Financial reporting for employee stock options: liabilities or equity?

This study seeks to determine whether employee stock options share key characteristics of liabilities or equity. Consistent with warrant pricing theory, we find that common equity risk and expected return are negatively associated with the extent to which a firm has outstanding employee stock options, which is opposite to the association for liabilities. We also find the following. (1) The association is positive for firms that reprice options and less negative for firms that have options with longer remaining terms to maturity, which indicates that some employee stock options have characteristics that make them more similar to liabilities. (2) Leverage measured based on treating options as equity has a stronger positive relation with common equity risk than leverage measured based on treating options as liabilities. (3) The sensitivity of employee stock option value to changes in asset value mirrors that of common equity value and is opposite to that of liability value. Also, we find that, unlike liabilities, employee stock options have substantially higher risk and expected return than common equity. Our findings are not consistent with classifying employee stock options as liabilities for financial reporting if classification were based on the directional association of a claim with common equity risk and expected return. Rather, our findings suggest the options act more like another type of equity.     

Financial instruments in non-financial firms: what do we know?

Accounting for financial instruments is one of the most controversial standard setting issues. Attempts by standard setters to expand the scope of fair value measurement provoked fierce opposition from preparers, in particular from the financial industry but also, albeit less frequently and less scathingly, from non-financial firms. Academic research could help to bring the discussion onto a more objective level. Most of the existing research focuses on the financial industry and uses US disclosure data from the 1990s. More recent papers use recognition and measurement data from IFRS financial statements, again primarily from the financial industry. This paper provides novel evidence on the relevance of financial instruments for non-financial firms of the STOXX Europe 600 Index. The results in particular refute the myths that fair value measurement of financial instruments is pervasive and that many fair value measurements are of the problematic ‘level 3’ quality. The empirical evidence forms the background for a survey of the small body of existing research on the effects of accounting standards relating to financial instruments on non-financial firms. This survey covers research on the effects on risk management, on the volatility of cash flows and earnings, on earnings management and on the effects on user decisions. Both in the empirical sections and in the survey sections, I identify a number of areas for further research to overcome the poor current state of knowledge.     

Dividend payouts under a societal crisis: Financial constraints or signaling?

Dividend payouts of Chinese firms are typically flexible and unstable, and firms have leeway to change dividends in response to a crisis. Using this setting, we document that Chinese listed firms tend to decrease dividend payouts under the coronavirus crisis, supporting our financial constraints hypothesis instead of the alternative dividend signaling hypothesis. The baseline result is robust to a series of sensitivity checks. Underlying mechanism tests show that the negative effect of COVID-19 on dividend policies is enhanced in high-constrained groups compared to that in low-constrained groups. Further analysis of crisis-related factors reveals that the main result is enhanced when firms engage in international diversification, when firms have greater labor intensity and when firms are nonstate-owned.     

Financial systemic risk: Taxation or regulation?

This paper describes financial systemic risk as a pollution issue. Free riding leads to excess risk production. This problem may be solved, at least partially, either by financial regulation or by taxation. From a normative viewpoint, taxation is superior in many respects. However, reality shows that financial regulation is adopted more frequently. This paper makes a positive, politico-economic argument. If the majority chooses regulation, the level is likely to be too harsh. If it chooses taxation, then the level is likely to be too low. Due to regressive effects, a tax on financial transactions receives low support from a majority of low polluting portfolio owners. The same kind of majority may strategically choose regulation in order to burden the minority with a larger share of the cost of reducing systemic risk.     

What is a Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting?

ABSTRACT

Despite more than forty years of exploration into constructing a conceptual framework (CF) for financial reporting the question ‘What is a CF?’ has not been adequately answered. The result is that those who construct CFs are not guided by a clear concept of a CF and communication about CFs is undermined by differences in understanding what it is. There has been a failure to undertake conceptual enquiry into the nature of a CF or into the expressions used in describing it. This paper addresses this failure by undertaking such a conceptual enquiry. Existing explanations of CFs are examined and found to be inadequate. What is wanted from a CF is identified and explained and this is used to prescribe what should be understood by the expression ‘conceptual framework’. A new characterisation of CFs is given that should assist any future construction of new CFs. Problems that may be faced by those who seek to construct a CF are identified.     

Toward the Development of a Global Financial Safety Net or a Segmentation of the Global Financial Architecture?

This article examines the prospects for the development of a comprehensive global financial safety net (GFSN). It discusses the optimal layout of the GFSN, comprising the International Monetary Fund, regional financing arrangements (RFAs), as well as bilateral or multilateral central bank swap arrangements, and the relationship between these. It then briefly reviews and appraises the current structure and functioning of these different layers of the GFSN and discusses the need and scope for strengthening cooperation between RFAs and the IMF. It argues that the GFSN is still very patchy and there is little reason to expect significant progress in better collaboration between RFAs and the IMF as long as the latter’s governance structure is not significantly revamped. Indeed, risks are that the GFSN will become even more fragmented with the further development of the European Stability Mechanism, and the emergence of the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement. To prevent a further fragmentation of the GFSN, substantial governance reform of the IMF is urgently needed.     

Saving the Euro: Mitigating Financial or Trade Spillovers?

This paper analyzes through what channels the euro crisis affected firms and the efficacy of policies to mitigate the crisis. It analyzes stock price responses for 3,045 nonfinancial firms in 16 countries to four key policy events during 2010–11. Using precrisis benchmarks, it separates financial effects from trade effects and examines how bank and trade linkages propagated shocks. It finds that policy measures affected financially dependent firms more, particularly in creditor countries with greater bank exposure to peripheral euro countries, in statistically and economically significant ways. Trade linkages with peripheral countries played little role, although euro movements meant some differential effects.     

Financial flexibility: Do firms prepare for recession?

We analyze how firms manage their financial flexibility conditional on the expected probability of recession. Using an ex ante measure of future recession, we find that, in the aggregate, firms do not appear to prepare. However, a closer analysis reveals a more nuanced relation. The lack of preparation in aggregate is driven by firms that may be unable to prepare: financially constrained and cash poor firms. We find some evidence that firms able to prepare, unconstrained and cash rich firms, may prepare for future recessions.     

Prices or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets?

Financial development is critical for growth, but its microdeterminants are not well understood. We test leading theories of low demand for financial services in emerging markets, combining novel survey evidence from Indonesia and India with a field experiment. We find a strong correlation between financial literacy and behavior. However, a financial education program has modest effects, increasing demand for bank accounts only for those with limited education or financial literacy. In contrast, small subsidies greatly increase demand. A follow‐up survey confirms these findings, demonstrating that newly opened accounts remain open and in use 2 years after the intervention.     

Financial reporting and firm valuation: relevance lost or relevance regained?

In this study, I examine whether balance sheet and income statement numbers have lost or regained their relevance over the last 30 years. Institutional and macroeconomic factors like the global trend towards strengthening regulation and harmonising financial reporting, the extended use of fair values over historical cost, and the recurring occurrence of accounting scandals, market bubbles, and financial crises make it likely that the role of financial reporting for firm valuation has changed. Following prior research, I estimate four models for the concurrent relation between market value and accounting numbers, and then examine the pattern in explanatory power over time. I find that the loss in relevance of the income statement continues in recent years and is present in a large international sample, in particular in countries with strong institutions. While the overall relevance of the balance sheet remains stable, I find a downward trend during the first sample half, which reverses in the second half, especially in common law countries with strong investor protection, strict disclosure requirements, and integrated markets. Even though several caveats apply, the results suggest that changes in the economy, the institutional environment, and in how firms operate affect the relative importance of accounting information for the use in firm valuation by outside stakeholders.     

Does the market model provide a good counterfactual for event studies in finance?

Financial Markets and Portfolio Management - We provide a common framework that relates traditional event study estimation methods in finance to a modern approach for causal event studies. The...     

What is a better cross-hedge for energy: Equities or other commodities?

Can energy futures returns be effectively hedged? If so, what is the best hedge instrument? We study the hedging performance of several cross-hedges including the equity market, oil and gas equities, precious metals, industrial metals, and agricultural commodities. Our main conclusion is that cross-hedging of fluctuations in the energy market is generally not very effective and that any reduction in overall risk is small unless the oil and gas equity index is used. While all cross-hedges have performed better since 2007, the oil and gas equity index is the most effective, reducing risk by up to 20%, but it is also the most expensive.     

Discussion of “Financial reporting for employee stock options: liabilities or equity”

Barth, Hodder, and Stubben examine how the risk and expected return of existing shares varies as a function of the amount of outstanding employee stock options (ESOs), finding that the association is a negative one, consistent with ESOs being equity-like in character. They suggest that their approach could be used to address the question of how best to characterize other complex financial claims. The study is well executed and provides a thought-provoking contribution to the debate. However, it is far from obvious that the “debt or equity” question can be solved in this manner. Their approach effectively defines a liability as a financial claim that has characteristics akin to fixed-rate debt. I provide examples of the limitations of this perspective, starting by comparing ESOs that are settled with shares with those settled in cash. Whether a claim is treated as a liability or equity is of little consequence if it is simply a matter of balance sheet presentation. The real question is the implications for income measurement. I suggest progress might best be made if we start with Penman’s proposal that assets and liabilities be separated into operating and financial items, an approach which would include many claims that have equity-like characteristics, such as unvested ESOs, within the operating liability category. Once a claim ceases to be an operating item—e.g. when an ESO vests—the approach suggested in the paper can then be used to determine how it should be classified.     

Don’t lapse into temptation: a behavioral explanation for policy surrender

Many policyholders surrender their life insurance policies early, leading to substantial monetary losses for private households. Surrender can be explained rationally if it constitutes the last resort providing liquidity in the event of an urgent need of cash. Yet we find clear evidence in German panel data that for more than half of all surrendered contracts investors had cheaper options available to provide the required liquidity. This finding demonstrates that there must be other factors influencing this important life decision. We provide a behavioral explanation, focusing on the role of individual decision heuristics, financial literacy, and financial advice. In particular, we show that financial literacy and financial advice can mitigate the behavioral temptation to lapse, while the tendency to rely on heuristics increases lapse probability.     

Is Financial Regulation Good or Bad for Real Estate Companies? – An Event Study

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - This study investigates how three regulatory reforms undertaken in the aftermath of the global financial crisis have affected returns of real...     

Operating Lease as Alternative Financing for REITs: a Viable Strategy or a Sign of Trouble?

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - Extant REIT research largely overlooks operating leases as an alternative source of financing. In this study, we hand-collect lease information of...     

Review: Chinese public administration and finance—a call for a new theory,research and dialogue

In implementing its national strategy to achieve global leadership, China needs a new public administration theory that integrates political administration, economic management and social regulation. Even so, China has already started to promote its brand of political and economic development abroad. Therefore new comparative research and dialogue is called to explore the universality of Chinese and Western public administration ideas.