{"title":"Stock transferability, the managerial learning effect and corporate innovation","authors":"Xuehang Yu , Junxiong Fang","doi":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100341","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100341","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper considers stock halts to study the impact of stock liquidity loss on the managerial learning effect based on stock prices. We examine stock halts’ impact on corporate innovation and find that discretionary halts hinder innovation. We also find that discretionary halts reduce information quality and increase financial constraints and agent costs. Cross-sectional tests show that this negative impact is more pronounced in samples with high shareholding ratios by large shareholders, institutional investors and private firms. The results indicate that the loss of non-institutional stock trading rights, represented by discretionary stock halts, affects revelatory price efficiency in the secondary market, hinders managers’ learning effect and affects enterprises’ production and operation decisions. These findings have policy implications for stock circulation-right protection and Chinese capital-market reform.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45688,"journal":{"name":"China Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"17 1","pages":"Article 100341"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309123000515/pdfft?md5=82901ba20b3b1e6ecbd89ac68753eb34&pid=1-s2.0-S1755309123000515-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139874079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does executives’ overseas experience improve firms’ labor investment efficiency?","authors":"Wenfei Li , Manlin Rong , Jing Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100332","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100332","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Based on upper echelons theory and using a sample of private Chinese A-share listed firms from 2008 to 2020, this paper studies the impact of executives’ overseas experience on firms’ labor investment efficiency. The results show that executives with overseas experience significantly enhance firms’ labor investment efficiency. After distinguishing between different types of overseas experience, the results show that executives with only study experience or with both study and work experience abroad have a significant positive effect on firms’ labor investment efficiency, while executives with only overseas work experience have no significant effect. A cross-sectional analysis based on labor adjustment costs shows that the positive impact of executives’ overseas experience is more pronounced in labor-intensive firms, firms with a greater proportion of R&D investment and firms with a higher percentage of highly educated employees. The mechanism tests show that executives with overseas experience can optimize labor investment efficiency by lowering agency costs, attracting analyst attention and alleviating financing constraints under conditions of underemployment. This study enriches the literature on the characteristics of executive teams and the efficiency of labor investment, providing reference and inspiration for firms to attract more high-quality returnees and optimize their labor resource allocation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45688,"journal":{"name":"China Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"16 4","pages":"Article 100332"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309123000424/pdfft?md5=2722d5f71115e98424f1c86774d5636d&pid=1-s2.0-S1755309123000424-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135715684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How do board features and auditor characteristics shape key audit matters disclosures? Evidence from emerging economies","authors":"Md Mustafizur Rahaman , Md. Rezaul Karim","doi":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100331","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100331","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study examines how corporate board features and auditor characteristics in Bangladesh influence the disclosure of key audit matters (KAM) in annual reports from 2018 to 2021. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions, the study finds that factors such as chair gender, the presence of women on the board, audit committee (AC) size, auditor tenure, and client-auditor relationship significantly affect KAM disclosure. However, AC expertise, family CEO succession, and board political connections do not have significant effects. Notably, having a family member CEO with a long-tenured auditor has a negative association with KAM disclosure, while a politically connected family CEO has a positive association with such disclosures. Additionally, Big-4 auditors of important clients are negatively associated with KAM disclosure.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45688,"journal":{"name":"China Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"16 4","pages":"Article 100331"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309123000412/pdfft?md5=3283c647ec391277dc66d9ddfc6e8570&pid=1-s2.0-S1755309123000412-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135615646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stock market liberalization and financial reporting quality","authors":"Hongpan Zhang , Jiayue Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100328","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100328","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study employs the Mainland-Hong Kong Stock Connect pilot program in China to investigate the influence of stock market liberalization on firm-level financial reporting quality (FRQ). First, through a staggered difference-in-difference specification strategy, we find that eligible firms experience a significant improvement in FRQ, as measured by a composite proxy of accrual earnings management, real activities manipulation, and financial report restatement. Second, cross-sectional analyses suggest that the effect is stronger when firms are headquartered in regions with weaker institutional environments, characterized by lower judicial efficiency and less developed financial markets. We also show that the impact is more pronounced when firms face less external pressure and possess more effective corporate governance before stock market liberalization. Third, further evidence highlights that augmented FRQ is associated with a reduction in regulatory compliance costs, an improvement in stock price efficiency, and a mitigation of financing constraints. Collectively, we shed new light on the role of stock market liberalization in shaping firms’ financial reporting behavior.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45688,"journal":{"name":"China Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"16 4","pages":"Article 100328"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309123000382/pdfft?md5=ee14740852f90839b187f193c11f4809&pid=1-s2.0-S1755309123000382-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134915396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Partial portfolio disclosure, investors’ attention, and window dressing","authors":"Shujian Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100330","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100330","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>I show that the disclosure of mutual funds’ holdings significantly affects investors’ investment decisions. As most mutual fund websites, advertisements, and fund-trading platforms only disclose a fund’s 10 largest holdings (top-10), this study finds that investors disproportionately focus on these stocks. However, this bias does not lead to additional profit because relative to their peers, funds with good top-10 performance tend to generate poor long-term returns. I design a clean and innovative discontinuity test between the performance of the 10th and 11th portfolio holdings to examine such window dressing behavior. I find that relative to their peers, funds that are small, new, and highly active are more likely to window dress and incur greater costs if they suffer from severe capital outflows. My findings suggest that partial disclosure misleads investors and allows effective window dressing.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45688,"journal":{"name":"China Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"16 4","pages":"Article 100330"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309123000400/pdfft?md5=0e07be22e55903128d7616f7ec273a82&pid=1-s2.0-S1755309123000400-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134917189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Can industry information disclosure improve audit quality?","authors":"Chen Qiao , Guojian Zheng , Ying Zheng","doi":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100327","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100327","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We investigate the impact of industry information disclosure (IID) on audit quality in Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2021, by constructing a staggered difference-in-differences model based on the implementation of the IID guidelines in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in 2013 as an exogenous shock. Audit quality is significantly improved after the implementation of the IID guidelines. We also use a parallel trend test, different measurements of key variables, propensity score matching, a placebo test and different samples, to ensure the validity of our findings. IID enhances audit quality by improving auditor independence, professionalism and audit engagement, particularly in firms with high-quality and numerous IIDs, high auditor rankings, strong auditor industry expertise, IIDs with a negative tone and low R&D investment. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the IID guidelines from the perspective of auditing.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45688,"journal":{"name":"China Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"16 4","pages":"Article 100327"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309123000370/pdfft?md5=2f1a3720638c9c6390719ef8463b43e3&pid=1-s2.0-S1755309123000370-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135347899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"IPO suspension, financing uncertainty and corporate tax avoidance","authors":"Fei Lu , Songyan Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100329","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100329","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The acquisition of external financing is an important factor affecting the development of enterprises and even the economic growth of a country. However, changes in the external environment often expose enterprises to uncertainties in obtaining external financing. Taking China’s initial public offering (IPO) suspension policy as a setting, this paper examines the impact of the associated external financing uncertainty on firms. The empirical results show that firms that are unable to secure planned financing due to the IPO suspension policy engage in greater tax avoidance activities than successful IPOs during the IPO suspension period; this phenomenon is mainly concentrated in firms that are not state-owned, have no venture capital or private equity backing, have lower debt servicing capacity and have lower tax avoidance risk. Moreover, the tax avoidance activities of enterprises positively influence their fixed asset investment and innovation investment during the IPO suspension period. Evidence based on IPO price performance indicates that investors respond positively to firms’ tax avoidance practices during IPO suspensions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45688,"journal":{"name":"China Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"16 4","pages":"Article 100329"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309123000394/pdfft?md5=56c3e8070af2ed285e4779a80ca67e55&pid=1-s2.0-S1755309123000394-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135349453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Supplier concentration and analyst forecast bias","authors":"Xiaotong Jia, Kai Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100326","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100326","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study examines the relationship between analyst forecast dispersion or accuracy and supplier concentration of listed firms in China from 2008 to 2019. Our findings suggest that higher supplier concentration is associated with lower analyst forecast dispersion, which can be attributed to the increased attention from analysts. Moreover, this effect is more pronounced when firms have less bargaining power and higher institutional ownership, indicating a greater reliance on the supply chain. Our study highlights the importance of disclosing supply chain information, which provides insights beyond those of traditional financial information.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45688,"journal":{"name":"China Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"16 4","pages":"Article 100326"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309123000369/pdfft?md5=b6cbd27d51ac34503faf55daf08754d0&pid=1-s2.0-S1755309123000369-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135347981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hongtao Shen , Honghui Lin , Wenqi Han , Huiying Wu
{"title":"ESG in China: A review of practice and research, and future research avenues","authors":"Hongtao Shen , Honghui Lin , Wenqi Han , Huiying Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100325","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100325","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper reviews the practice and research on environmental, social and governance (ESG) in China. It finds that (1) under China’s top-down framework, ESG practices have grown substantially in ESG disclosure, ESG rating and ESG investing; and (2) ESG research has focused on corporate ESG disclosure and performance as well as ESG investing. Although the topics of the ESG studies reviewed in this paper are similar to those of ESG research in other countries, China’s ESG research enriches international ESG research by showing two distinct characteristics, namely, the country’s unique institutional context and the dominance of quantitative research methods. Future research can investigate ESG standards development and the impact of traditional Chinese ethics, modernization and internationalization on ESG in China.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45688,"journal":{"name":"China Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"16 4","pages":"Article 100325"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309123000357/pdfft?md5=348cf4ff43a6e07a06485158df9c654d&pid=1-s2.0-S1755309123000357-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135254899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Governance or reputation? Flexible tax enforcement and excess goodwill: Evidence from the taxpaying credit rating system in China","authors":"Jingbo Luo, Chun Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100316","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cjar.2023.100316","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study investigates the effect of flexible tax enforcement on firms’ excess goodwill using unique manually collected data on taxpaying credit rating in China from 2014 to 2021. We document that A-rated taxpayer firms have less excess goodwill; A-rated firms reduce excess goodwill by 0.005 vis-a-vis non-A-rated firms, which accounts for 100% of the mean value of excess goodwill. This finding holds after multiple robustness tests and an endogeneity analysis. Moreover, this negative effect is more pronounced in firms with low information transparency, that are non-state-owned and that are located in regions with low tax enforcement intensity. The channel test results suggest that taxpaying credit rating system as flexible tax enforcement reduces firms’ excess goodwill through a reputation-based effect and not a governance-based effect. This study reveals that the taxpaying credit rating system in China as flexible tax enforcement can bring halo effect to A rating firms, thereby limiting irrational M&As and breaking goodwill bubble.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45688,"journal":{"name":"China Journal of Accounting Research","volume":"16 3","pages":"Article 100316"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46411734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}