审计意见和年报披露会影响盈余质量吗?

本文使用沪深两市A股上市公司的面板数据,分析了审计意见和年报披露及时性与盈余质量的关系,认为二者与盈余质量之间存在显著的相关性:首先,年度财务报告被出具非标类型审计意见的上市公司,盈余质量较低;其次,年报披露越及时的公司,盈余质量越高。另外我们的研究结果还表明年报被出具非标审计意见的公司,会更晚披露财务报告,验证了变更年报预约披露日期(延迟披露)的公司则更容易被出具非标审计意见。     

投资者有限关注与盈余公告市场反应——来自央视年报排行榜的证据

本文以上市公司年报为契机从有限关注的角度研究了盈余公告的市场反应。选取2005年至2010年上市公司年报,采用数据统计方法对比了进入央视《交易时间》栏目的年报排行榜的各上市公司年报与未上榜公司年报受投资者关注程度的差异;并对年报的市场反应进行了实证分析,发现我国年报披露市场存在注意力的"显眼效应",进入年报排行榜的公司在上榜当天比未入榜的公司有更强的市场反应,且这种效应的来源是排行榜的作用,而非公司本身。     

会计信息披露及时性的信息含量分析——基于2002—2004年中国上市公司年报数据的实证研究

“及时性”是一项重要的会计信息质量特征,一直以来是会计领域研究的重要范畴。本文依据中国深沪两市上市公司2002—2004年年报数据,以上市公司年报时滞作为及时性的替代变量,对中国上市公司会计信息披露及时性的信息含量问题进行实证分析。研究发现:早披露年报公司的市场反应显著强于晚披露公司,从而得出了及时性具有信息含量的肯定结论。     

年报柔性监管与股价同步性——基于年报问询函语调的研究

本文选择2015-2020年在深圳证券交易所上市的公司为研究样本,从年报问询函负面语调的角度考察年报柔性监管与股价同步性之间的关系。实证结果表明,年报柔性监管的效果显著,问询函语调的负面程度与股价同步性呈显著的负相关关系。进一步讨论发现,在媒体关注度较低和内部控制质量较低的公司里,年报问询函负面语调与股价同步性的负向关系更加显著;此外,中介效应检验结果表明,年报问询函语调负面程度通过降低应计盈余管理和提高信息披露质量,显著降低了股价同步性。     

可视化年报与会计信息质量:“表里如一”还是“表里不一”?北大核心

资本市场以信息披露为核心的注册制改革,要求上市公司提高信息披露质量,加强与投资者有效沟通。在此背景下,越来越多的上市公司开始发布图文并茂的可视化年报以增进投资者对公司财务报告信息的理解。本文以2017-2020年沪深A股上市公司为样本,从会计信息质量角度检验上市公司发布可视化年报是“表里不一”地仅向投资者进行印象管理,还是“表里如一”地与投资者诚信沟通传递价值信号。结果发现当公司有较高的会计信息质量时更可能发布可视化年报,多种稳健性检验支持该发现。进一步分析表明公司发布可视化年报会增加投资者关注度,据此推测投资者关注度增加可能带来的潜在风险是只有会计信息高质量的公司才勇于发布可视化年报的原因之一。会计信息质量与可视化年报发布的关系在市值管理较好、研发投入较多、业绩表现相对较差的公司中显著。此外,持续发布可视化年报的公司有显著更高的会计信息质量,但发布视频年报的公司会计信息质量并不显著更高。     

股票交易量对年报盈余信息反应的实证研究

利用事件研究方法，从交易量反应的视角检验了1999-2001年度的市场交易量与年报中的盈余信息以及能够预示年报信息提前泄漏程度的公司规模之间的相关关系。实证结果发现1999年度，非预期盈余与超常交易量之间并不存在显著的相关关系，而公司规模与超常交易量之间存在显著的正相关关系；2000年度及2001年度，年报中公司非预期盈余越大，市场的超常交易量反应越强烈，且市场对非预期盈余为负的信息更敏感；2001年度的公司规模与超常交易量之间呈现出显著的负相关关系。深刻表明我国股市及投资者日趋成熟，关注内在价值的投资理念正逐渐被市场选择。     

会计信息质量经验研究的完善与运用

本文从盈余质量、价值相关性、及时性、可比性、披露质量和透明度六个侧面回顾了会计信息质量的经验研究,总结了会计信息质量经验研究的主要特点。在此基础上,重点讨论多个财务报告目标下的会计信息质量问题;前置性的会计信息质量特征问题;会计可以控制的会计信息质量问题;确认计量与披露质量、盈余信息与资产负债表信息质量的关系;进一步完善检验会计信息质量的变量问题。     

年报风险信息披露与银行贷款利率

既有文献较少从银行视角关注年报风险信息披露的经济后果。银行更有能力解读年度风险信息,银行利益也更直接受到年报风险信息的影响,银行贷款利率更能体现年报风险信息披露的经济后果。本文基于2008-2017年单笔银行贷款利率数据的研究发现:总体上我国年报风险信息披露降低了银行贷款利率,说明我国年报风险信息披露更符合趋同观假说。中介效应检验发现:我国年报风险信息披露通过提高信息透明度,降低银行风险感知水平进而降低了银行贷款利率,即信息质量和风险是我国年报风险信息披露影响银行贷款利率的不完全中介。进一步分析发现:我国年报风险信息披露与银行贷款利率的负相关关系主要体现在货币政策紧缩组、非国有企业组以及公司治理水平较高组。本文首次研究银行贷款利率与年报风险信息披露的关系,有助于丰富风险信息披露文献和银行贷款文献。     

“深港通”与前瞻性信息披露——基于上市公司年报语言将来时态特征的研究

基于“深港通”互联互通制度的准自然实验场景,本文通过Word2Vec机器学习和文本分析方法获取上市公司年报中描述未来发展的词频,构建上市公司前瞻性信息披露指标,进而使用双重差分法检验资本市场开放对上市公司前瞻性信息披露的影响。研究发现：实施“深港通”有助于上市公司披露更多的前瞻性信息,其年报中将来时态的词频显著提高;企业国际化程度越高,资本市场开放对前瞻性信息披露的正向影响越强。此外,“深港通”是通过增加前瞻性描述内容与描述语气这两个机制,增加年报中对未来展望的描述。“深港通”对前瞻性的正向效应存在于信息透明度较高、有效内部控制的公司。研究结论表明,坚持资本市场持续全面开放对于提高公司治理水平与改善会计信息环境具有重要作用。     

审计师关心年报前瞻性文本信息吗？

此前研究主要关注历史信息与审计师决策,本文考察年报前瞻性文本信息对审计定价的影响。研究发现,年报前瞻性文本信息与审计定价显著负相关。机制检验发现,年报前瞻性文本信息能传递企业未来持续经营信号,降低审计师所感知的持续经营风险,进而降低审计定价。异质性检验发现,当年报披露语调更积极、披露未来经营计划内容更丰富时,二者负向关系更显著;且这种负向关系仅在企业未来盈余反应系数更高和分析师关注更多以及审计师行业专长较低和忙碌程度更高的样本中才显著。进一步研究发现,年报前瞻性文本信息披露能够显著降低企业被出具持续经营不确定性审计意见的概率。本文为理解审计师决策依据提供了新的理论参考,并为现有审计定价影响因素的研究作出增量贡献。     

Promoting business ethics through annual reports

Growth in socially responsible investing among consumers should encourage them to seek information on business ethics activities during investment decisions. A content analysis of corporate annual reports shows differences in promotion of business ethics activities between 2010 and 2012, across products and on United States (US) Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) inclusion. Greater discussion in 2012 than 2010 was found for compliance in general and ethical treatment of employees and risk-reduction activities among DJSI-listed consumer goods providers, potentially reflecting increased interest in these activities. Results also showed that DJSI-listed companies are missing an opportunity to promote their ethical activities and the DJSI’s third-party verification of their ethical commitment to interested investors. Besides not optimizing their appeal to investors wishing to support ethical businesses, public companies inadequately use annual reports to demonstrate their commitment to ethics to other potential stakeholders such as activists, regulators, competitors, suppliers or the media.     

IMag[in]ing annual reports

Visual images are integral elements within corporate annual reports. Yet, these visual images have been largely ignored in accounting research. We begin to explore the significance of selected visual images appearing in U.S. annual reports during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Our intent is not to produce a general survey of images, but rather to offer different “ways of seeing” images and through these “ways of seeing” to encourage a critical dialogue that focuses upon the representational, ideological and constitutive role of images in annual reports. Our first way of seeing views the image as transparently conveying an intended corporate message. The second way of seeing draws upon neo-Marxist aesthetic literature and considers the ways in which images in annual reports may be mined for their ideological content and may also reveal society's deep structures of social classification, institutional forms and relationships. Finally, we employ critical postmodernist art theory to see images in terms of their constitutive role in creating different types of human subjectivities and realities. We argue that this way of seeing creates the potential for new voices to be heard and the possibility to subvert the dualisms typical of the totalizing theories of modernity.     

Social impact disclosure and corporate annual reports

Corporate Social Responsibility may be clarified by utilizing the economic concept of externalities. The line-by-line prose in annual reports throws some light on the intensity and nature of these activities. Two independent tests support the concept that annual reports may for some purposes be considered a reasonable surrogate for real activity. Annual reports from eighty-two food-processing corporations are used as a data base to illuminate corporate social responsibility activities, as well as the nature of current disclosure patterns.     

Motivations behind human capital disclosure in annual reports

Although much has been discussed about voluntary disclosure of human capital in annual reports there has been limited examination of the motivations behind such disclosure. This study uses the perspective of the political economy of accounting to understand motivations. Using the method of content analysis, this paper examines human capital disclosure practices in annual reports of a sample of firms in Sri Lanka, a developing nation. Eleven case study interviews from the sample explore the motivations behind the disclosure practices of firms. Findings reveal that firms use disclosure to reduce tension between firms and their constituents, in the interest of further capital accumulation.     

A stakeholder analysis of employee disclosures in annual reports

Little empirical research has identified what drives companies to voluntarily report employee‐related information. Ullmann's three‐dimensional stakeholder theory model is applied as a framework to analyse associations with corporate employee‐related disclosures. Measures are developed to estimate stakeholder power, strategic posture and economic performance associated with employee‐related disclosures. Results indicate that employee‐related disclosures increase with more employee share ownership, employee concentration, the quality of corporate governance, employee recognition in corporate mission statements, adverse publicity about employees and economic performance measured by profit per employee.     

Infrastructure assets disclosure in Australian public sector annual reports

Recent Australian public sector reforms have raised concerns about the disclosure of infrastructure asset information as a basis for improved accountability. This paper examines whether specific infrastructure asset information identified in relevant literature is disclosed in practice. A cross-sectional, content analysis of 1999 annual report disclosures made by 73 Australian public sector entities operating in economic infrastructure industries revealed a low level of, and considerable diversity in, disclosures, particularly relating to the physical condition of infrastructure assets, their maintenance and performance measurement. Such disclosure was found to be driven by government reporting guidelines rather than the use of corporate form.     

Summary annual reports: length,readability and content

This paper examines summary annual reports (SAR) as an alternative channel for communicating financial information. We use a sample of New Zealand local governments (councils) that are required to report audited SAR. Using various measures, we compare document length and readability of SAR and annual reports (AR). We find that SAR are approximately 10 percent of the AR length and both have a ___very difficult___ readability score. We then use a disclosure index to examine the relation between SAR report length and the level of disclosures. After controlling for other factors that impact the level of disclosure, we conclude that the reduction in SAR is driven by lower levels of content. We then discuss the policy implications of our findings.     

An evaluation of environmental disclosures made in corporate annual reports

This paper evaluates the quality and accuracy of environmental disclosures made in corporate annual reports. Annual report disclosures made by 26 firms in environmentally sensitive industries are examined. An indexing procedure is used to measure the contents of the disclosures, and the relationship between the disclosure contents and the firms' environmental performance is tested. The study provides a detailed measure of environmental disclosure contents. Results indicate that corporate environmental disclosures are incomplete and are not related to the firms' actual environmental performance.