Determinants of corporate tone in an initial public offering: Powerful CEOs versus well-functioning boards

Recent literature on initial public offerings (IPOs) suggests a significant effect of tone in IPO underpricing but ignores its determinants. This study concentrates on the factors that shape the tone of the information disclosed in IPOs. Sampling 211 Latin American IPOs during the period 2000–2019, we find empirical evidence that a powerful CEO can influence tone, avoiding unfavorable tone and fostering the use of positive words in the information disclosed to the market. We also show that more independent boards tend to use more unfavorable tones. Additionally, we find a non-monotonic relationship between board size and the tone in the prospectus, which suggests that an optimal board size mitigates the excessive use of positive tone and leads to more unfavorable tones in the IPO prospectus. Overall, well-functioning boards counterbalance powerful CEOs and generate more realistic disclosure to the market. Finally, we find that market-dominant auditors, age of the issuing firm, proposed use of proceeds, and the number of risk factors significantly affect the tone in the information disclosed.     

Transparency of the organization and activity of carbon funds

ABSTRACT

Public and mixed carbon funds buy carbon credits on behalf of public authorities and make use of public money, thus there is a need for clear information regarding their operations. The paper presents a new transparency index for the organization and activity of carbon funds that takes account of information disclosed via the internet. The construction of the index is based on the Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index for sovereign wealth funds. The empirical study demonstrates that public and mixed carbon funds varied significantly in terms of their transparency but, in general, mixed carbon funds performed slightly better than public carbon funds.     

货币政策可信度的理论分析

货币政策可信度是指经济主体相信中央银行采取系统性的行动以最终达到所承诺的政策目标.如果公众相信中央银行将言行一致地进行货币政策操作,那么这样的货币政策就是可信的.市场经济中,货币政策的可信度在很大程度上影响到货币政策的效率.因此,明确货币政策可信度的涵义,分析货币政策可信度的影响因素,致力于提高货币政策可信度的制度建设,对提高货币政策的有效性具有现实意义.     

The impact of website design on the perceived credibility of internet financial reporting

Marketing and information systems research show that surface features of a website can induce credibility effects. We conduct an experiment to examine the question of credibility effects induced by the surface features of web-based financial reporting. We predict that participants will perceive financial data from sites with surface flaws (poor style and incompleteness) to be of lower credibility. Consistent with our expectations, we find that surface features can significantly affect users' perceptions of the credibility of financial information. We present further analyses showing that website surface features also impact investment attractiveness, suggesting that website characteristics may adversely affect investor perceptions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Credibility Attributes and Investor Perceptions of Non‐GAAP Earnings Exclusions

Recent empirical evidence suggests that investors focus more on non‐GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) than on traditional GAAP earnings because non‐GAAP earnings are believed to proxy for a firm's ongoing profitability, a measure useful for valuation. Managers determine these non‐GAAP earnings by excluding certain items from their GAAP income. However, because these non‐GAAP earnings are both unaudited and may be disclosed by a firm to manage investors’ perceptions as opposed to inform, investors must infer the credibility of the disclosure through observable firm attributes. In this study we examine whether firms with stronger credibility attributes (corporate governance, higher‐quality auditors, and higher historical information quality) will be perceived as providing more credible non‐GAAP exclusions than those with weaker attributes. Our expectation is that the market reaction to non‐GAAP earnings exclusions of firms with stronger credibility attributes will be greater than for those with weaker attributes. Our results support our expectation.     

Stock Prices and the Secondary Dissemination of Information: The Wall Street Journal's "Insider Trading Spotlight"Column

In this paper we test whether a secondary dissemination of information affects stock prices. We examine stock price reactions to the publication of the “Insider Trading Spotlight”(ITS) column in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Since insider trades reported in the ITS column are initially disclosed to the public when insiders’ reports are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the information contained in the WSJ is a secondary dissemination. Around the WSJ publication day, we find significant abnormal stock performance accompanied by a significant increase in trading volume. Our evidence suggests that a secondary dissemination of information can affect stock prices if the initial public disclosure attracts only limited attention by the market. In addition, we document how insider trading information is conveyed to the market.     

全球经济一体化与税收国际化趋势的探究

本文以税收与经济的关系为基础,从世界经济发展趋势的角度来探求全球税收制度的发展趋势,分别论述了经济全球化、经济信息化以及经济可持续发展等因素对于世界税收制度发展趋势的影响,并对国际税收组织建立的必要性进行了探讨.     

Institutional stock trading on loan market information

One of the most important developments in the corporate loan market over the past decade has been the growing participation of institutional investors. As lenders, institutional investors routinely receive private information about borrowers. However, most of these investors also trade in public securities. This leads to a controversial question: Do institutional investors use private information acquired in the loan market to trade in public securities? This paper examines the stock trading of institutional investors whose portfolios also hold loans. Using the Securities and Exchange Commission filings of loan amendments, we identify institutional investors with access to private information disclosed during loan amendments. We then look at abnormal returns on subsequent stock trades. We find that institutional participants in loan renegotiations subsequently trade in the stock of the same company and outperform trades by other managers and trades in other stocks by approximately 5.4% in annualized terms.     

Auditor Quality, Signalling, and the Valuation of Initial Public Offerings

The initial public offering (IPO) market represents a classic example of information asymmetries where the incumbent owners have good information about the value of the business but potential investors have little data to guide them on the attractiveness of the new issue. In order to mitigate these information asymmetry problems, the sponsors of the IPO will try to enhance the credibility of the share offer through various signalling mechanisms. Of interest to this study is the role that auditing firms play in adding credibility to the new issue. In particular we test some recent theoretical models of auditor choice by examining the initial public offering market in Singapore. Our empirical results show that high risk IPOs are associated with high quality auditors. Further, high quality auditors are associated with higher IPO market valuations and they allow entrepreneurs to retain lower ownership stakes in the IPO while maintaining market valuation.     

The nature and determinants of disclosure practices in the insurance industry: Evidence from European insurers

Filling a gap in the existing literature on disclosure practices by insurance companies, this research provides new empirical evidence on the nature and determinants of disclosure practices in the European insurance industry over the 2005–2010 period. The main results show that insurers are more inclined to invest in the quantity of risk information rather than in the disclosure quality of the entire annual report, as risk information is addressed to high-level financially educated people and requires fewer resources than are needed for an investment in quality. Further, the analysis also shows that insurer level characteristics, in terms of size and technical provisions, as well as country level variables, significantly affect the amount of risk information disclosed. In the years affected by the financial crisis, the level of risk disclosure quantity increases as insurers use disclosure as a tool to reassure stakeholders on their independence from the global financial crisis.     

山东省区域资源环境绩效的影响因素研究

随着经济的不断发展,资源环境问题日益突出,严重影响了山东省整体经济社会的可持续发展。本文从社会可持续发展战略角度出发,着眼于山东省区域资源环境绩效评价,以山东省17地市 REPI 指数作为被解释变量,运用合理的时间个体固定效应变系数模型,对山东省资源环境绩效指数与其影响因素进行实证分析,反映资源环境绩效水平的区域差异的同时,研究各区域不同的影响因素对资源环境绩效指数的时空差异性,更好地促进区域协调发展以及经济社会的可持续发展。     

Corporate ESG performance and manager misconduct: Evidence from China

Exploring the motivation of corporate ESG (Environment, Social Responsibility, and Corporate Governance) engagement is vital for shareholders protection and corporate sustainable growth. Using a sample of Chinese public listed firms from 2010 to 2020, we study this issue from the manager's misconduct behavior perspective. We find that the quality of ESG engagement significantly inhibits manager misconduct. This relationship is mediated through analyst coverage, and is more pronounced in firms with lower information transparency, firms with lower institutional shareholdings, and firms that voluntarily disclosed ESG information. Our results still hold after a series of robustness checks and addressing potential endogeneity issues, including using the intensity of Confucian culture as an instrumental variable.     

Information dissemination on intellectual capital in mergers and acquisitions: purchase price allocations,press releases and business press

In order to reduce information asymmetries in relation to a firm's current decisions and long-term strategy, firms must consistently provide information to stakeholders. This paper investigates intellectual capital (IC) information disclosed in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) provided through three different disclosure channels (voluntary press releases, related newspaper articles and subsequent mandatory corporate disclosures in the notes to the financial statements). For a sample of 215 randomly selected US and European M&As, we analyse 215 press releases, 1025 newspaper articles and 215 purchase price allocations. Our findings suggest that IC disclosure in press releases is not perceived as informative and qualitative forward-looking IC information in voluntary corporate disclosures appears to lack credibility. Moreover, we empirically demonstrate interdependencies across the three disclosure channels. The business press seems to filter IC information provided in press releases. The amount of IC disclosure in the notes to the financial statements is positively associated with prior IC disclosure in newspaper articles, but negatively associated with IC disclosure in press releases. The managements of acquirer firms appear to pay attention to news coverage and public opinion. However, both voluntary and mandatory corporate disclosures appear to substitute rather than complement each other.     

Citizen views about public meetings

The current study seeks to demonstrate that a citizen views about public meeting structure and related groups matter in predicting satisfaction with public engagement and willingness to attend future meetings. Public health agencies frequently use public meetings to communicate risk information, but relatively little social science research has examined how potential meeting participants view them. Using survey data (N?=?866) collected in seven US communities where health agencies were investigating possible local cancer clusters and holding public meetings to communicate with local residents, the current study replicates and extends an earlier inquiry related to citizens satisfaction with public meetings used for risk communication. Whereas previous research found that expectations, health agency credibility, and risk perceptions predicted satisfaction with public meetings, the current results did not show a significant relationship between agency credibility, risk perceptions, and satisfaction. Further, the results suggest it may make sense to consider ‘views about public meetings’ as a single measure that includes citizens’ structural expectations for meetings. Finally, the current study finds that views about public officials and views about meetings relate to individuals’ willingness to attend future meetings. Additional variable development and modeling research is suggested.     

The role of financial journalists in the expectations channel of the monetary transmission mechanism

Monetary policy relies on managing the inflation expectations of the public in order to influence prices (inflation). Relying on the South African experience, we argue that most of the general public are exposed to the communication of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) only via the media. This state of affairs is fairly typical around the globe. We explored the role and biases of the journalists in transmitting the SARB’s communications to the rationally inattentive general public. Our aim was to obtain insights about the factors that influence media articles that deal with monetary policy issues. Using interviews and qualitative content analysis, we explored the extent of the journalists’ knowledge about inflation and monetary policy, their views concerning the credibility of the SARB, the sources of information they use, and the constraints and incentives they face in writing their articles.     

会计信息系统规划特征与可信性关系研究

本文在大量调研中国企业和用户的基础上,以会计信息系统的可信性为切入点,对影响可信性的行为和后果进行了理论探讨和实证研究。研究发现:(1)会计信息系统初期的规划行为对系统的日后运行产生明显影响,其中合规性、可控性、参与性与可审计性等规划特征对会计信息系统的可信性影响较大,且程度各异;(2)对会计信息系统可信性影响包括规划时的技术因素和管理因素,后者大于前者。最后,文章给出提高会计信息系统可信性的几点建议和措施,包括从战略规划阶段开始重视会计信息系统的可信性问题;将会计目标导向性及各部门人员的参与性嵌入系统的规划过程等举措。     

PERFORMANCE REPORTING BY MALAYSIAN LOCAL AUTHORITIES: IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDER NEEDS

The concept of public accountability promotes the need for a comprehensive set of performance‐related information to satisfy the information needs of a diverse stakeholder interest group. However, literature concerned with the scope of information to be disclosed, and in particular within the context of a developing country, is limited. This paper identifies the information set which stakeholders of Malaysian local authorities consider relevant in the monitoring and assessment of local authority performance. Stakeholders indicated strong interest in performance information that is not traditionally disclosed in the financial statements: non‐financial information particularly performance measurement of outputs, outcomes, efficiency and effectiveness. Disclosures in the Statement of Revenue and Expenditure and forward‐looking information are generally regarded as the most important disclosures. The results of the study also indicate differences amongst stakeholders as to the level of importance that they place on certain items especially items related to internal policies and governance and financial position of the local authorities. The findings will be of significance to policy makers interested in improving the performance reporting of Malaysian public sector entities, particularly local authorities.     

Risk communication policy design: Cyprus compared to France and the Netherlands

This study aims at analyzing differences between risk communication policies in Cyprus, compared to the Netherlands, and France. It analyzes risk communication policies indirectly through a qualitative analysis of the information provided by official websites, which are considered to be proxies of these policies. The websites review will focus on the type of the information disclosed online, and the similarities and differences between the websites, regarding the information provided, the way it is communicated, the backing on credible sources, and the supplying of more information if desired, but also simply through the presenting of the WebPages. The results indicate that the Netherlands and France have created risk dedicated websites besides the ministries’ websites with information on risks, prevention and the authorities’ actions. There is a gap between strategies. The Dutch strategy is to give more responsibilities to the public, by encouraging individuals to be resilient and responsible for their own safety at a certain level by promoting preventive behaviors. The French strategy is to provide risk-dedicated information to the public, also on prevention and government actions. Opposed to this, the Cypriot authorities simply avoid this strategic question by confining the risk communication to the crisis phase, without entrusting people with a role in risk management, and by strictly one-directional communication, with government delivering and the public digesting (or not). Suggestions for risk communication policy development are discussed.     

The effect of information disclosure on demand for high‐load insurance

Economists, regulators, and consumer protection agencies have highlighted the welfare losses for consumers who purchase high‐load insurance against modest stakes risks. Mandatory information disclosure is a potentially attractive public policy tool that might improve consumers' choices, but has not been widely tested in insurance settings. We conduct an incentive‐compatible insurance demand experiment, in which we manipulate the information disclosed to subjects. We test whether any of the three most commonly suggested disclosures affect insurance demand, disclosing either (1) the true probability of loss, (2) the contract's expected loss, or (3) the insurer's profit on the transaction. Similar to consumers in naturally occurring insurance markets, subjects in the laboratory demonstrate significant demand for high‐load insurance against modest stakes. However, we find no effect of any of the three disclosure treatments on subjects' insurance choices. We discuss the implications of our results for possible public policy initiatives in insurance markets.     

数字时代注册会计师行业服务能力提升研究:基于问卷数据的例证

随着数字化转型浪潮的勃发,以信息技术为代表的新一轮科技革命和产业变革不断迭代发展.互联网、大数据、人工智能、云计算等新技术同各产业深度融合,将构建一批各具特色、优势互补、结构合理的战略性新兴产业增长引擎,实现数字化转型已经成为经济社会发展的重要推动力.加快数字化转型发展,推进数字产业化和产业数字化,推动数字经济和实体经...