半强制分红政策、再融资动机与经典股利理论——基于股利代理理论与信号理论视角的实证研究

本文实证检验了中国独特的半强制分红政策对有再融资动机的上市公司分红行为的影响,并进一步考察了半强制分红政策背景下股利代理理论和信号理论这两种经典股利理论的解释力。研究发现:(1)半强制分红政策显著提高了有再融资动机的上市公司的派现意愿和派现水平;(2)上市公司派现可以有效降低两类代理成本,而现金股利变动(尤其是现金股利增加)则可以有效传递公司未来盈利变动的信号;(3)相比而言,有再融资动机的上市公司通过派现降低两类代理成本、发送股利信号的作用显著更弱。可见,虽然股利代理理论和信号理论总体上能够解释中国上市公司分红行为,但在半强制分红政策背景下,有再融资动机的上市公司分红行为受到了明显干预,这使得两种经典股利理论的解释力有所削弱。     

上市公司为什么自愿披露内部控制鉴证报告?——基于信号传递理论的实证研究

本文基于信号传递理论对我国上市公司为什么自愿披露内部控制鉴证报告进行了理论分析和实证检验。研究表明,为了向市场传递真实价值的信号,内部控制质量好的公司,具体来说内部控制资源充裕、快速成长、设置了内审部门的上市公司更愿意披露内部控制鉴证报告;而上市年限长、财务状况差、组织变革程度高及发生违规的公司更不愿意披露鉴证报告。运用上市公司内部控制信息披露指数所作的进一步检验也支持我们的研究结论。我们的研究还表明有再融资计划的上市公司更愿意披露内部控制鉴证报告。     

公司动机、审计师声誉和自愿性内部控制鉴证报告——基于A股公司2008—2009年年报的经验研究

上市公司是否自愿披露内部控制鉴证报告,不仅取决于公司自身的披露动机,而且取决于审计师是否愿意出具内部控制鉴证报告。本文利用沪深两市上市公司在2008—2009年年报中自愿披露内部控制鉴证信息所带来的研究机会,实证考察了内部控制鉴证报告这一特殊的自愿信息披露行为的决定因素。研究发现,降低代理冲突和传递信号不仅是上市公司自愿披露内部控制鉴证报告的主要动机,而且是其自愿提高鉴证信息披露质量(扩大鉴证范围和提高保证程度)的主要动机;审计师声誉越高,越不愿意出具内部控制鉴证报告和为公司的内部控制提供高程度保证;大股东与中小股东之间的代理冲突以及内部控制质量会显著影响审计师对鉴证风险水平的评估,进而影响内部控制鉴证报告的鉴证范围和保证程度。     

上市公司股权激励的文献综述

本文将对管理者股权激励的理论基础,股权激励的动机、决定因素以及股权激励对上市公司会计、财务行为的影响的主要文献进行回顾性的综述。通过文献综述,我们将阐述管理者股权激励的涵义,介绍管理者持股与公司会计政策选择及盈余管理的关系、公司管理者持股与公司股利政策行为及其投资行为之间的关系,国外研究所发现的经验证据以及中国上市公司的研究现状将是本文实证研究设计的基础。己有国内外文献的理论框架和经验证据是本文研究的基础。     

上市公司为什么聘请内部控制咨询机构?——基于信号传递理论的实证研究

本文以上市公司自愿聘请内部控制咨询机构为背景,从信号传递理论角度,研究上市公司聘请内部控制咨询机构的影响因素和经济后果。研究发现:第一,内部控制质量较差的公司更倾向聘请内部控制咨询机构;第二,除了内部控制质量,公司性质也会影响公司是否聘请内部控制咨询机构的决策,国有公司更倾向于聘请内部控制咨询机构第三,聘请了内部控制咨询机构的公司业绩显著提升。本文的研究对未来内部控制实施方案的制定具有一定的借鉴作用。     

内部控制鉴证对会计盈余质量的影响研究——基于沪市A股公司的经验证据

内部控制鉴证产生与发展的主要目标是提高财务信息质量,因此会影响盈余质量。我国目前的内部控制鉴证是否有效地提高了会计盈余质量?内部控制鉴证的执行如何影响会计盈余质量?本文通过实证分析沪市A股公司2006—2008年内部控制鉴证的经验证据,发现内部控制鉴证提升了公司会计盈余质量,在控制了管理层信号传递动机以后结论仍然稳健。最后,本文根据实证分析结果和我国上市公司内部控制鉴证业务现状,提出了完善内部控制鉴证的若干政策建议。     

我国股利信号传递理论实证研究评述

相对于国外股利研究的三条主线(信号传递、代理理论、顾客效应)，我国的相关实证研究主要从两方面展开：①股利分配影响因素的研究；②股利信号理论的研究。后者自90年代中期以来，逐渐取代前者成为中西方股利研究方向的主流。我国较早在这一领域展开研究的张水泉和韩德宗在所发表的“上海股票市场股利与配股效应的实证研究”(《预测》97，3)中，以350个股利与配股事件为样本探讨了事件前后沪市的市场反应，首次证实了我国股利事件具有信息内涵。但由于其并未特别指出并讨论股利的信息含量，因而在理论界，多将陈晓等人合著的“我国上市公司首次股利信号传递效应的实证研究”(《经济科学》98，5)作为我国股利信号理论实证研究的开山之作。     

我国上市公司内部控制信息披露影响因素研究

内部控制作为上市公司治理结构中重要组成部分,其完善程度日益成为管理层和投资者所关注的焦点,本文从公司治理和外部监管两个方面进行实证研究来分析影响内部控制信息披露的主要因素。研究发现:第一,公司治理因素中股权集中度、管理层持股比例与是否设立审计委员会与内部控制信息披露水平显著相关;第二,外部监管因素与内部控制信息披露水平都显著相关。     

独立董事辞职、政治关系与公司治理缺陷

本文以2006-2012年沪深主板上市公司的独立董事辞职事件作为研究对象,选取重大财务报表重述和严重违规行为作为公司治理缺陷的代理变量,考察独立董事的提前辞职行为是否能够传递公司治理缺陷的信号。研究发现:(1)独立董事提前辞职行为的确具有传递公司治理缺陷的信号作用,即相比独立董事未辞职和正常辞职的公司,独立董事提前辞职的公司下年度出现重大财务报表重述和严重违规行为的概率会显著增加;(2)细分样本后发现,政治关系会显著影响这种信号作用,即政治关系强的企业其独立董事的提前辞职行为更可能预示公司存在严重的治理缺陷。本文不仅为监管机构建立独立董事追溯处罚机制提供了理论与实证支持,而且为学术界争议已久的独立董事制度有效性提供了一种新的认知。     

上市公司内部审计外包决策的影响因素研究

本文在分析我国上市公司内部审计外包情况的基础上,建立了基于交易成本理论和公司治理理论的外包程度影响因素模型,并利用我国上市公司数据予以实证分析。结果发现,内审资产的专用性、内审活动的开展频率、审计委员会的有效性是影响内部审计外包程度的主要因素,即内审资产的专用性越低,内审活动开展越不频繁,审计委员会未成立或未有效运作,公司越可能进行内部审计外包。     

投资者关系管理及其影响因素分析——基于深圳上市公司的实证检验

基于中国的制度背景,结合公司网站投资者关系的性质,本文从公司管理者开展网站投资者关系管理的内部影响因素和外部影响因素两个方面尝试性地对我国上市公司网站投资者关系水平进行理论分析。在此基础上,我们以深圳主板上市公司网站为样本,对影响公司网站投资者关系水平的因素进行了实证检验。研究表明,公司的再融资计划、公司规模、公司业绩、流通股比重等显著影响到公司网站投资者关系水平。     

Determinants of corporate risk disclosure in large Spanish companies: a snapshot

Improvements in risk disclosure have been an important part of the corporate governance reforms. This paper is intended to identify the factors that explain the extent to which a sample of 35 listed Spanish firms disclose risk-related information. This study focuses on the risk disclosures made in the corporate governance reports during the year 2009. Using the content analysis technique an index was developed in order to assess the amount and quality of the risk information disclosed by Spanish companies. Several characteristics were selected and their influence on the level of risk disclosure was tested empirically. Results indicate that sector and risk level are positively related to the extent of corporate risk disclosures. This study adds to the international research on risk disclosure by extending the scope of the current understanding of risk reporting practices and their determinants. The findings could be especially useful for regulators and policy-makers in order to enhance risk disclosure and to improve transparency.     

The impact of multi-dimensional corporate transparency on us firms’ credit ratings and cost of capital

This study examines corporate transparency in the US market for a sample of 319 S&P 500 firms. We examine whether a number of disparate measures of corporate transparency used by other researchers are distinct, cohere as measures of a single factor of corporate transparency, or capture multiple different dimensions. Next, we begin to examine the impact of corporate transparency, conceived in the broadest sense, and not limited to financial reporting, on US firms. We develop a model of corporate transparency based on a broad definition and framework proposed by Bushman, Piotrowski and Smith, which we extend in several ways, and then study the effect of corporate transparency on cost of debt, credit rating, and cost of equity. First, we find that corporate transparency is neither a unitary concept nor merely an ambiguous term for multiple distinct concepts: factor analysis of ten corporate transparency variables identifies four independent underlying dimensions: public disclosure information, intermediary information, earnings quality information and insider information. Second, we find that corporate transparency has significant power to explain cross-sectional variation in credit rating and cost of capital. More specifically, (i) credit rating, cost of debt, and beta are significantly associated with disclosure information transparency; (ii) credit rating, cost of equity, and beta are significantly associated with intermediary information transparency; and (iii) cost of equity and beta are significantly associated with insider information transparency. Our findings offer a more comprehensive evaluation of corporate transparency than prior studies, and we demonstrate direct economic implications for both US firms and markets.     

公司治理机制与公司治理效率——基于公司治理成本的分析

国内外不断改革的公司治理实践都迫切要求对公司治理机制的效率进行成本收益分析。本文在已有文献的基础上对公司治理成本的概念进行了界定与分类,对公司治理机制、公司治理系统与公司绩效之间的关系进行了分析,并归纳了研究公司治理效率的方法。最后,从治理成本的视角分析治理效率对中国公司治理改革的意义。     

Does corporate governance transparency affect the accuracy of analyst forecasts?

Using country‐level proxies for corporate governance transparency, this paper investigates how differences in transparency across 21 countries affect the average forecast accuracy of analysts for the country's firms. The association between financial transparency and analyst forecast accuracy has been well documented in previous published literature; however, the association between governance transparency and analyst forecast accuracy remains unexplored. Using the two distinct country‐level factors isolated by Bushman et al. (2004 ), governance transparency and financial transparency, we investigate whether corporate governance information impacts on the accuracy of earnings forecasts over and above financial information. We document that governance transparency is positively associated with analyst forecast accuracy after controlling for financial transparency and other variables. Furthermore, our results suggest that governance‐related disclosure plays a bigger role in improving the information environment when financial disclosures are less transparent. Our empirical evidence also suggests that the significance of governance transparency on analyst forecast accuracy is higher when legal enforcement is weak.     

Does Corporate Transparency Contribute to Efficient Resource Allocation?

This paper examines whether a country's corporate transparency environment, which includes the quality of accounting information, contributes to efficient resource allocation. Based on a cross-country study of 37 manufacturing industries in 37 countries, we provide three pieces of related evidence. First, we find the contemporaneous correlations in industry growth rates across country pairs are higher when there is a greater level of corporate transparency in the country pairs, after controlling for country-level economic and financial development. Second, we find the influence of transparency on these correlations is stronger when country pairs are at similar levels of economic development (GDP). Finally, when we control for the level of transparency explained by a country's institutions in place, we find that residual transparency (unexplained by country-level factors) is associated with industry-specific growth rates. Taken together, the results are consistent with corporate transparency facilitating the allocation of resources across industry sectors.     

Corporate Social Reporting: A Rebuttal of Legitimacy Theory

Various rationales have been advanced to explain the phenomenon of corporate social reporting. Among these has been legitimacy theory which posits that corporate disclosures are made as reactions to environmental factors and in order to legitimise corporate actions. This paper reports the results of an historical analysis of social disclosures in 100 years of annual reporting by a dominant corporation in the Australian mining/manufacturing industry. A variable but significant pattern of social reporting is identified and compared with an earlier study of social reporting by US Steel. The results of this study fail to confirm legitimacy theory as the primary explanation for social reporting in the Australian case.     

Behavioral consistency in corporate finance: CEO personal and corporate leverage

We find that firms behave consistently with how their CEOs behave personally in the context of leverage choices. Analyzing data on CEOs' leverage in their most recent primary home purchases, we find a positive, economically relevant, robust relation between corporate and personal leverage in the cross-section and when examining CEO turnovers. The results are consistent with an endogenous matching of CEOs to firms based on preferences, as well as with CEOs imprinting their personal preferences on the firms they manage, particularly when governance is weaker. Besides enhancing our understanding of the determinants of corporate capital structures, the broader contribution of the paper is to show that CEOs' personal behavior can, in part, explain corporate financial behavior of the firms they manage.     

Corporate transparency and firm value: Does market competition play an external governance role?

We investigate whether market competition affects the relationship between corporate transparency and firm value in the United States using a sample of 12,665 firm-year observations, representing 1,644 individual firms for the period 1996–2018. The results show that stronger transparency enhances firm value, and market competition has a significantly positive effect on that relationship. More importantly, we use hierarchical linear models further to explore the cross-level interaction impact of market competition, and we find evidence suggesting that the industry-level competition has a significant cross-level moderating effect. Additionally, consistent with the substitute perspective, we also find that the disciplinary power of competition on the relationship between transparency and value is more pronounced for firms with weak corporate governance. Overall, our evidence supports the “bright side” of the competition view and highlights the active external governance role that competition plays in the value promotion effect of corporate transparency at both the individual and the industry levels.     

环境信息透明度与企业信用评级——基于债券评级市场的经验证据

基于2008至2015年期间公司债券发行主体的信用评级数据和手工收集的上市公司环境信息数据,本文研究了环境信息透明度对企业信用评级的影响。研究结果显示,公司获得高信用评级的概率与其环境信息透明度显著正相关;环境信息传递出公司的特质风险、盈余持续性以及盈余质量等信息,从而影响评级决策。进一步研究发现,环境信息透明度与企业信用评级之间的正相关关系在内部控制质量高、具有高质量外部审计的公司中更显著。采用工具变量两阶段回归方法、公司固定效应模型以及倾向得分配对方法控制内生性后,上述结论依然成立。此外,本文发现环境信息透明度可通过影响企业信用评级降低公司的债券融资成本,环境信息透明度对企业信用评级和债券融资成本的影响在污染行业中显著更强。上述研究发现有助于拓展环境信息披露对市场中介行为影响的相关研究,对认识非财务信息在资本市场中的作用和推进节能减排提供了重要参考。