Category Archives: RESEARCH ARTICLE

Asset redeployability and CEO inside debt

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Abstract

Using a large sample of US firms for the period 2006–2015, we investigate the relationship between asset redeployability (AR) and a Chief Executive Officer's (CEO) inside debt holdings (CID) (pension benefits and deferred compensation). We find a positive association between AR and CID. In addition, we also find that this relationship is stronger in firms that are more financially constrained and during times of economic uncertainty. Collectively, these findings suggest that asset market frictions captured by AR are better determinants of liquidation value than asset tangibility. Our results are robust to an array of sensitivity/robustness tests and endogeneity concerns.

How firms respond to external valuation: Evidence from the monitoring role of media

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Abstract

This study explores how media evaluations affect corporate capital investments. I show that media evaluations of firms affect corporate capital investments via the reputation mechanism, that is, a more negative media evaluation of the firm will motivate managers to give up inefficient investments. Meanwhile, a higher quantity of news underlying news evaluation and good firm performance strengthen the positive effect of media evaluation on corporate investments, whereas a higher level of divergence of news evaluation weakens the positive effect of media evaluation on corporate investments.

Critical analysis of integration of ICT and data analytics into the accounting curriculum: A multidimensional perspective

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Abstract

Undertaking a multistage qualitative approach, this study explores the accounting profession's demands for information communication technology (ICT) skills as well as the opportunities, challenges and influential factors that accounting academics encounter in embedding ICT and data analytics skills in the accounting curriculum. We employ content analysis of the course syllabi of all major Australian and New Zealand universities using term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF), and survey accounting heads of departments (or equivalents) and interview members of the industry. Our findings reveal diverse pedagogical approaches to embedding ICT and data analytics in the accounting curriculum. The findings also portray the gap between university accounting curricula and the professional bodies' ICT competencies requirements at the point of data collection. As such, challenges and future opportunities for the integration of topics related to ICT and data analytics are identified, which should be beneficial to academics and practitioners interested in future-oriented curriculum designs that are fundamental to accounting graduates and the future of the profession.

Management accountants with a growth mindset and changes in the design of costing systems: The role of organisational culture

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Abstract

Based on implicit person theories, this paper investigates the relationship between the growth mindset of management accountants and changes in the design of costing systems, as well as the role that organisational culture plays in this relationship. Using survey data from 146 management accountants of manufacturing companies, we find that management accountants who have a growth mindset increase the complexity, inconclusiveness, and functionality of their firm's costing system, compared to those who have a fixed mindset. Additionally, our results show that innovation-oriented culture (a dimension of organisational culture) strengthens the relationship between growth mindset and changes in the design of the costing system.

Does corporate ESG disclosure enhance investor relationship management? Evidence from China

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Abstract

This study investigates the enhancing effect of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure on investor relations management (IRM). The better the ESG disclosure, the higher the level of IRM. furthermore, this enhancement is achieved by reducing information asymmetry, improving information dissemination efficiency, and attracting investors attention, and it is more prominent in a sound institutional environment and a concentrated shareholding structure. Moreover, institutional investors show greater receptivity to ESG-driven IRM compared to individual investors. Finally, we indicate that IRM is enhanced by ESG disclosure, ultimately fostering high-quality corporate development. These findings provide valuable insights for promoting the standardisation of ESG disclosure and optimising IRM practices.

Corporate transparency among government suppliers: Implications for firm valuation

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Abstract

Corporate transparency has a positive impact on firm valuation, as predicted by agency theory; however, the transparency of strategically important government suppliers is not rewarded with higher valuations as the market expects politically sensitive firms to be inherently more transparent. The association between transparency and valuation among politically sensitive firms is consistent with the political cost hypothesis. We address endogeneity concerns using propensity score matching, Heckman's self-selection models and entropy balancing. Our findings offer novel insights, suggesting that the influence of transparency on corporate valuation varies with political sensitivity – a significant consideration for both finance professionals and scholars.

Optimal capital structure with supplier market power

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Abstract

We use a real-option model to study the effect of input supplier's market power on a firm's capital structure, and identify the Nash equilibrium outcome (firm's investment and financing policies and its supplier's pricing policy). When its supplier has market power, the firm will reduce leverage ratio and delay investment. This can help explain why observed leverage ratios are lower than in traditional capital-structure models (without supplier market power). Firm value can be increased by the vertical acquisition of the supplier, which would also result in a higher leverage ratio. This helps explain the observed increase in leverage ratios after acquisitions.

Intervention of large shareholders and corporate fraud – evidence from vertical interlock in corporate pyramids in an emerging economy

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Abstract

Through using 17,995 firm-year observations of all the Chinese A-share listed firms from 2008 to 2016 as a sample, we document that firms with vertical interlock have a lower likelihood of committing corporate fraud. We further test the underlying mechanisms, and we find that the effect of vertical interlock on the occurrence of corporate fraud is more pronounced when firms operate in a region with poor legal protection; with the legal environment being enhanced in China, the effect of vertical interlock has become less significant; and the effect of vertical interlock is also more pronounced when firms exhibit poor information environment at the firm level. Our results in this paper imply that the role of large shareholders and legal protection are substitutes in an emerging economy, and even with rapid economic and legal development in China, large shareholders keep playing a positive role in controlling fraudulent behaviours in Chinese listed firms.

Stock liquidity and tone of press releases

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Abstract

This paper presents evidence that higher stock liquidity makes firms increase tone of press releases. I find that firms with higher stock liquidity have higher tone in press releases, relative to the tone of news initiated by media, than firms with lower stock liquidity. This relation is stronger for firms with greater short-term pressure, that is, with greater transient institutional ownership, greater sensitivity of manager's wealth to stock price, and more analyst coverage. This finding suggests that stock liquidity, by producing short-term pressure on firms, leads firms to boost press release tone.

Covenant violation and operational efficiency

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Abstract

We examine the impact of covenant violation on corporate operational efficiency. Using an aggregate measure of operational efficiency developed by Demerjian et al. (Management Science, 58, 2012, 1229–1248), we provide strong empirical evidence that covenant violations hinder firms from achieving operational efficiency. Our finding is robust to alternative definitions of operational efficiency and various model specifications to address potential endogeneity issues. Further analyses show that lower operational efficiency is attributable to covenant-violating firms' under-investments in capital and labour. In addition, the negative effect of covenant violation on operational efficiency is not universally the same, and is less evident in violating firms with greater agency problems.