Does voluntary adoption of XBRL reduce cost of equity capital?

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lizhong Hao ◽  
Joseph H. Zhang ◽  
Jing (Bob) Fang
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Lower Cost ◽  
Cost Of Capital ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Voluntary Adoption

Purpose – The paper aims to examine whether or not firms voluntarily filing in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) format enjoy a lower cost of capital. XBRL, or “interactive data” as the US Securities and Exchange Commission refers to it, is an information format that enables electronic exchange of standardized business and financial information. Design/methodology/approach – The authors investigate whether voluntary adoption of XBRL impacts cost of equity capital using a sample of US firms participated in the SEC Voluntary Filer Program, each matched with a pair of non-XBRL filers (matched by two-digit SIC code, same fiscal yearend, and close total assets in the same year). The authors measure firm-specific cost of equity capital at the fiscal year of last voluntary XBRL filing, using the PEG ratio model proposed by Easton, Gode and Mohanram, and Hou et al. Findings – The results show that cost of equity capital is significantly and negatively associated with XBRL adoption. The magnitude of the coefficient on XBRL suggests that firms voluntarily adopting XBRL are associated with an average reduction in cost of equity capital by 17-20 basis points (conditional on different cost of capital measures). Research limitations/implications – There is a research limitation due to the sample of voluntary XBRL adopters as of self-selection bias. The authors address this issue by using the Heckman two-stage regression procedure. Practical implications – The study provides evidence on the economic consequence of XBRL adoption in that it benefits shareholders by reducing the cost of equity capital. The evidence should provide regulators like the SEC more incentives to mandate the XBRL standard and motivate companies to adopt the standard as well. Originality/value – By showing that voluntary XBRL adopters are associated with lower cost of equity capital, the study provides timely and relevant empirical evidence to the economic consequences of voluntary adoption of XBRL. It also contributes to the limited empirical research on the economic consequences of new information technology and highlights the importance of institutional regulation in shaping the outcomes of new financial reporting format.

The impact of audit quality on earnings management and cost of equity capital: evidence from a developing market

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Le ◽  
Paula Hearn Moore
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of audit quality on earnings management and cost of equity capital (COE) considering the impact of two owner types: government ownership and foreign ownership. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a panel data set of 236 Vietnamese firms covering the period 2007 to 2017. Because the two main dependent variables of the COE capital and the absolute value of discretionary accruals receive fractional values between zero and one, the paper uses the generalised linear model (GLM) with a logit link and the binomial family in regression analyses. The paper uses numerous audit quality measures, including hiring Big 4 auditors or the industry-leading Big 4 auditor, changing from non-Big 4 auditors to Big 4 auditors or the industry-leading Big 4 auditor, and the length of Big 4 auditor tenure. Big 4 companies include KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC, whereas the non-big 4 are the other audit companies. Findings The study finds a negative relationship between audit quality and both the COE capital and income-increasing discretionary accruals. The effects of audit quality on discretionary accruals and the COE capital depend on the ownership levels of two important shareholders: the government and foreign investors. Foreign ownership is negatively associated with discretionary accruals; however, the effect is more pronounced in the sub-sample of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the firms where the government owns 50% or more equity, than in the sub-sample of Non-SOEs. Originality/value To the best of the knowledge, no prior similar study exists that used the GLM with a logit link and the binomial family regression. Global investors may be interested in understanding how unique institutional settings and capital markets of each country impact the financial reporting quality and cost of capital. Further, policymakers of developing markets may have incentives to improve the quality of financial reporting and reduce the cost of capital which should result in attracting more foreign investments.

Earnings Smoothness, Average Returns, and Implied Cost of Equity Capital

2010 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 315-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
John McInnis
Keyword(s):  
Stock Returns ◽  
Lower Cost ◽  
Cost Of Capital ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Earnings Forecasts ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Implied Cost Of Capital ◽  
Earnings Smoothness

ABSTRACT: Despite a belief among corporate executives that smooth earnings paths lead to a lower cost of equity capital, I find no relation between earnings smoothness and average stock returns over the last 30 years. In other words, owners of firms with volatile earnings are not compensated with higher returns, as one would expect if volatile earnings lead to greater risk exposure. Although prior empirical work links smoother earnings to a lower implied cost of capital, I offer evidence that this link is driven primarily by optimism in analysts' long-term earnings forecasts. This optimism yields target prices and implied cost of capital estimates that are systematically too high for firms with volatile earnings. Overall, the evidence is inconsistent with the notion that attempts to smooth earnings can lead to a lower cost of equity capital.

The impact of mandatory IFRS adoption on capital markets: evidence from Korea

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saerona Kim ◽  
Haeyoung Ryu
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Joint Effect ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of adoption of the mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on the cost of equity capital in a unique Korean setting. In Korea, individual financial statements were taken as primary financial statements. Before the adoption of IFRS, consolidated financial statements were taken as supplementary financial statements. Design/methodology/approach The authors measure the cost of equity using the average estimates from the implied cost of capital models proposed by Claus and Thomas (2001), Gebhardt et al. (2001), Easton (2004) and Ohlson and Juettner-Nauroth (2005), using it as the primary dependent variable. Mandatory IFRS adoption, the independent variable in this study, is assigned a value of 1 for the post-adoption period and 0 otherwise. Findings Using a sample of listed Korean companies during the period from 2000 to 2013, the authors find evidence of a significant reduction in the cost of equity capital in Korean listed companies after mandatory adoption of the IFRS in 2011, after controlling for a set of market variables. Originality/value This study is one of a growing body of literature on the relations between mandatory IFRS adoption and the cost of equity capital (Easley and O’Hara 2004; Covrig et al. 2007; Lambert et al. 2007; Daske et al. 2008). According to the results of this study, increased financial disclosure and enhanced information comparability, along with changes in legal and institutional enforcement, seem to have had a joint effect on the cost of equity capital, leading to a large decrease in expected equity returns.

Impact of International Financial Reporting Standards on Cost of equity Capital for Asian countries

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prof. Archana Patro ◽  
Prof. V. K. Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards

The present study examines whether adoption of IFRS reduces Cost of equity Capital for firms in Asia. The sample consists of firms from four Asian Countries, namely China, Hong Kong, Israel and Philippines, where IFRS has been made mandatory. Data for six years covering the period from 2006-2011 has been taken for analysis. Different types of panel data estimates were used and compared so as to interpret the results with the best suited parameters for different data sets for different countries. The results vary for different countries. The firms in Hong Kong and Philippines get benefit from the reduction in their cost of equity capital after adopting IFRS, but for firms in China and Israel cost of equity capital increased. It is also evident from the study that other firm specific control variables have no impact on cost of equity capital. The study contributes to the understanding of economic consequences of adopting IFRS across Asian countries. The findings would be important not only to countries that have already adopted IFRS, but also to countries that are in the process of adopting the standard. The outcomes will have important implications for the regulators, practitioners, academicians and auditors, as well as end-users of financial statements. 

Audit committee ownership and the cost of equity capital

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahsan Habib ◽  
Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan ◽  
Julia Y.H. Wu
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Cost

Purpose This paper aims to investigate whether audit committee ownership (consisting of both equity holdings and option holdings) is associated with the cost of equity capital. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses regression analysis to examine the association between audit committee ownership and the cost of equity capital. The data set consists of 2,825 firm-year observations for companies listed on the ASX between 2001 and 2015. This paper also conducts tests to explore the mediating effects of financial reporting quality, firm performance and the risk of reporting problems, on the relation between audit committee ownership and cost of equity capital. Findings The analyses reveal that audit committee ownership reduces the firm’s cost of equity and, thereby, support the incentive alignment view. However, the association is driven primarily by audit committee equity ownership, with option holdings having an insignificant effect. This paper also finds that firm performance mediates the association between audit committee ownership and the cost of equity capital. Practical implications Findings of the existing corporate governance research relating to the cost of equity capital and audit committee ownership remain sparse in the context of “comply-or-explain” types of regulatory environment, like that of Australia. The findings indicate that principle-based discretionary governance arrangements, e.g. compensating audit committee members with company equity, may bring benefits to firms in terms of cheaper financing. Regulators, scholars and practitioners are invited to consider further the comprehensive implications of the structure and transparency of audit committee incentives on the effective functioning of security markets. Originality/value The effects of audit committee ownership on the cost of equity capital are an issue of direct economic consequence for equity investors. The main finding of this study, namely, that a firm with higher audit committee share ownership is likely to benefit from a lower cost of equity capital, therefore adds value to the limited extant literature.

The relation between accounting information-based firm risk proxies and cost of equity capital across countries

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Kang ◽  
Mark Kohlbeck ◽  
Yong Yoo
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Capital Market ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Firm Risk ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Legal Infrastructure

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate international variability in the pricing of accounting information using ex ante cost of equity capital estimates. Prior literature shows that financial statement amounts are relevant for investor decisions only when there is appropriate economic and legal infrastructure (Ball, 2001). Design/methodology/approach – Accrual quality and accounting loss are focussed upon as indicators of firm risk in financial statements. Findings – The evidence suggests that accounting information is factored into ex ante cost of equity capital in countries with strong economic and legal infrastructures but not in those with weak infrastructures. Findings support Ball’s notion that the role financial reporting plays in a capital market depends on the strength of economic and legal infrastructure. Originality/value – Findings support Ball’s notion that the role financial reporting plays in a capital market depends on the strength of economic and legal infrastructure.

Does IFRS adoption decrease the cost of equity of the global tourism firms?

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 1615-1631
Author(s):  
Zhi-Yuan Feng ◽  
Ying-Chieh Wang ◽  
Hua-Wei Huang
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
Legal Enforcement ◽  
Global Tourism ◽  
The Cost

This article answers the question of whether the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) reduces the cost of equity capital, with a focus on the tourism industry. We employ a set of global tourism companies and find that mandatory IFRS adoption has a significantly negative relation with the cost of equity capital. However, we find that this relation is varied with different business cultures and geographic areas. Moreover, from interactive analyses of country institutions for the relation between mandatory IFRS adoption and tourism firm’s cost of equity, we show that adopting IFRS complements the deficiencies of various country institutions, such as investor protection, the strength of legal enforcement, and corporate governance.

scholarly journals Impact of Corporate Political Connections on Cost of Equity: A Dynamic Panel Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-65
Author(s):  
Aamir Amanat ◽  
Ahmed Imran Hunjra ◽  
Salman Ali Qureshi ◽  
Muhammad Hanif ◽  
Muhammad Razzaq Athar
Keyword(s):  
Lower Cost ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Financing Cost ◽  
Corporate Political Strategies ◽  
The Impact

We analyze the impact of corporate political connections on the cost of equity of non-financial firms listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange. We extract data from the DataStream and Election Commission of Pakistan for the years 2001 to 2018. The Generalized Method of Moments is used for data analysis. This research finds that firms use political connections to enjoy a lower cost of equity capital. Further, firms with strong ties to political power obtain more benefits on financing cost as compared to non-connected firms. Besides, we also find that firms affiliated with a large business group enjoy a lower cost of equity than non-affiliated connected firms. The findings may be helpful for regulators to formulate suitable policies concerning the use of corporate political strategies and to assist unconnected and non-affiliated firms to access finance easily.

scholarly journals Earnings quality and the cost of equity capital: evidence on the impact of legal background

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Hassan Ahmed ◽  
Yasean Tahat ◽  
Yasser Eliwa ◽  
Bruce Burton
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Institutional Ownership ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Earnings quality is of great concern to corporate stakeholders, including capital providers in international markets with widely varying regulatory pedigrees and ownership patterns. This paper aims to examine the association between the cost of equity capital and earnings quality, contextualised via tests that incorporate the potential for moderating effects around institutional settings. The analysis focuses on and compares evidence relating to (common law) UK/US firms and (civil law) German firms over the period 2005–2018 and seeks to identify whether, given institutional dissimilarities, significant differences exist between the two settings. Design/methodology/approach First, the authors undertake a review of the extant literature on the link between earnings quality and the cost of capital. Second, using a sample of 948 listed companies from the USA, the UK and Germany over the period 2005 to 2018, the authors estimate four implied cost of equity capital proxies. The relationship between companies’ cost of equity capital and their earnings quality is then investigated. Findings Consistent with theoretical reasoning and prior empirical analyses, the authors find a statistically negative association between earnings quality, evidenced by information relating to accruals and the cost of equity capital. However, when they extend the analysis by investigating the combined effect of institutional ownership and earnings quality on financing cost, the impact – while negative overall – is found to vary across legal backdrops. Research limitations/implications This paper uses institutional ownership as a mediating variable in the association between earnings quality and the cost of equity capital, but this is not intended to suggest that other measures may be of relevance here and additional research might usefully expand the analysis to incorporate other forms of ownership including state and foreign bases. Second, and suggestive of another avenue for developing the work presented in the study, the authors have used accrual measures of earnings quality. Practical implications The results are shown to provide potentially important insights for policymakers, creditors and investors about the consequences of earnings quality variability. The results should be of interest to firms seeking to reduce their financing costs and retain financial viability in the wake of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Originality/value The reported findings extends the single-country results of Eliwa et al. (2016) for the UK firms and Francis et al. (2005) for the USA, whereby both reported that the cost of equity capital is negatively associated with earnings quality attributes. Second, in a further increment to the extant literature (particularly Francis et al., 2005 and Eliwa et al., 2016), the authors find the effect of institutional ownership to be influential, with a significantly positive impact on the association between earnings quality and the cost of equity capital, suggesting in turn that institutional ownership can improve firms’ ability to secure cheaper funding by virtue of robust monitoring. While this result holds for the whole sample (the USA, the UK and Germany), country-level analysis shows that the result holds only for the common law countries (the UK and the USA) and not for Germany, consistent with the notion that extant legal systems are a determining factor in this context. This novel finding points to a role for institutional investors in watching and improving the quality of financial reports that are valued by the market in its price formation activity.

Impact of XBRL on Voluntary Adopters' Financial Reporting Quality and Cost of Equity Capital

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-65
Author(s):  
Tienshih Hsieh ◽  
Jean C. Bedard
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Cost Of Capital ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Expected Benefits

ABSTRACT We investigate whether corporate governance quality explains differences in financial reporting quality and cost of capital following the XBRL Voluntary Filing Program (VFP) launched by the SEC. Research on the effects of voluntary XBRL adoption remains valuable, as a bill recently introduced in Congress could revert the majority of U.S. public companies to voluntary compliance. Further, such research informs investors, researchers, and regulators in other countries that do not yet require XBRL. We hypothesize that the likelihood of achieving XBRL's expected benefits is greater in companies with stronger corporate governance. For instance, such companies might implement XBRL in ways that substantially improve information gathering and reporting; or make better use of XBRL to enhance its benefits, regardless of implementation strategy. Results confirm the expected interactive effect of voluntary XBRL adoption and corporate governance strength on both financial reporting quality and cost of capital. These findings suggest that not all voluntary adopters benefited from XBRL; rather, only those with superior corporate governance show measurable benefits during our study period.

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