Voluntary Disclosure of Sales and the Extent of Trade Credit in Small Private Companies

We examine the association between voluntary financial disclosure and the amount of obtained trade credit in a sample of small private Belgian companies. We argue that voluntary disclosure can help small private companies in mitigating information asymmetries that arise between the company and their suppliers. Using a propensity score matching procedure to control for selection bias, we find that voluntary financial disclosure by small and private companies is positively related to the level of trade credit. This is in line with the traditional view that asymmetric or incomplete information restricts access to external funds.     

When knowledge is power: Evidence from the municipal bond market

I investigate whether access to fundamental information enhances retail investors’ bargaining power, reducing the premium that small municipal bond investors pay over large investors. I find a reduction in this small trade premium after the introduction of an online disclosure repository that lowers retail investors’ information acquisition costs. This finding is limited to issuers whose disclosures are disseminated through the repository. The finding is pronounced for issuers that impose high information acquisition costs on investors ex-ante and those that exhibit high disclosure quality ex-post. These results suggest that as investors’ information sets align, so does their bargaining power with dealers.     

Information disclosure and the role of the accountant in collective bargaining

Building on the recent literature, this article proposes an analytical framework to better understand organizational disclosure of accounting and other managerial information in collective bargaining. Particular organizational and behavioral factors are identified for assessment of information disclosure policy alternatives. It is concluded that it seems inappropriate to generally assert that a broader disclosure of information in collective bargaining is warranted. Finally, illustrative roles for the accountant in labor relations are presented and a likely role for the future is suggested.     

基于效率评价和信息披露的上市公司内部控制研究

本文通过分析效率评价和信息披露对上市公司内部控制体系建设的重要性,同时考虑目前内部控制效率评价体系中存在的局限性和信息披露工作中的不合理性,分别就效率评价和信息披露两方面提出了改进的综合评价模型和优化方向,以期达到促进上市公司内控体系建设的根本目的。     

Financial reporting and information asymmetry: an empirical analysis of the SEC's information-supplying exemption for foreign companies

This paper examines empirically the effects of domicile and SEC registration and reporting requirements on information asymmetry. We compare the adverse-selection component of the relative bid–ask spread (our measure of information asymmetry) for three samples of Nasdaq NMS companies that trade in different home markets and are subject to different standards of disclosure: registered U.S. companies, registered non-Canadian foreign companies, and unregistered non-Canadian foreign companies covered by the information-supplying exemption of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. We find that the adverse-selection component is not significantly larger for the two foreign samples, and it is not reliably different for the registered and unregistered foreign samples. Therefore, we are unable to document that less stringent SEC registration and reporting requirements for foreign companies are associated with greater information asymmetry among investors for non-U.S. securities traded on Nasdaq.     

上市公司信息披露违规市场反应差异研究——2002—2006年的实证分析

本文采用超额收益法,对我国A股市场2002—2006年上市公司信息披露违规公告市场反应差异进行了研究。首先对违规公司与非违规公司信息披露的市场反应差异进行检验,结果表明违规公司和非违规公司的市场反应存在显著差异,并且违规公司的累积超额收益率在违规公告前后较短的时窗内明显呈负值:其次对上市公司信息披露违规在不同年度上的市场反应差异进行检验,发现其市场反应呈逐年增强趋势;再次将事实披露违规和涉嫌披露违规的市场反应差异进行检验,结果表明涉嫌披露违规的市场反应明显强于事实披露违规;最后对ST公司和非ST公司信息披露违规的市场反应差异进行检验,结果发现非ST公司比ST公司的市场反应大。     

CEOs versus the board: Implications of strained relations for stock liquidity

When board-CEO relations are strained, management may reduce cooperation with the board and impede the disclosure of relevant information. Because liquidity is a function of uncertainty, it will reflect board-CEO tensions. Using a sample of East Asia companies, we test this prediction by investigating the association between board composition and share liquidity. Although greater board independence generally increases liquidity, its impact is lower when board-management relations are plausibly strained, for example, when CEOs are subject to replacement. Its impact is also lower when CEOs have greater bargaining power. Patterns of accounting transparency are consistent with those we document for liquidity. The evidence thus suggests that board independence can be costly in some circumstances, with a net effect that depends on both the relationship between and the comparative negotiating strengths of the CEO and the board.     

A radical perspective on the disclosure of accounting information to trade unions

The major aim of this paper is to present an alternative view of the issues which should be raised in the discussion of the managerial disclosure of accounting information to trade unions for collective bargaining. It is an attempt to present a radically different stance as regards the major concerns that need to be confronted in the above debate. Central to our argument is the recognition that different conceptualisations of the management-labour relationship can generate different conclusions with respect to the potentialities for the use of accounting information in industrial relations.     

Mandatory information disclosure and innovation: Evidence from the disclosure of operational information

We use a quasi-natural experiment wherein the Shanghai Stock Exchange requires listed companies in certain industries to disclose operational information and a staggered difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of mandatory information disclosure on corporate innovation. We find that companies subject to mandatory operational information disclosure show significantly increased innovation. This effect is pronounced for companies classified as non-state-owned enterprises, facing severe financing constraints and a high degree of shareholder tunneling behavior and in competitive and high-tech industries. Although mandatory operational information disclosure reduces their competitive advantage, companies appear to compensate by increasing innovation. Our study highlights the positive impact of mandatory operational information disclosure, indicating that it contributes to the high-quality development of both capital markets and companies.     

Public Disclosure of Audit Fees and Bargaining Power between the Client and Auditor: Evidence from China

Before the public disclosure of audit fees was mandated, it was unlikely for an audit client to have accurate information about how much other companies were charged by their auditors. Public fee disclosure decreases the cost of auditees' access to audit fee information for the auditor's portfolio of clients and is thus likely to increase the relative bargaining power of auditees over auditors when they negotiate audit fees. Using both proprietary and public audit fee data before and after public fee disclosure was mandated in China, we provide evidence consistent with the preceding conjecture. We find that public fee disclosure reinforces the magnitude of audit fee decreases for overcharged clients and weakens auditors' ability to raise audit fees for undercharged clients. These findings suggest the existence of unintended consequences of public fee disclosure regulation, the original rationale of which was a concern about audit pricing practices that could undermine auditor independence.     

投资者情绪对上市公司业绩快报自愿披露行为的影响 ——基于盈余管理部分中介效应的研究

基于会计策略的综合运用视角,探寻上市公司盈余管理行为在投资者情绪影响业绩快报披露过程中的中介作用。研究发现：公司年报中正向盈余管理程度越大,披露业绩快报的可能性越大;对于盈利公司而言,高涨的投资者情绪对业绩快报披露的促进作用部分通过盈余管理策略中介,但对于亏损公司而言,高涨的投资者情绪会对业绩快报披露产生直接抑制作用,投资者情绪高涨经由盈余管理策略对业绩快报披露所产生的间接正向影响,会被直接的抑制作用所遮掩。研究结论有助于深入了解上市公司不同信息披露策略之间的交互影响,并进一步理清投资者情绪对公司不同信息披露策略的作用机理。     

Trade Disclosure,Information Learning and Securities Market Performance

In this paper we examine the effect of information disclosure on securities market performance when liquidity traders are able to acquire information about inside trading. We show that the bid-ask spread increases with the liquidity trader's learning efficiency, which is greater when trade information is disclosed. The bid-ask spread is always higher when trade information is not disclosed. However, the discrepancy between the bid-ask spreads with and without information disclosure narrows when the learning efficiency increases. We also show that the gains of the informed traders in a market without trade information disclosure are reduced in the presence of the liquidity trader's learning. Nevertheless, liquidity traders do not necessarily benefit from increased transparency. In particular, liquidity traders may face higher trading costs.     

监管导因的信息披露质量研究——基于深交所信息披露质量考评结果分析

以深交所信息披露质量考评结果为依据,通过2008～2010年吉林省上市公司与全国上市公司信息披露质量的比较,发现吉林省上市公司信息披露质量低于全国水平。究其原因,与外部监管环境宽松和内部监管机构独立性不足有着密不可分的关系。应从加大处罚力度、强化对注册会计师审计质量的"再监督"、明确内部审计机构的组织隶属地位等方面入手加以治理。     

Voluntary disclosures of intangibles information by U.S.-listed Asian companies

This paper provides evidence on the voluntary disclosure of intangibles information for U.S.-listed Asian companies. The paper examines the following issues: (1) the effect of firm size, ownership concentration, proportion of foreign revenue, and leverage on voluntary disclosures of intangibles information by U.S.-listed Asian companies; and (2) the use of international standards, and the effect of domestic and global culture on those disclosures. Results indicate that larger firms, firms with greater ownership dispersion, and firms with lower leverage provide more voluntary disclosure of intangibles information. The paper also documents that companies from countries that are more individualistic provide more voluntary disclosure of intangibles information than companies from countries that are collectivist. Therefore, it appears that domestic culture does affect the voluntary disclosure of intangibles information in the U.S. This paper uses the index developed for Portuguese companies by Oliveira, Rodrigues, and Craig (2006), to measure voluntary disclosures of intangibles information thereby providing external validity to their instrument.     

Risk disclosures on the second tier markets of the London Stock Exchange

The identification, management and disclosure of risks have been the subject of recent legislation, directives and reporting standards issued across a number of international jurisdictions. To inform the disclosure debate, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the risk warning disclosures of initial public offering (IPO) companies and the factors that drive such disclosures. We find that risk disclosures of IPO companies contain a greater proportion of forward‐looking information but a lower proportion of information on internal controls and risk management than the disclosures of listed companies. We find evidence that such disclosure has increased across time but that larger directors’ shareholdings are associated with a reduction in risk disclosure.     

Reporting intangible assets: Voluntary disclosure practices of top emerging market companies

This study is the first to empirically examine the applicability of the Value Chain Scoreboard™ proposed by Lev (2001) as an alternative disclosure framework for intangible assets (IA). The context of the research is the top 200 emerging market companies, which are the focus of increasing international attention. We empirically examine the extent of IA disclosures and find that emerging market companies do actively engage in voluntary disclosure practices to disseminate mainly quantitative IA information to their global stakeholders. Corporate-specific factors such as the adoption of IFRS/U.S. GAAP, industry type, and price-to-book ratio are key influences significantly associated with the level of IA voluntary disclosure. In addition, country-specific factors, including risks associated with economic policies and legal systems, are found to be significantly associated with the level of IA disclosure.     

The supply of and demand for accounting information in an unregulated market: Examples from the lancashire cotton mills, 1855–1914

The rise and fall of a system of unregulated voluntary financial disclosure are examined by reference to economic and social changes. Variations in disclosure are attributed to the social ownership of capital conditioned by redistributions of wealth occasioned by the trade cycle and the institutions of industrial relations. Conclusions suggest that voluntary disclosure is associated with participatory, democratic ownership structures. Conversely, secretive attitudes are fostered by the centralization of equity ownership around dominating interest groups and by institutionalized systems of collective bargaining.     

上市公司会计信息披露质量探讨

上市公司的会计信息披露是证券市场的主要信息来源,本文探讨了我国证劵市场会计信息披露的标准与问题,分析了证券市场会计信息披露问题的原因,然后从微观和宏观角度提出了相关建议。     

企业业绩组合 业绩差异与季报披露的时间选择——管理层信息披露的组合动机与信息操作

本文主要考察企业业绩组合、业绩差异与季报披露的时间选择之间的关系以及季报披露时间的信息内涵。实证研究显示,上年年报和一季度季报均为“好消息”,一季度每股收益、净资产收益率和主营业务利润率高的上市公司季报披露时间间隔大;上年年报为“好消息”而一季度季报为“坏消息”,上年年报为“坏消息”而一季度季报为“好消息”,上年年报和一季度季报均为“坏消息”,一季度每股收益比上年度高的上市公司季报披露时间间隔小。这可能是由于一季度季报和上年年报均要求在4月30日之前披露的特殊性,上市公司管理层在信息披露的过程中可能存在组合动机与信息操作行为,一季度季报披露的时间选择可能关键取决于上年年报和一季度季报披露的“好消息”或“坏消息”带来的积极影响或消极影响的组合与权衡。     

信息披露质量 控股股东资金占用与公司价值——来自深市A股上市公司的经验证据

资本市场中存在的信息不对称加剧了控股股东对中小股东的利益侵占。信息披露作为一种旨在减轻信息不对称程度的机制,有助于提高上市公司的透明度,保护中小股东利益。本文以2007-2009年深市A股上市公司为样本,实证检验了信息披露质量对控股股东资金占用的影响。研究发现,控制相关因素后,信息披露质量与资金占用呈显著负相关,提高信息披露质量可以有效地降低控股股东资金占用;进一步研究发现,控股股东资金占用越少的公司价值越高,并且相比而言,信息披露质量越高,公司价值也越高。