Voluntary disclosure of accruals in earnings press releases and the pricing of accruals

This study investigates firms’ decisions to disclose accruals information in earnings press releases versus to provide it only in 10-Q filings and the impact of this disclosure on the pricing of accruals. I find that firms disclose accruals in their press releases when earnings alone are a weak indication of cash flow performance and that following these disclosures the accruals information is fully impounded into stock prices. The evidence suggests that when investor demand for accruals is likely to exist and firms disclose the information in earnings press releases, the mispricing typically associated with accruals is mitigated.

Effects of Preannouncements on Analyst and Stock Price Reactions to Earnings News

This study examines the effects of earnings preannouncements on financial analyst and stock price reactions to earnings news. Prior experimental research documents that when the signs of a preannouncement surprise and subsequent earnings announcement surprise are consistent (i.e., both either positive or negative), analysts make larger magnitude revisions to their future period earnings forecasts in response to the total earnings news conveyed in the preannouncement and earnings announcement than when the surprise signs are inconsistent. This study extends this research by examining a sample of actual preannouncements from 1993–1997 to determine whether the effects documented in laboratory settings manifest at the aggregate market level in stock prices and consensus analyst forecast revisions. Results indicate that after controlling for the sign of earnings news, sign of earnings, and sign of the earnings announcement surprise, stock prices and analyst forecast revisions respond more strongly when a preannouncement and subsequent earnings announcement elicit the same surprise signs than when the surprise signs are inconsistent. Further analysis indicates that the consistency of the signs of a preannouncement surprise and earnings announcement surprise is not associated with future earnings, suggesting that the magnified reaction of investors and analysts to consistent surprise signs is not a rational reaction to associations observed in market settings.     

Voluntary Disclosure of Bad News

Abstract:   This paper shows that in a voluntary disclosure environment entailing both a fixed disclosure cost and a variable proprietary cost, partial disclosure equilibria may arise in which firms voluntarily disclose bad private information to the public. Furthermore, it is shown that such equilibria may arise more frequently as the threat of incuring proprietary cost increases and/or the proprietary cost itself increases.     

Evaluating disclosure theory using the views of UK finance directors in the intellectual capital context

In contrast to most prior research in this area, which focuses on actual disclosures, this study uses a large-scale direct method to investigate the factors that a key preparer group believes influence intellectual capital (IC) disclosure decisions. IC disclosures are typically characterised by uncertainty of interpretation and high levels of commercial sensitivity. A questionnaire elicits 93 UK-listed company finance directors' views regarding the influences on these decisions. Results are used to evaluate the relative explanatory power of several theoretical and practical reasons for disclosure. Strongest support is found for competitive disadvantage and capital market considerations. Issues related to legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory and other economic disclosure costs also feature. Factor analysis reduces the set of 28 incentives and disincentives to 10 uncorrelated dimensions, indicating that a broad and complex set of overlapping factors affect the disclosure decision. The importance of disclosure incentives and disincentives is found to vary both within and between disclosure topics, which may explain the variation in findings in prior research.     

Are Individual Investors Influenced by the Optimism and Credibility of Stock Spam Recommendations?

This study examines attention‐driven investment decisions using a sample of firms essentially unknown to investors prior to becoming the target of a stock spam campaign. We show that the market reaction to spam varies predictably with the content of the spam message. Spam date returns and volume are significantly higher for stocks targeted by spam emails containing optimistic target price projections bundled with ostensibly credible information quoted from a previously issued company press release. There is also some evidence that disclaimers in spam messages reduce, but do not eliminate, the market response. Attention effects also contribute to spammers’ selection of stocks to target and to spam‐related enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission.     

Modelling Transparency in Disclosure: The Case of Foreign Exchange Risk Management

Abstract:  When managers choose not to disclose all the relevant information in their possession in their financial statements, there is an information gap between the managers and users and consequently a lack of transparency. We model the degree of transparency observed when disclosures of foreign exchange (FX) risk management in financial statements are compared to managerial information on FX risk management policy, as evidenced in questionnaire responses. In this comparative study of US and UK firms we find incomplete disclosure in both samples but with differing aspects. In the US case, the information gap is lower where the information has higher relevance or firms with higher financial risk (greater leverage) are signalling the extent of risk, but the gap is greater where firms are in competitive product markets. For the UK sample, the information gap is significantly lower where firms have higher financial risk or higher liquidity but the gap is greater where the shares are more closely held. We conclude that modelling and explaining this aspect of incomplete accounting disclosure in an international setting must be sufficiently flexible to accommodate national differences in managerial behaviour.     

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。     

企业环境信息披露的理论基础透视

环境污染是目前人类遇到的最大挑战,而造成环境污染的主要原因则是企业的工业污染,对企业的环境信息进行披露是当前环境保护的一大法宝。从环境信息披露动机来看,有强制披露和自愿披露两种。但不论是何种动机,其表象之后有着深厚的理论基础。目前政府强制要求污染企业披露环境信息,其理论依据源于一是环境规制理论;二是环境公共信托理论。环境规制源于对环境问题的市场失灵,而环境公共信托理论则强调环境资源“万民共有”的法理。此外,企业会采取自愿披露环境信息的策略,其理论依据也有两点：一是利益相关者理论;二是组织合法性理论。利益相关者对环境信息的需求是推动企业主动披露环境信息的外在动力,而企业自愿披露环境信息的内在动力,则是为了获得组织合法性。