Political embeddedness and firms’ choices of earnings management strategies in China

We examine whether and how political embeddedness influences financial reporting quality in China by investigating how government ownership and political connections affect Chinese listed firms’ choices of earnings management strategies. The results show that state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and in particular, central SOEs, are more likely to substitute accrual-based earnings management strategies with costlier but less detectable real earnings management strategies than non-SOEs. The results also indicate that politically connected enterprises (PCEs) are more likely to employ less detectable real earnings management strategies than non-PCEs, so much so that PCEs’ total earnings management level is higher than that of non-PCEs.     

The role of national culture in financial literacy: Cross-country evidence

This paper examines the effect of national culture on adult financial literacy levels in 12 countries. Contrary to earlier financial literacy studies, our results are directly comparable across countries given that we use the standardized OECD/INFE financial literacy survey data and Hofstede's, 2001, cultural dimensions to capture financial literacy and national culture. In line with the financial socialization theory, we find that uncertainty avoidance positively influences financial literacy, while individualism negatively influences financial literacy. We conclude that national culture affects financial literacy and that it is important to account for cultural dimensions in future international financial literacy research.