Has the Reform of Nontradable Shares Raised Prices?: An Event-Study Analysis

This study examines the abnormal stock returns of pilot companies to determine if investors believed that reform of nontradable shares, which began on April 29, 2005, would lead to higher stock prices. Employing event-study analysis, we find that the pilot companies have positive significant abnormal returns. The average abnormal return of the first batch is higher than that of the second batch, the average abnormal return on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange is higher than that of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the average abnormal return on the Small and medium Enterprise board is higher than that of the main board, and companies with high-compensation packages have higher average abnormal returns than do companies with low-compensation packages. Our results suggest that investors generally viewed nontradable share reform as positive news.     

Political cost influences on income smoothing via extraordinary item classification

Until 1990, Australian managers could classify recurring gains and losses outside the normal operations of the firm as either operating or extraordinary items. The results of this study indicate that managers of companies with highly unionised workforces, and therefore subject to labour-related political costs, attempted to affect the probability of wealth transfers by smoothing reported net operating profit via the classification of those recurring gains and losses. The degree of management ownership is associated with classificatory smoothing but interest coverage is not, indicating differential contracting influences.     

上市公司财务敏感区间与项目的审计意见

本文基于我国A股上市公司数据检验了财务敏感区间、项目与审计意见的关系,发现微利区间、重亏区间同非标准审计意见显著正相关,而配股达线区间、应计项目、线下项目同非标准审计意见的关系不显著。此外发现应收账款占总资产比重、资产负债率、以前年度审计意见和事务所变更等因素对非标准审计意见具有重大影响,主营业务收入比重和上市公司规模则对非标准审计意见没有显著影响,现金比率、上市年限、事务所排名等变量影响不具有时间上的一致性和连续性。     

Evaluation of Extraordinary and Exceptional Items Disclosed by Hong Kong Companies

This study evaluates extraordinary and exceptional items (EI) disclosed in financial statements by Hong Kong companies from 1989 to 1993, prior to revision of SSAP 2. The results indicate that disclosures of positive EI were associated with market expectations of profit before taxes. If market expectations were higher than profit before EI and taxes (PBEI), positive EI (gains) were likely to be disclosed to adjust PBEI upwards and thus reduce the gap between reported and expected profits.
The results relating to negative EI (losses) showed that if companies had low historical economic performance they were more likely to disclose negative EI. Because weak historical economic performance is likely to be associated with low market expectations, management used this opportunity to 'spring clean' in order to show better economic performance in future years.
These findings suggest that managers engage in earnings management through disclosure of extraordinary items when they have flexibility to do so. In order to improve quality of financial disclosure, better accounting standards need to be developed for disclosures of extraordinary items, especially by newly developed and developing countries where accounting standards are at the formative stage.     

A Note on the Disclosure Size Exemptions in Technical Release 706

This paper considers the proposal that certain items of financial disclosure in Britain should be restricted to public companies and ‘large’ private companies as defined by the Accounting Standards Committee in Technical Release number 706. Evidence is provided of the numbers of companies affected by this policy decision, to demonstrate the likely consequences of TR 706.     

对非经营性损益信息披露的思考

中国证监会要求上市公司在1999年度财务报告中增加披露“扣除非经常性损益后的净利润”信息。由于非经常性损益项目的持续性很低，所以中国证监会的新增信息披露要求能够在一定程度上增加净利润信息的相关性。而从第一次实施结果来看，上市公司选择的、归属于非经常性损益的项目名目繁多，且不尽符合非经常性损益的理论特征；上市公司的披露行为也存在各式各样的不规范情况，因此可靠性和可比性尚显薄弱，有用性有所削弱。     

The effect of stock-for-debt swaps on bank holding companies

Twenty-two of the numerous stock-for-debt swaps that have taken place since August 1981 have been by bank holding companies. Although the most oft-quoted reason for making the swap is its positive effect on reported earnings, we argue that the effects of the Bankruptcy Tax Act of 1980 on the tax treatment of early retirement of discount debt often makes stock-for-debt swaps a preferable alternative to cash repurchases of discount debt for sinking fund obligations. Furthermore, for bank holding companies, the swaps allow them to adjust their capital positions to new optimal levels ad dictated by the more stringent capital standards promulgated by the regulatory authorities in 1981. For 99 non-banking firms we found a significant and negative abnormal average return on the swap announcement date of ?0.49 percent. For the 22 bank holding companies, however, we found no significant abnormal average return on the announcement date of the swaps. The results suggest that swaps may be reducing the potential costs of regulatory interference for bank holding companies if they are overlevered, which offsets whatever other force is driving down stock prices on new issue announcement dates.     

Dividend Consistency: Rewards,Learning, and Expectations

The fact that many companies have a long track record of consistent dividend increases suggests that managers believe there is some benefit to establishing and maintaining such a pattern. Many companies, for example, follow a perennial policy of increasing the dividend in a particular quarter, maintaining it at the same level for the next three quarters, and then increasing it in the same quarter of the following year. But does the capital market reward companies for maintaining a consistent dividend policy? Do companies with a history of repeated dividend increases earn long‐term positive abnormal returns; and if so, how long do the returns persist? The authors find that companies earned significantly positive abnormal returns following each of the first five annual dividend increases, over and above the positive announcement‐month returns. Nevertheless, the reward decreases as the track record of dividend increases becomes longer. After the first dividend increase, companies enjoy significantly positive returns for the next two years. Companies that increase the dividend in the same quarter of the following year also enjoy significant positive returns, but returns that are smaller (and less statistically significant) than in the case of first‐time dividend increases. And as the dividend‐increase track record further lengthens, the size and statistical significance of the abnormal returns continues to shrink; and after the sixth dividend increase, the abnormal returns in the next twelve months are statistically indistinguishable from zero. In sum, although there is some support for maintaining a consistent dividend policy, the market response diminishes over time, and investors do not earn abnormal returns by buying stocks whose annual dividend has already been increased six or more times.     

An analysis of gains and losses to shareholders of foreign bidding companies engaged in cross-border acquisitions into the United Kingdom, 1986–1991

In this paper the gains and losses to shareholders of 71 foreign companies which made takeover bids for companies listed in the United Kingdom during the 1986–1991 period are analysed. The average abnormal return during the month of the bid announcement was positive, although not statistically significant. However, both prior to and sub-sequent to the bid announcement month, the overseas bidders earned highly significant negative abnormal returns. The cumulative abnormal returns over the five month period following the bid announcement were-4.77% with the index model and -9.79% with the market model. Further analysis established that Continental European companies performed significantly worse than American bidders. In addition, large companies and companies bidding for large targets, performed significantly better than the other bidders.     

Climate reputation risk and abnormal returns in the stock markets: A focus on large emitters

Reputation risk is among the possible climate transition risks companies face, especially in emission-intensive industries. Failing to meet stakeholders' expectations about the contribution to climate goals might influence investors' strategies and produce financial damages. We look at the climate-related social media talk in a sample of highly polluting companies. For these companies, reputation risk materialises if their climate talk is perceived as not coherent with their action-taking. We then assess the impact of climate talk on short-term stock market performance, as measured by abnormal returns, and find a positive association between climate-related social media talks and abnormal returns. The strength of this association lowers during peak days of social media attention on climate-related topics.     

Bank Holding Company Acquisition Activity: Evidence From Pre- and Post-Deregulation Periods

Both acquisition activity and deregulation have had an impact upon share price and performance of commercial bank holding companies. The purpose of this study is twofold: First, to discern the effects of acquisition activity from the effects of the passage of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (DIDMCA) and Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 (GSG) on balance sheet composition of bank holding companies; and second, to examine the effects of deregulation on returns to shareholders of acquiring bank holding companies. This study finds that commercial bank holding companies involved in acquisitions experience significant changes in their balance sheet composition, not as a result of acquisition activity, but as a result of deregulation. Additionally, bank holding companies that announced acquisitions prior to the effective date of deregulation earned abnormal returns that were significantly negative, whereas holding companies announcing acquisitions after enactment of deregulation earned returns that were not significantly different from zero. Also, the abnormal returns found in previous studies of bank acquisitions may be biased upward because of increases in systematic risk associated with the passage of DIDMCA and GSG.     

Disclosure Overload? An Empirical Analysis of International Financial Reporting Standards Disclosure Requirements

Despite the positive effects of the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) noted in the literature, standard setters have issued reports suggesting that the required disclosures in IFRS have become too burdensome and should be reduced. We examine this disclosure overload problem by testing whether the disclosure reduction recommendations of the Excess Baggage Report issued by professional accounting bodies from Scotland and New Zealand in 2011 are associated with companies’ disclosure incentives and are value relevant for a sample of 196 Australian listed companies. The Excess Baggage Report classifies current IFRS disclosure requirement items into three categories: Retain; Delete; and Disclose if Material. We find that Retain items are disclosed the most, followed by those classified as Disclose if Material, and then by Delete items. Only Retain items are significantly associated with companies’ disclosure incentives. We also find that these disclosure categories are value relevant, especially for below-median profitability firms. Our findings may provide input to the IASB’s ongoing Disclosure Initiatives project.     

The impact of corporate attribites on the extent of mandatory disclosure and reporting by listed companies in Zimbabwe

This article reports the results of an empirical investigation of the degree of influence of eight corporate attributes on the extent of mandatory disclosure and reporting of 49 listed companies in Zimbabwe. Using a disclosure index which consisted of 214 mandated information items, the extent of mandatory disclosure be each sample company was quantified, and was used with other data specific to each sample company to test the relational hypotheses. Although several alternative specifications of multivariate regression models were developed and estimated, only the results of a robust regression analysis which indicated that company size, ownership structure, company age, multinational corporation affiliation, and profitability have statiscally significant positive effect on mandatory disclosure and reporting practices of the sample companies were reported. The quality of external audit, industry-type and liquidity were statistically insignificant.     

关联交易、线下项目与盈余管理——来自中国上市公司的经验证据

近年来,关联交易盈余管理愈演愈烈,极大地损害了投资者的利益。以往大量研究提供了上市公司操纵应计项目及线下项目进行盈余管理的证据,本文则以中国上市公司2002--2004年的面板数据为研究样本,首次大样本检验关联交易、线下项目与盈余管理的关系。本文的主要结论包括：（1）有配股盈余管理动机的公司的第一类关联交易（通常计入线上项目的关联交易）比例显著高于控制样本,第三类关联交易（担保抵押类关联交易）比例显著低于控制样本。（2）有避亏盈余管理动机的公司的第二类关联交易（通常计入线下项目的关联交易）比例显著高于控制样本。（3）有盈余管理动机的公司,当其附属企业集团时,或者其控股股东处于绝对控股地位时,其关联交易比例更高。（4）第一类关联交易与线下项目显著负相关,有盈余管理动机的公司,线下项目较低时第一类关联交易比例较高。（5）配股公司配股后的关联销售和关联采购比例显著低于配股前。扭亏为盈的公司扭亏当年的第二类关联交易比例显著高于扭亏前一年。综上所述,计入线上项目的关联交易是上市公司为获取配股资格而进盈余管理的重要手段,计入线下项目的关联交易是上市公司为避免亏损而进行盈余管理的重要手段;上市公司控股股东处于绝对控股地位时,或控股股东隶属某一企业集团时,关联交易盈余管理行为更严重;进行盈余管理时,线下项目与计入线上项目的关联交易具有替代性。     

Evaluating the information in the federal reserve stress tests

We present evidence that the Federal Reserve stress tests produce information about both the stress-tested bank holding companies and the overall state of the banking industry. Our evidence goes beyond a standard event study, which cannot differentiate between small abnormal returns and large, but opposite-signed, abnormal stock returns. We find that stress test disclosures are associated with significantly higher absolute abnormal returns, as well as higher abnormal trading volume. More levered and riskier holding companies seem to be more affected by the stress test information. We find no evidence that stress test disclosures have reduced the production of private information. After disclosure begins, stress tested firms attract equity analysts without changing analysts’ forecast dispersions or their mean forecast error.     

“激进的收入确认”抑或“真实的销售操控”

由于收入项目通常是会计收益构成中的最大数字,研究A股上市公司如何影响会计收入项目以及利润的问题尤其重要。选择A股微利和微亏公司为研究对象,分别运用计量模型计算异常操纵应收账款和异常经营现金流以度量激进的收入确认和真实的销售操控。检验结果显示,微利公司选择了真实的销售操控行为,微利公司比非微利公司有相对更少的经营现金流,但微利公司在2002到2006年并未采用激进的收入确认以影响会计报表收入项目;进一步检验显示微亏公司也选择了真实的销售操控行为,微亏公司与微利公司的异常操纵应收账款和异常经营现金流均无统计差异。     

Euphoria in financial markets: How Indian companies generate value in their cross-border acquisitions

In this paper, we investigate the effect of euphoria on returns derived by Indian companies in their cross-border acquisitions. Cognitive legitimacy generated at the country level facilitated firms in deriving higher value from internationalization. In addition, overoptimism after the legitimacy-building event led to euphoria in financial markets and short-term abnormal returns. Hence we argue that the springboard effect created by legitimacy is short-lived, as euphoria fades away over time. Using cross-border and domestic acquisitions by Indian companies during 1999–2009, and controlling for fundamental factors, both financial and non-financial, we find support for our euphoria hypothesis. Because of overoptimism, Indian companies experienced short-term abnormal returns in their cross-border acquisitions in the few years following the legitimation process, but not in later years.     

Assessing the Effect of the Transition to IFRS on Equity: The Case of the FTSE 100

The paper presents the results of an analysis of the reconciliations of equity presented as part of the transition from UK Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (UK GAAP) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by the largest UK companies. While the overall effect on equity is not significant, the effect of the change in convention on individual line items could have important consequences for financial analysis and contractual obligations. The level of variability between companies means that this change will demand attention to detail by users of financial statements. The paper provides a benchmark for comparison with companies from other accounting traditions making the transition to IFRS.     

内部控制、独立审计与上市公司分类转移问题研究

分类转移是利用非经常性损益具体项目的确认和归类变更来进行盈余管理的行为,它能在不改变净利润的情况下调整公司的盈余结构。本文考虑上市公司分类转移盈余管理,以2017年沪深两市A股上市公司作为研究对象,实证检验内部控制、独立审计对上市公司分类转移的影响。研究发现,良好的内部控制促进了上市公司转而使用分类转移进行盈余管理,而高质量的独立审计一定程度上能抑制上市公司盈余管理问题。本研究表明,在目前大力推行的内部控制制度建设的过程中,应当进一步完善内部控制管理体系,加强内控机制对分类转移盈余管理的识别能力。     

The extent of corporate governance disclosure and its determinants in a developing market: The case of Egypt

This paper assesses the extent of corporate governance voluntary disclosure and the impact of a comprehensive set of corporate governance (CG) attributes (board composition, board size, CEO duality, director ownership, blockholder ownership and the existence of audit committee) on the extent of corporate governance voluntary disclosure in Egypt. The measurement of disclosure is based on published data created from a checklist developed by the United Nations, which was gathered from a manual review of financial statements and websites of a sample of Egyptian companies listed on Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX). Although the levels of CG disclosure are found to be minimal, disclosure is high for items that are mandatory under the Egyptian Accounting Standards (EASs). The failure of companies to disclose such information clearly shows some ineffectiveness and inadequacy in the regulatory framework in Egypt. Moreover, the phenomenon of non-compliance may also be attributed to socio-economic factors in Egypt. Therefore, it is expected that Egyptian firms will take a long time to appraise the payback of increased CG disclosure. The findings indicate that that—ceteris paribus—the extent of CG disclosure is (1) lower for companies with duality in position and higher ownership concentration as measured by blockholder ownership; and (2) increases with the proportion of independent directors on the board and firm size. The results of the study support theoretical arguments that companies disclose corporate governance information in order to reduce information asymmetry and agency costs and to improve investor confidence in the reported accounting information. The empirical evidence from this study enhances the understanding of the corporate governance disclosure environment in Egypt as one of the emerging markets in the Middle East.