研究发现:我国金融发展有限地促进了本土企业的出口增长;尽管非国有本土企业和中小企业对出口贡献呈上升趋势,但难以从正规金融体系中获取充分的融资支持,国有银行寡头垄断的金融市场结构抑制了本土企业出口绩效的持续增进。本文得出的政策建议是进一步深化金融改革,为企业改善贸易竞争力提供合理有效的外部环境。     

Deviations from the Mandatory Adoption of IFRS in the European Union: Implementation,Enforcement, Incentives,and Compliance

In this paper, we evaluate the common assumption that European Union (EU) firms began using international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in 2005 when the EU formally adopted IFRS. Although the incidence of firms using local (or some other) GAAP declined between 2005 and 2012, it is still non‐trivial. By 2012 the incidence of non‐IFRS financial statements was still in excess of 17 percent (87 percent of which were fully consolidated). We estimate a model of the non‐adoption of IFRS as a function of implementation features of the IFRS regulation, country‐specific enforcement, and firm‐specific reporting incentives. As expected, being specifically required by EU‐wide and country‐specific rules to adopt IFRS is positively associated with IFRS adoption but does not constitute a complete explanation. Proxies for enforcement are significantly associated with non‐adoption, but the marginal effects of the enforcement variables are weak. We find that larger firms, firms with foreign operations and more analyst following, and firms that issue new debt and equity were more likely to adopt IFRS, both when the regulation was initially imposed and in subsequent years. We conclude that many EU firms do not use IFRS; that some firms exploited definitions, exemptions, and deferrals to avoid adopting IFRS while some firms simply failed to comply with the regulation; and that firms responded to their incentives in deciding whether to adopt IFRS.     

产业关联、技术差距与外商直接投资的技术溢出

本文运用非均衡面板数据的广义矩估计,从产业关联和技术差距的角度考察了外商直接投资对中国纺织业的技术溢出效应.经验分析结论表明,外商直接投资主要通过水平关联和后向关联对纺织业内资企业产生溢出效应;外商直接投资是否通过水平关联促进内资企业生产效率的改善还取决于内外资企业间的技术差距,只有当内外资企业技术差距小于门限值时,外...     

Loan Sales and Borrowers’ Accounting Conservatism

We examine whether initial loan sales in the secondary loan market relate to borrowing firms’ accounting conservatism. We find that borrowing firms exhibit a significant decline in accounting conservatism after the initial loan sales. We show that the decline in borrower conservatism is more pronounced for firms that borrow from lenders with lower monitoring incentives and for firms that have lower incentives to supply conservatism. The baseline results are robust to a battery of sensitivity tests. Collectively, we provide corroborative evidence that lead lenders’ monitoring incentives enforce accounting conservatism in the private debt market, and that lead lenders play a more prominent role than secondary loan market participants in shaping corporate (conservative) reporting.     

民营企业慈善行为中的红色文化因素研究

文章以2007-2016年沪深A股非金融类民营上市公司为样本,从捐赠意愿和捐赠规模两个维度检验红色文化对民营企业慈善捐赠行为的影响。研究发现,相比非革命老区民营企业,老区企业具有更强的捐赠意愿和更大的捐赠规模,该结论在使用"地形起伏度"作为工具变量控制可能的内生性问题后依然成立。拓展检验发现,在产品直接面向消费者、外部市场制度不完善及面临业绩压力的企业,红色文化促进慈善的作用明显较弱。机制检验表明,董事长的老区成长经历能够促进红色文化对慈善捐赠的影响,由此说明,红色文化是通过核心管理者将慈善的"奉献"理念嵌入企业的决策行为。文章从财务学视角探讨红色文化与企业慈善行为间的联系,丰富了中国情境下文化与微观企业决策的研究。     

Incremental Information Content of the Change in the Percent of Production Added to Inventory*

Abstract. Manufacturing firms can manipulate income by producing in excess of the quantity needed to meet current period demand, thereby allocating part of current period fixed manufacturing overhead costs from cost of goods sold to inventory. Because it is subject to manipulation, the component of earnings due to producing in excess of sales may be of lower quality than the remaining component of earnings. We investigate this possibility using a regression of security returns on unexpected income and an estimate of the change in percent of production added to inventory (CPAI). An analytical model indicates that CPAI determines the “earnings surprise” subject to manipulation by overproducing. Assuming the market recognizes this, the coefficient on CPAI should be negative because this low quality component must be deducted from the total “good news” conveyed by the change in reported earnings. Alternatively, CPAI may convey good or bad news to the market that is unrelated to the manipulation of current period earnings. Firms may increase the percent of production added to inventory in anticipation of high levels of future sales. In this case, the estimated coefficient on CPAI should be positive. Or, if the increase in the percent of production added to inventory reflects anticipation of a strike or an unexpected downturn in current sales, the estimated coefficient should be negative. Cross-sectional tests using a large sample of manufacturing firms indicate a significant positive relation between security returns and CPAI. This finding is consistent with market participants viewing CPAI as a leading indicator of firm performance. Although the results are most supportive of CPAI conveying good news, there is some evidence that CPAI is used by managers to smooth earnings and, for firms classified as smoothing earnings, there is weak evidence that the component of earnings related to CPAI is viewed by market participants to be of lower quality.     

Do R&D tax incentives work? Firm-level evidence from China

Tax incentives have been used worldwide to encourage firm R&D, but there is little evidence on their effectiveness as a policy tool in developing countries. We use a panel dataset of Chinese listed companies covering 2007 to 2013 to assess the effects of tax incentives on firm R&D expenditures and analyze how institutional conditions shape these effects. Our results show that tax incentives motivate R&D expenditures for our sample firms. A 10% reduction in R&D user costs leads firms to increase R&D expenditures by 3.97% in the short run. We also find considerable effect heterogeneity: Tax incentives significantly stimulate R&D in private firms but have little influence on state-owned enterprises' R&D expenditures. Moreover, the effects of tax incentives are more pronounced for private firms without political connections. Hence, reducing political intervention complements tax incentives' capacity to foster firm R&D in developing countries.     

Choice of flexible production technologies under strategic delegation

This paper analyzes a managerial delegation model in which firms can choose between a flexible production technology which allows them to produce two different products and a dedicated production technology which limits production to only one product. We analyze whether the incentives to adopt the flexible technology are smaller or greater in a managerial delegation model than under strict profit maximization. We obtain that the asymmetric equilibrium in which only one firm adopts the flexible technology can be sustained under strategic delegation but not under strict profit maximization when products are substitutes. We extend the analysis to consider welfare implications.     

International Trade and Firms' Heterogeneity under Monopolistic Competition

This article studies the interactions between international trade and firms' heterogeneity by proposing a tractable model consistent with the stylised facts. The model describes, in a general equilibrium framework, two economies producing and trading two goods, one homogeneous and the other differentiated. In the differentiated-good sector, firms are heterogeneous by their marginal cost, in a context of monopolistic competition with free-entry and exit. They incur a fixed production cost, but also a fixed cost if they choose to export. We show that trade in differentiated goods increases industry-wide efficiency, through two different logics: one defensive and import-driven; the other offensive and export-driven.     

Shareholder‐ Versus Stakeholder‐Focused Japanese Companies: Firm Characteristics and Accounting Valuation*

Recent research has found that the value‐relevance of accounting variables depends not only on whether a country's accounting rules are code‐law oriented or common‐law oriented, but also on the reporting incentives created by the legal and business environment in which a firm operates. Therefore, for example, the earnings of firms in some countries with common‐law oriented rules but with code‐law incentives have more code‐law‐type characteristics. We further this research by examining whether this is true for firms facing the same accounting regime and institutional environment but different stakeholder‐related incentives. We find significant stakeholder‐related incentives across 23 Japanese firms listed in the United States and 23 Japanese firms not listed in the United States that are matched by industry and size. Although these firms face the same institutional environment and the same accounting regime, consistent with the differences in stakeholder‐related incentives, the earnings and book values of the firms listed in the more shareholder‐oriented U.S. markets have significantly more explanatory power for market value than those for firms not cross‐listed in the United States. These findings are unaffected by whether the reports are based on consolidated or parent‐only accounting or whether they are based on U.S. or Japanese GAAP, emphasizing the potential influence of reporting incentives at all levels on the effect of standardization, conversion, or harmonization of accounting methods globally.     

Industrial groupings and strategic FDI

We show that industrial ownership structures, such as keiretsu groupings in Japan, may significantly impact firms’ incentives to engage in foreign direct investment (FDI). While the previous literature has mainly focused on the cost of capital advantages enjoyed by keiretsu firms, this paper examines two relatively unexplored channels by which ownership structure matters for FDI incentives. The first channel involves the direct incentives generated via standard product and factor market interactions whereby keiretsu firms with cross-ownership consider more directly the congestion effects of further FDI into a market. The second channel involves the indirect incentives generated by sharing of information across keiretsu firms which reduces entry costs of subsequent FDI. We find that keiretsu firms are more aggressive than non-keiretsu firms in their FDI strategies, that is, for any given parameter values they undertake FDI with a higher probability than independent firms. Furthermore, keiretsu firms adopt a more aggressive investment strategy against independent rivals than amongst themselves.     

外部利益相关者对企业规范化行为的影响研究

利益相关者理论认为,不同利益相关者对企业的不同期望会直接影响企业行为的规范化水平。文章以23家不同性质企业的案例研究结果为基础,试图对外部利益相关者与企业行为规范性之间的关系进行探索性研究,并提出规范企业行为和市场秩序的有益建议。     

How Are Earnings Managed? An Examination of Specific Accruals*

There is relatively little evidence on the specific accruals used to manage earnings. This paper examines this issue by considering the use of specific accruals in three earnings‐management contexts: equity offerings, management buyouts, and firms avoiding earnings decreases. We argue that the costs of managing earnings through different income statement items vary and that the benefits of earnings management through each of these items depend on the context. We thus make differential predictions regarding which specific accrual will be used to manage earnings in each of the three contexts we consider. To measure earnings management for specific accruals, we develop performance‐matched measures to capture the unexpected component of accounts receivable, inventory, accounts payable, accrued liabilities, depreciation expense, and special items. Consistent with our predictions, we find that firms issuing equity appear to prefer managing earnings upward by accelerating revenue recognition. Specifically, we find that accounts receivable for these firms are unexpectedly high. Conversely, for the management buyout context, we predict and find unexpected accounts receivable to be negative. For firms trying to avoid reporting an earnings decrease, we expect firms to be less concerned with earnings persistence and therefore more likely to use more transitory, and less costly, items to achieve their goal. We find that special items are significantly more positive for this group. This paper provides a further step toward understanding how the incentives behind earnings management affect the method used to achieve earnings goals, and it illustrates the usefulness of examining individual accruals in specific contexts.