When do informed traders acquire and trade on informational advantage? Evidence from Federal Reserve stress tests

Using Federal Reserve bank stress test announcements, we examine when option traders acquire informational advantage and when they exploit it. We find consistent evidence of informed options trading around announcements. However, when test results are announced in successive weeks we find high abnormal option volume, considerably positive abnormal returns and significant return predictability in the first week, but not the following week. This suggests that informed option traders are able to anticipate upcoming news events and skillfully process public information but it also suggests that trading on acquired information is conditioned on the level of information asymmetry in the market.     

How do accounting standards and insiders' incentives affect earnings management? Evidence from China

Chinese listed companies recently experienced two important institutional changes: split share structure reform (SSSR) and the mandatory adoption of IFRS-convergent new accounting standards (NAS). We find that the introduction of NAS significantly increased earnings management. Although we do not find evidence that SSSR directly decreased earnings management of the average firm, the increase in earnings management surrounding the introduction of NAS is negatively related to the reduction in non-tradable shares. These results suggest that accounting standards are the more important factor associated with the level of earnings management. Insiders' incentives affect earnings management given a specific set of accounting standards.     

How do female entrepreneurs perform? Evidence from three developing regions

Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey data, we analyze performance gaps between male- and female-owned companies in three regions—Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA), Latin America (LA), and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Among our findings are significant gender gaps between male- and female-owned companies in terms of firm size, but much smaller gaps in terms of firm efficiency and growth (except in LA). Part of the reason women run smaller firms is that they tend to concentrate in sectors in which firms are smaller and less efficient (in ECA and SSA). By contrast, we find no evidence of gender discrimination in access to formal finance in any of the three regions, although in ECA women are less likely than men to seek formal finance. Finally, while female entrepreneurs receive smaller loans than their male counterparts, the returns from each dollar they receive is no lower in terms of overall sales revenue.     

How do firms finance their exports? – evidence from China

Using a firm-level production data over the period of 2005–2009 from China, this paper provides a new empirical evidence on how firms finance their exports when they have several financial options. The main results of the paper can be summarized as follows. First, firms who have better access to any finance are more likely to export and export more. More financial options lead to a higher export probability and capacity due to the complementary relation between financial options. Second, of all financial options, the internal finance captured by cash holdings or profit plays the most important role on firms’ export likelihood and volume. Firms rely more on the external finance through borrowing to start exporting, but depend more on issuing stocks to their shareholders to expand their exports. Third, subsample results suggest that the financial option of issuing stocks is generally more important for firms who have worse access to external finance in determining export propensity and quantity, such as private-owned firms, small-scale firms, young firms, and non-eastern firms.     

How do emerging debt market participants recognize firm internationalization?Evidence from effects on credit ratings

We explore the firm internationalization's impact on firm credit ratings in emerging economies. Adopting Chinese data from 2009 to 2018, we document that firm internationalization varies negatively with its credit ratings, indicating that emerging debt market participants are risk averse and prioritize the risks involved in firm internationalization endeavors. This association is amplified for firms operating in host countries with lower institutional quality, decreased cultural distance from home countries, and when firms do not hold tax haven subsidiaries. We observe that the main association is consistent when alternative dataset (India, Russia, and Brazil) or proxy (cost of debt) is applied.     

How to combat NEET? Evidence from Austria

The number young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) has been rising since the beginning of the economic and fi nancial crisis in 2008. This article contributes to the discussion about the reduction of the NEET rate by addressing the questions: Which structural factors can explain differences in the NEET rates among Austrian federal states? What causes an increased or reduced NEET risk at the individual level? What are the key factors for an exit from a NEET situation?     

Is options trading informed? Evidence from credit rating change announcements

Using a sample of proactive credit rating changes, this study examines the information content of options trading before news events. Pre-event informed options trading predicts cumulative abnormal returns around credit rating change announcements. The predictability of options trading is more pronounced before announcements of more severe and surprising rating changes. Moreover, the information content of pre-event options trading is greater when the pre-event underlying stock market is less informational, when the options market is more liquid, and in the post–regulation fair disclosure period. Overall results are consistent with informed options trading before credit rating change announcements.     

How do online bidders differ from non-bidders?

This study compares online bidders and non-bidders based on their demographic and psychographic characteristics. An online survey was developed to collect data using Zoomerang's online consumer panel. Findings show that online bidders have a lower level of risk aversion and a higher level of need for uniqueness and propensity to trust than nonbidders. Online bidders are also more likely to engage in variety-seeking and impulsive-buying behavior than non-bidders. Results indicate that online bidders are younger, more educated, and have a higher income level than non-bidders. This study also finds that gender and prior online shopping experience moderate the differences between online bidders and non-bidders. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

How and Why Do Firms Adjust Their Cash Holdings toward Targets? Evidence from China

We examine the dynamic adjustment of cash holdings of publicly traded Chinese firms during 1998–2006. The empirical evidence is supportive of the dynamic trade-off theory of cash holdings. In particular, there is strong evidence of asymmetric adjustments, i.e., adjustments from above the target are significantly faster than those from below. Moreover, the speeds of adjustment (SOA) are heterogeneous for firms facing differential adjustment costs. More specifically, the adjustment speed is higher in firms with bank lines of credit, positively related to the deviation from the target, but it is negatively related to firm size. Furthermore, in terms of adjustment method, firms make adjustments to their targets primarily through debt and equity financing when they are in cash shortage, On the other hand, the dividend payments play a minimal role in it. Lastly, in terms of motives for adjustment, we find that the precautionary motive arising from financial constraints well explains the cash holdings adjustment behaviors of Chinese listed firms.     

Can professional skepticism be learned? Evidence from China

The purpose of the present study was to explore whether professional skepticism can be learned in a classroom setting, an issue that has received scant attention in the prior literature. A questionnaire was administered to students enrolled either in the accounting program or in the business administration program of a large college in China. The author finds that participation in ethics education is positively related to students’ professional skepticism, whereas participation in auditing education is not related to accounting students’ professional skepticism. The author also finds that accounting and nonaccounting business students exhibit no significant difference in their scores of professional skepticism.     

What determines MNC subsidiary performance? Evidence from China

The paper challenges the view that MNC dictates a subsidiary's business strategy and operations in accordance with the integration-responsiveness (IR) framework. The paper integrates the IR framework with contingency theory to argue that a subsidiary needs discretion to craft its own effective business strategy in light of the environmental exigencies facing the subsidiary in the host country. It may do so at variance with the MNC's strategy. Evidence from China supports that subsidiary managers should take strategic initiatives in response to specific host country environment.     

Does model fit matter for hedging? Evidence from FTSE 100 options

This study implements a variety of different calibration methods applied to the Heston model and examines their effect on the performance of standard and minimum‐variance hedging of vanilla options on the FTSE 100 index. Simple adjustments to the Black–Scholes–Merton model are used as a benchmark. Our empirical findings apply to delta, delta‐gamma, or delta‐vega hedging and they are robust to varying the option maturities and moneyness, and to different market regimes. On the methodological side, an efficient technique for simultaneous calibration to option price and implied volatility index data is introduced. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 32:609–638, 2012     

How to reduce the default contagion risk of intercorporate credit guarantee networks? Evidence from China

This study uses data from 2011 to 2018 for Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises to construct a weighted directed network to investigate the topology of intercorporate credit guarantee networks. Moreover, based on the DebtRank algorithm, it develops a novel GuaranteeRank model that includes three factors to comprehensively examine default risk contagion and systemic risk in various scenarios. The results demonstrate that (1) credit guarantee network has the topological characteristics of “scale-free” and “small world”; (2) default contagion and systemic risk increase significantly when the macro-external shock and company's off-balance-sheet debt exceed certain threshold values, while continuous bank credit support can notably reduce the risk; (3) credit guarantee network is “robust yet fragile”, such that targeted shocks increase systemic risk much more than do random shocks; (4) in addition to the prevalent “too big to fail” and “too central to fail” phenomena, a “too connected with the central to fail” phenomenon is also identified for the first time. Therefore, this study provides an important reference for regulators and financial institutions to reduce the default contagion risk of intercorporate credit guarantee networks.     

How does stock market liberalization influence corporate innovation? Evidence from Stock Connect scheme in China

Using China's Stock Connect program as a quasi-natural experiment, we assess the impact of stock market liberalization on corporate innovation. The baseline result based on a difference-in-differences (DID) estimation suggests that allowing foreign investors to buy domestic stocks has a beneficial effect on Chinese firms' innovative outputs. Specifically, eligible firms affected by the Stock Connect scheme generate more and higher quality patents than other unaffected firms subsequently. Furthermore, we explore potential channels that may explain this beneficial effect in terms of improving corporate governance, reducing information asymmetry, and mitigating financial constraints. In addition, the effect is more pronounced for firms in high-tech industries. However, we find that the influence of stock market liberalization is insignificant in state-owned firms. Besides, the findings are generally robust to different measures of innovation and different methods of estimation. Overall, this paper provides new insights into understanding the positive effect of stock market liberalization in emerging market economies.     

Can returnee managers promote CSR performance? Evidence from China

With growing economic globalization, returnee managers who have obtained education or work experience overseas play a much more crucial role in corporations, especially in emerging economies. Using hand-collected managerial background data from a sample of firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2010 to 2014, this paper investigates the impact of returnee managers on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. We find that returnee managers can promote CSR performance. Further analyses show that the impact of returnee managers on CSR is more pronounced when managers have a foreign study background compared to managers with foreign work experience. The impact only holds when managers obtained their experience in developed economies. When enterprises face greater information asymmetry, returnee managers are more willing to use CSR as a tool to convey a positive image to stakeholders. CSR can help managers reduce information asymmetry and improve firm value. The results are robust through a series of robustness checks including a propensity score matching (PSM) procedure and a Heckman two-state sample selection model. This paper contributes to growing studies on the economic consequences of returnee managers and advances our understanding of the determinants of CSR at the individual level. The results also have implications for government and enterprises attracting talents with overseas experience.     

Do Lenders Value Corporate Social Responsibility? Evidence from China

Drawing on risk mitigation theory, this article examines whether the improvement of firms’ social performance reduces debt financing costs (CDFs) in China, the world’s largest emerging market. Employing both the ordinary least square (OLS) and the two-stage instrumental variable regression methods, we find that improved corporate social responsibility (CSR) reduces the CDF when firms’ CSR investment is lower than an optimal level; however, this relationship is reversed after the CSR investment exceeds the optimal level. Firms with extremely low or extremely high CSR are subject to a higher CDF. The results also suggest that the optimal CSR level for small firms is higher than that for large firms. This study is the first to document a U-shaped relationship between CSR and CDF and also the first to investigate this relationship within an emerging market context.     

Do Auditors Applaud Corporate Environmental Performance? Evidence from China

This paper examines the relationship between turnover among chief executive officers (CEOs) and corporate sustainability performance (CSP) by identifying the influence of two major types of succession to the top job (internal or external promotion) and the reasons for change. Our model also integrates the firm’s past prioritization of CSP and the impact of a company’s participation in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Upper echelons theory and agency theory frameworks are adopted to understand CSP. Using an analysis of panel data for 88 public companies across 13 years in France, we find that a change of chief executive has a positive and significant effect on CSP 5 years after the change. This positive effect is stronger when the new CEO is recruited from outside the firm. The impact on CSP is invariably positive and significant, except for voluntary departures. The arrival of a new CEO affects CSP less when the firm has already achieved a high standard of CSP and participates in the GRI. These results are obtained after controlling CSP determinants already validated in the literature (financial performance, size, profitability, etc.). The findings show that expectations of CEOs are not solely economic and financial but also concern CSP. In terms of governance, they should prompt shareholders looking to strengthen CSP to choose new CEOs from outside the firm and to encourage the firm to participate in the GRI.