Do financial blogs serve an infomediary role in capital markets?

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura K. Rickett
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Capital Markets ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
Economic Uncertainty ◽  
Market Conditions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Retail Investors

Purpose – Financial blogs provide an online platform whereby retail investors effortlessly gain access to an abundant array of investment guidance. Prior studies find that the market reacts to financial blogs and similar online venues but results are inconsistent and financial blogs, a growing area in new media and distinct from other online venues, have received little attention. The purpose of this paper is to examine the particular conditions in which financial blogs serve an infomediary role in capital markets; when information asymmetry is high, earnings quality is low, and during economic uncertainty. These are conditions in which retail investors may seek easily accessible advice for their investment decisions. Design/methodology/approach – Abnormal returns for firms mentioned in blog posts on the SeekingAlpha.com financial blog are examined using a multivariate regression to determine whether or not the market reaction associated with these posts is related to information asymmetry, earnings quality, and economic uncertainty. Findings – Results indicate that abnormal returns are associated with the SeekingAlpha.com financial blog when information asymmetry is high and during bearish market conditions, and in particular when buy recommendations are posted on the blog for firms with high information asymmetry. This association is strengthened for firms with low institutional ownership, a proxy for unsophisticated or retail investors. Research limitations/implications – Results are based on a sample collected during a specific time period in order to detect whether financial blogs serve an infomediary role during uncertain market conditions. Practical implications – Results of this study can be useful to company executives who may want to monitor investment advice posted about their firm on financial blogs. Financial blogs and other forms of social media such as Twitter and Facebook are becoming the “new normal” in the investor information environment, a trend that is likely to continue. Originality/value – Financial blogs provide an abundance of supplemental information demanded by investors. Financial blogs represent a form of “new media,” now considered a key component of firms’ information environment (Saxton, 2012). In contrast to prior studies which primarily investigate only whether the market reacts to financial blogs or similar online platforms such as stock message boards, this study attempts to understand the specific conditions in which the market reacts to financial blogs. The results provide a rationale as to when and why investors rely on financial blogs and whether financial blogs serve an infomediary role in capital markets.

Seeing or believing? Cross-listing and the earnings response

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-685
Author(s):  
Madhurima Bhattacharyay ◽  
Feng Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
Analyst Coverage ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Firms ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Cross Listing ◽  
Earnings Response ◽  
The Usa

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine two contrasting mechanisms of information asymmetry for cross-listed firms with respect to the information environment and its impact on earnings response. Design/methodology/approach The study empirically assesses two mechanisms of information asymmetry (“seeing” and/or “believing”) by looking at abnormal returns and volume reactions to international firms’ earnings announcements pre- and post-listing in the USA from 1990 to 2012. Findings The authors’ findings indicate that investors “seeing” more (media and analyst coverage) decrease the earnings response; however, “believing” more or gaining more credibility has the opposite effects. Based on the results, both mechanisms of information asymmetry can take effect simultaneously. Research limitations/implications The study sheds light on the multi-dimensional impact of the improved information environment that non-US firms face when they list their securities on US exchanges. Originality/value This study identifies and reconciles these two mechanisms of information asymmetry (visibility and credibility) under one setting and estimates the magnitude of each effect empirically.

The role of state ownership on earnings quality: evidence across public and private European firms

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 312-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Gaio ◽  
Inês Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Capital Markets ◽  
Capital Market ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
State Ownership ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Large Sample

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of state ownership on financial reporting quality regarding the characteristics of conservatism and earnings management. Design/methodology/approach Using a large sample of public and private European firms during the period 2003-2010, the authors test the hypotheses following Ball and Shivakumar’s (2005) model for conservatism and the modified Jones (1991) model proposed by Dechow and Sloan (1995) for earnings management. To ensure that the results are robust, the authors conduct sensitivity analysis with regard to potential endogeneity and selection bias. Findings The authors find that state-owned firms are less conservative than non-state-owned firms, which is consistent with the idea that there is less need for accounting conservatism due to government protection. The authors also show that capital markets play an important role in shaping the relation between state ownership and earnings management. Among public firms, the authors find that state-owned firms have higher abnormal accruals and worse accruals quality than non-state-owned firms, which suggests that state-owned firms are not immune to capital market pressures. Research limitations/implications The study has two limitations. First, as state-owned and non-state-owned firms face quite different incentive structures, management behavior might be determined by factors that have yet to be identified. Second, prior research results suggest an inverted U-shape relation between ownership concentration and earnings management (Ding et al., 2007). It would be interesting to investigate the impact of different levels of state ownership on earnings quality. Practical implications As the paper investigates the role of state ownership on earnings quality using a sample of European firms, it brings new insights regarding the role of state ownership in accounting quality and firm performance. In addition, it considers the role of capital markets in the relation between the quality of financial reporting and ownership by considering a sample with both public and private firms. Originality/value The study contributes to the debate about state intervention in the corporate sector, by extending the knowledge of the effects of government ownership on earnings quality by using a large sample of European firms. Furthermore, the authors also introduce the effect of capital market forces on managers’ behavior in state-owned and non-state-owned companies by analyzing private and publicly listed firms.

CEO social capital and asset sell-offs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Danso ◽  
Margarita Kaprielyan ◽  
Md Miran Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
Market Model ◽  
Good Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Announcement Returns

PurposeRecent studies explore how chief executive officer (CEO) social capital affects corporate decision-making. Well-connected CEOs can have greater access to information, which can lead to better corporate decisions or permit them to amass power from hierarchy status and make self-serving decisions. This study examines whether investors perceive CEO social capital as a signal of good decision-making (assuming information asymmetry) surrounding asset sell-off events.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use multivariate regression analysis to examine the effect of CEO social capital on the cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) of the asset buyers and sellers. CARs are estimated using a market model in the period proximate to asset sell-off announcements.FindingsThe authors find that CEO social capital is positively associated with announcement returns of the asset sellers. Moreover, the positive effect of CEO social capital on announcement returns is more pronounced for sellers facing greater information asymmetry. An analysis of post-announcement stock performance reveals that the seller CEO social capital is associated with additional value generated for the shareholders of the seller after a month from the announcement date, especially if the transaction price is disclosed. Overall, findings are consistent with the argument that CEO social capital provides value in high information asymmetry environment.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge this is the first study to examine the effect of CEO social capital on the shareholders' wealth created by divestitures.

Accruals quality, financial constraints, and corporate cash holdings

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 1129-1145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hatem Mansali ◽  
Imen Derouiche ◽  
Karima Jemai
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Financial Constraints ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Cash Holdings ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accruals Quality ◽  
Corporate Cash Holdings ◽  
High Information

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how information asymmetry driven by earnings quality affects corporate cash holdings. It also investigates the role that financial constraints play in this effect. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines a large sample of 6,501 observations of 741 firms listed on Euronext Paris over the period 2000–2015. Earnings quality is computed using the Jones model performance-matched discretionary accruals developed by Kothari et al. (2005): the larger the absolute value of discretionary accruals, the lower the accruals quality. Findings The study finds that firms with poor accruals quality hold more cash and that cash holdings in firms of low reporting quality are higher under financial constraints. These results indicate that firms tend to increase their cash reserves in the presence of high information asymmetry which is notably driven by low accounting quality. The findings also suggest that information asymmetry associated with low reporting quality is greater when firms also have strong financial constraints. The study’s conclusions are consistent with the precautionary motive for cash holdings. Practical implications The results would enhance practitioners’ awareness of the importance of accounting choices in the management of cash policies. It would also give researchers an incentive to further explore how these policies are influenced by the precautionary behavior of managers. Originality/value This paper is the first work to investigate the effect of accruals quality on corporate cash holdings in the French equity market, which typically has a poor information environment resulting in high information asymmetry. Moreover, the role of financial constraints in this effect has not yet been explored.

Who can realize the “spot value” of corporate social responsibility?

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 717-743
Author(s):  
Shiyu Wang ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Guanzhen Wang ◽  
Zhibin Chen
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Chinese Stock Market ◽  
Chinese Market ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Retail Investors ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This paper answers, in the Chinese stock market, who can realize the “spot value” of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Design/methodology/approach The authors use event-study to build the research framework. Using CSR report content analysis, the authors measure the specification level of CSR disclosure. Applying the Baidu index, the authors mine Chinese investors’ profiles data to investigate retail investor heterogeneity closely. Findings The authors find strong evidence that the measure captures a behavioral bias in CSR pricing: firms that choose to disclose CSR report experience positive abnormal return more among retail investors than institutional investors, more among young investors than older, but no difference between female and male investors. Practical implications For Chinese public firms, the authors give them evidence that they can realize positive abnormal returns by applying certain CSR disclosure strategies. For Chinese investors, especially retail investors and youths, the authors ask them to rethink whether their positive evaluation of CSR is a rational trade-off choice or whether they are fooled by the “hedging mask” and “attention-grabbing.” Social implications The findings can give some suggestions to regulators: encouraging voluntary disclosure and reducing mandatory disclosure can drive enterprises to engage in more CSR activities because the voluntarily CSR disclosure can realize both long-term value and “spot value.” Complementarily, a more rigorous CSR report auditing regulation can suppress the “greenwash” by increasing the “lying cost.” Originality/value Using behavioral finance theory, the authors connect the gap between neoclassical research on the “U-shaped” value realization of CSR and the increasing voluntary CSR disclosure in the Chinese market. The authors find that heuristic reason and emotionality orientation results in the Chinese “CSR-friendly” market.

Do sin firms engage in real activities manipulation to meet earnings benchmarks?

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-551
Author(s):  
Suzanne M. Ogilby ◽  
Xinmei Xie ◽  
Yan Xiong ◽  
Jin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Earnings Benchmarks ◽  
Real Activities Manipulation

Purpose Recent literature suggests that sin firms (firms in tobacco, gambling and alcohol industries) have lower institutional ownership, fewer analysts following, higher abnormal returns and higher financial reporting quality. This study aims to investigate empirically how sin firms engage in real activities manipulation (RAM) to meet earnings benchmarks in comparison to non-sin firms. Design/methodology/approach The authors examine two types of RAM, namely, Cutting discretionary expenditures including research and development (R&D), SG&A and advertising to boost earnings. Extending deep discount or lenient credit terms to boost sales and/or overproducing to decrease COGS to increase gross profit. Consistent with Roychowdhury (2006), the authors use abnormal discretionary expenditures as the proxy for expenditure reduction manipulation and abnormal production costs as the proxy for COGS manipulation. Findings The results for the abnormal discretionary expense model suggest that sin firms do not engage in RAM of advertising, R&D, SG&A expense to just meet earnings benchmarks. The results for the production costs model suggest that sin firms do not engage in COGS manipulation to just meet earnings benchmarks. The results are robust after controlling accrual-based earnings management (AEM). Overall, in this setting, these results suggest that managers of sin firms engage less in RAM to meet earnings benchmarks. Originality/value The findings are of interest to investors, auditors, regulators and academics with respect to financial statement analysis and earnings quality.

scholarly journals The long-run performance of US firms pursuing IPOs in foreign markets

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Killins ◽  
Peter V. Egly
Keyword(s):  
Capital Markets ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Foreign Markets ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Us ◽  
Long Term Performance ◽  
Term Performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-run performance of a unique set of US domiciled firms that have bypassed the US capital markets in pursuit of their initial public offering (IPO) overseas. Additionally, this paper then tests the popular underwriter prestige impact and the window of opportunity hypothesis on this unique subset of IPOs. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of foreign and purely domestic IPOs made by US firms from 2000 to 2011, this study investigates the long-term performance, one-, two- and three-year by using two measures (buy-and-hold return and cumulative abnormal returns) to test the long-run returns of newly listed companies. Finally, the research incorporates both the traditional matching methodology (issue year and size) along with propensity score matching methodology. Findings FIPOs of US companies underperform DIPOs and their matched DIPOs; furthermore, FIPOs underperform the index of the two listing countries they use the most (UK and Canada). Although the choice of a reputable underwriter mitigates underperformance, the choice of listing in a foreign country only may be a result of possible high valuations accorded by foreign investors who buy US-listed companies on the domestic exchange possibly for reducing exchange rate risk and gaining US diversification without incurring additional costs. It is, thus, possible that US companies that undertake Foreign IPOs not only escape potentially higher Security and Exchange Commission regulations and disclosure but also benefit from higher valuations in the foreign markets. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the long-term performance of US firms bypassing the US capital markets in pursuit of their initial equity offering elsewhere. Caglio et al. (2016) investigated why firms decide to pursue such equity raising activity but fail to investigate the firms’ actual performance after issuing equity. This research fills such a gap in the literature and is important for both academics and practitioners. Practitioners can use this information in assessing the quality of such investments in the long-run, and firms can use such information when determining the different options of issuing equity. Further, regulators should be aware of the implications that increased regulations have on capital raising activities in their domestic market.

Employee mistreatment and information asymmetry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omer Unsal
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
Employee Relations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Equity Risk ◽  
Panel Fixed Effects ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

PurposeIn this paper, the author utilizes a unique hand-collected dataset of workplace lawsuits, violations and allegations to test the relation between employee mistreatment and information asymmetry.Design/methodology/approachThe author tests the impact of employee treatment on firms' information environment by utilizing the S&P 1500 firms of 17,663 firm-year observations, which include 2,992 unique firms and 5,987 unique CEOs between 2000 and 2016. These methods include panel fixed effects, as well as alternative measures of information asymmetry, event study and matched samples for further robustness tests.FindingsThe author finds that employee disputes exacerbate the information flow between insiders and outsiders. Further, the author reports that case characteristics, such as case outcome and case duration, aggravate that problem. The author documents that the positive relationship between employee mistreatment and information asymmetry is stronger for small firms and firms with smaller market power, as well as firms with a high level of equity risk.Originality/valueThis study is the first to investigate how employee relations influence a firm's information asymmetry. The author aims to contribute to the literature by studying (1) the relation between information asymmetry and employee mistreatment, (2) how firm characteristics affect the path from employee disputes to information asymmetry and (3) the influence of various other types of evidence of employee mistreatment beyond litigation on the information environment.

Beyond earnings: do EBITDA reporting and governance matter for market participants?

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Cormier ◽  
Samira Demaria ◽  
Michel Magnan
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Value Relevance ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Participants ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether formally disclosing an earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) number reduces the information asymmetry between managers and investors beyond the release of GAAP earnings. The paper also assess if EBITDA disclosure enhances the value relevance and the predictive ability of earnings. Design/methodology/approach The authors explore the interface between GAAP and non-GAAP reporting as well as the impact of corporate governance on the quality of non-GAAP measures. Findings Results suggest that EBITDA reporting is associated with greater analyst following and with less information asymmetry. The authors also document that EBITDA reporting enhances the positive relationship between earnings and stock pricing as well as future cash flows. Moreover, it appears that corporate governance substitutes for EBITDA reporting for stock markets. Hence, EBITDA helps market participants to better assess earnings valuation when a firm’s governance is weak. Inversely, when governance is strong, releasing EBITDA information has a much smaller impact on the earnings-stock price relation. Originality/value The authors revisit the issue of how corporate governance relates with earnings quality by considering the potentially confounding effect of EBITDA reporting; it appears that such reporting substitutes for governance in moderating the relation between governance and earnings quality.

scholarly journals Investigation of Capital Market Efficiency in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Gita Masria Hutapea ◽  
Ahmad Fauzan Fathoni ◽  
Yulia Efni
Keyword(s):  
Linear Regression ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Capital Markets ◽  
Capital Market ◽  
Analytical Method ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Significant Positive Effect ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
The Capital Market

<em>In the midst of a national economic growth downturn that affected the capital market as a subsystem of the economy, now Indonesia capital market industry began to look at the development of the application of the principles of sharia as an alternative investment instruments in capital markets activities in Indonesia. The growth of the Islamic capital market in Indonesia is quite encouraging, but the Islamic capital market exposure is still minimal. Lack of public understanding about the Islamic capital market into doubt for investors to invest in the capital market. With the background of the problem, this research aims to investigate the level of efficiency increase of capital markets in Indonesia to see the influence of the capital market and the asymmetry of information on abnormal return. The population in this study are all listed company listed on the Stock Exchange 2014-2018 period as many as 626 companies with a total sample of 238 companies were selected based on criteria predetermined. The analytical method used in this research is multiple linear regression and the results showed that the type of capital markets significant negative effect on abnormal returns and the information asymmetry significant positive effect on abnormal returns. The continued development of the Islamic capital market information asymmetry and abnormal returns are also lower so the efficiency of the capital market has also increased. The analytical method used in this research is multiple linear regression and the results showed that the type of capital markets significant negative effect on abnormal returns and the information asymmetry significant positive effect on abnormal returns. The continued development of the Islamic capital market information asymmetry and abnormal returns are also lower so the efficiency of the capital market has also increased. The analytical method used in this research is multiple linear regression and the results showed that the type of capital markets significant negative effect on abnormal returns and the information asymmetry significant positive effect on abnormal returns. The continued development of the Islamic capital market information asymmetry and abnormal returns are also lower so the efficiency of the capital market has also increased.</em>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document