Aggressive tax planning and stock price synchronicity: evidence from China

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 829-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Feng ◽  
Ahsan Habib ◽  
Gao liang Tian
Keyword(s):  
Stock Prices ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Tax Planning ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Price Informativeness ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Stock Price Synchronicity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tax Aggressiveness ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between aggressive tax planning and stock price synchronicity. Design/methodology/approach Employing the special institutional background of China, this study constructs tax aggressiveness and stock price synchronicity measures for a large sample of Chinese stocks spanning the period 2003–2015. The authors employ OLS regression as the baseline methodology, and a fixed effect model, the Fama–Macbeth method and GMM as sensitivity checks. Matched samples and difference-in-difference analyses are used to control for endogeneity. Findings The authors find a significant and positive association between aggressive tax planning and stock price synchronicity. Because material information about risky tax transactions tends to be hidden in various tax accruals accounts, aggressive tax strategies make financial statements less transparent, thereby, increasing information asymmetry and decreasing stock price informativeness. The authors also find that the firms engaging in aggressive tax planning exhibit relatively high corporate opacity. In addition, the authors find that improvements in the tax enforcement regime, ownership status and high-quality auditors all constrain the adverse effects of tax aggressiveness. Practical implications This study has important practical implications for China’s regulators, who are striving to reduce the tax burden of enterprises. It also helps investors to consider investment decisions more appropriately from a taxation perspective. Originality/value First, this paper contributes to the stock price efficiency literature by identifying the effect of a hitherto unexamined factor, namely, firm-level aggressive tax planning, on the efficiency of stock prices. Second, this study provides further empirical evidence to support the agency view of tax aggressiveness, and the informational interpretation of stock price synchronicity. Third, this study helps us better understand the effects of firm-level tax policy on firm-specific information capitalization in an environment where overall country-level investor protection is relatively weak.

Profit warning and its association with stock price informativeness: experimental analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 209-230
Author(s):  
Adel Almasarwah ◽  
Mohammad Almaharmeh ◽  
Ahmed M. Al Omush ◽  
Adel Sarea
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Robust Regression ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Price Informativeness ◽  
Stock Price Synchronicity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Moderating Variables ◽  
Stock Price Informativeness

Purpose This study investigates the nature of the association between profit warnings and stock price informativeness in the context of Jordan as an emerging country. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a large panel data set that related to stock price synchronicity and profit warnings percentages on the Amman Stock Exchange for the period spanning 2007–2018. Robust regression was used as a parametric test. This enabled us to obtain stronger results that fall in line with our prediction that a profit warning encourages firm investors to collect and process more firm-specific information than common market information. Findings Our findings show a significant positive effect of profit warnings on the amount of firm-specific information incorporated into stock price, which means that the greater the percentage of profit warnings the more likely that more firm-specific information will be incorporated in stock price synchronicity. In addition, corporate governance characteristics (moderating variables) significantly increase the level of the relationship between profit warnings and stock price synchronicity. Practical implications Our study results could be useful to investors, senior managers, and regulators in Jordanian firms, particularly in relation to decisions about enhancing the quality of financial statements. In addition, our results provide new evidence about the consequences of earnings announcements for information content and the informativeness of stock prices. Our methodology and evaluation of profit warnings may also demonstrate useful evidence for future researchers on profit warnings and stock price informativeness in developing economies, especially given that such evidence is scarce in developing economies. Originality/value This research is the first study of its kind on emerging markets, particularly in the Middle East. Moreover, entering the corporate governance variables as moderating variables to the robust regression was found to be more powerful than other regressions.

Does corporate tax aggressiveness explain future stock price crash? Empirical evidence from France

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taher Hamza ◽  
Elhem ZAATIR
Keyword(s):  
Stock Prices ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Crash Risk ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Price Informativeness ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tax Aggressiveness ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of corporate tax aggressiveness on future stock price crash. It also tests the corporate tax aggressiveness prediction power of the stock price crash via a long forecast window (two years). Design/methodology/approach The study sample consisted of 1,169 firm-years observations. The multivariate analysis uses three measures of stock price crash risk, as a dependent variable. The key variable is tax aggressiveness lagged by one period (one year) as all independent variables. As a robustness check, this paper uses alternate measures of earning management and a longer forecast window (two years) to predict stock price crash risk. Findings Tax aggressiveness activity is positively related to a firm-specific future stock price crash. Corporate tax aggressiveness predicts stock price crash risk for a long forecast window (two years). The findings are robust to a number of checks and have several policy implications. Practical implications Investors should be cautious about the different risks of corporate tax aggressiveness: stock price crash risk. The important role of firm disclosure which leads to more relevant stock price informativeness. Adopt accounting conservatism behavior. The market perceives a socially irresponsible behavior and may harm the firm reputation. Social implications Incentives for French regulators to reduce the feeling of injustice by SMEs vis-à-vis large international companies that have the possibility of transferring part of their profits to a country different from that where it should be taxed to reduce their tax bases. Originality/value French companies are among the heavily taxed in Europe which makes France a particularly suitable context for studying tax aggressiveness issues. The first in the French context, that document a significant and positive relation between tax aggressiveness and future crash risk. It focuses on the important role of corporate tax planning as a means of withholding bad news and its consequences in inflating stock prices.

Analysts' Information Acquisition and Stock Price Synchronicity: A Regulatory Perspective from China

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiyan Jiang ◽  
Donghua Zhou ◽  
Joseph H. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Insider Trading ◽  
Private Information ◽  
Stock Prices ◽  
Information Acquisition ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Stock Price Synchronicity ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Information Advantage ◽  
Private Information Acquisition

SYNOPSIS Against the backdrop of the Chinese Directive 40 (China's Reg FD) issued in 2007 as an attempt to curb insider trading and to level the information playing field, this study investigates whether analysts' private information acquisition influences the extent to which firm-specific information is impounded into stock prices, i.e., stock price synchronicity, and how the restrictions on selective disclosures imposed by Directive 40 have shaped the relationship between analyst information acquisition and synchronicity. Using a pre-Directive 40 sample, we show that synchronicity is negatively related to analysts' private information acquisition, which provides support for the “information advantage” argument of analysts' information production. However, the ability of analysts' private information acquisition in improving firm-specific information incorporated into stock price is mitigated post-Directive 40 due to a restriction on selective disclosures and/or private communication. Moreover, we find that this regulatory impact varies for firms being followed by affiliated analysts versus non-affiliated analysts. JEL Classifications: G14; G15; G17; G18.

The real effects of primary and secondary equity markets on firm performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andriansyah Andriansyah
Keyword(s):  
Stock Prices ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Operating Performance ◽  
Equity Markets ◽  
Secondary Market ◽  
Price Informativeness ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Real Effects ◽  
Stock Price Informativeness

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the real effects of primary and secondary equity markets on the post-issue operating performance of initial public offering (IPO) firms. Design/methodology/approach The author utilizes the intended use of proceeds as a proxy variable for the primary market and the investment-to-price sensitivity and the informativeness of stock prices as alternative proxy variables for the secondary market. The compositional data, and non-parametric quantile regressions which are more robust to outliers than standard least square regressions, are employed for Indonesian equity market over the period of 1999-2013. Findings While confirming that firm operating performance can be explained by the firm’s motivation to go public, the author also shows that the operating performance is positively affected by investment-to-price sensitivity and negatively affected by stock price informativeness. The stock prices affect investment decisions by the way that the more liquid a stock is, the more informative its price is, and the more relevant stock prices are in investment decisions. These findings still hold after controlling for ownership structure. Originality/value Departing from the existing literature, the author investigates the role of primary and secondary equity markets for firm performance in an integrated framework because both markets interact closely in reality. The author shows that public listed firms can benefit both from the capital-raising function of the primary market and from the informational role of the stock prices of the secondary market. A measure of stock price informativeness, 1−R2, however, must be understood in the context of thin trading in the sense that the level of liquidity affects the level of stock price informativeness.

Corporate tax planning and corporate tax disclosure

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-364
Author(s):  
Mahfoudh Hussein Mgammal
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Tax Planning ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Effective Tax Rate ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of corporate tax planning (TP) on tax disclosure (TD). Using tax expenses data set, with the detailed effective tax rate (ETR) by reconciling individual items of income and expenses. Design/methodology/approach A firm-level panel data set is used to analyse 286 non-financial listed companies on Bursa Malaysia that spans the period 2010-2012. Multivariate statistical analyses were run on the sample data. The empirical understanding of TD depends on public sources of data in the financial statement, characterized in the aggregated note of tax expenses. Fitting with Malaysian environment, the authors measured TD using modified ETR reconciling items. Findings Results show that TP, exhibit a robust positive influence on TD. This suggests that TP is related to lower corporate TD. In addition, companies with high TP attempt to mitigate the disclosure problem by increasing various TD. The authors further find significant positive impact between each of firm size and industry dummy, on TD. This means that company-specific characteristics are significant factors affecting corporate TD. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the literature on the effect of TP on TD. It depends on both the signalling theory and the Scholes–Wolfson framework, which are the main theories concerned with TP and TD. Therefore, from a theoretical side, the authors add to the current theories by verifying that users are the party influenced whether positively or negatively, by the extent of TD or the extent of TP activities through Malaysian organizations. Practical implications The evidence found in this paper has important policy and practical implications for the authorities, researchers, decision makers and company managers. The findings can provide them some relevant insights on the importance of TP actions from companies’ perspective and contribute to the discussion of who verifies and deduces from TD directed by companies. Originality/value This paper originality is regarded as the first attempt to examine the impact of TP on TD in a developing country such as Malaysia. Malaysian setting is an interesting one to examine because Malaysia could be similar to other countries in Southeast Asia. Results contribute significant insights to the discussion about TD regarding, which parties are responsible for the verification of TD by firms, and which parties benefit from this disclosure. Findings suggest that companies face a trade-off between tax benefits and TD when selecting the type of their TP.

Can microblogging information disclosure reduce stock price synchronicity? Evidence from China

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donghua Zhou ◽  
Yujie Zhao ◽  
Philip T Lin ◽  
Bin Li ◽  
Adrian (Waikong) Cheung
Keyword(s):  
Stock Prices ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Chinese Stock Market ◽  
Stock Price Synchronicity ◽  
Alternative Measures ◽  
The Impact

We study the relationship between stock price synchronicity and information disclosure of firms listed in the Chinese stock market, using hand-collected data on firms’ official microblogging content in Sina Weibo, a popular microblogging service in China. We find that after controlling for the impact of traditional media, the number of Weibo tweets is related negatively to stock price synchronicity, indicating that stock prices incorporate firm-specific information disclosed in the firm’s official Weibo. Number of microblogging fans can strengthen this negative relationship. Our result is robust to alternative measures of stock price synchronicity, microblogging information disclosure, and to endogeneity issues. JEL Classification: G14, G15

scholarly journals Financial Literacy and Stock Price Informativeness: a Cross-Country Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Anita Todea
Keyword(s):  
Private Information ◽  
Stock Prices ◽  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Individual Investors ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Price Informativeness ◽  
Stock Price Informativeness ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This paper examines the impact of financial literacy on stock price informativeness in a sample of firms from 20 countries. Using four measures of stock price informativeness, we find a significant relationship between higher financial literacy and higher stock price informativeness. The individual investors’ contribution regarding the incorporation of specific information into stock prices includes private information also and not mere specific information in the general sense. Financial knowledge is the key element that helps individual investors to incorporate specific information into stock prices.

The Effect of Trade Secrets Law on Stock Price Synchronicity: Evidence from the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine

2020 ◽  
pp. 0000-0000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongtae Kim ◽  
Lixin (Nancy) Su ◽  
Zheng Wang ◽  
Haibin Wu
Keyword(s):  
Stock Prices ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
State Courts ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Stock Price Synchronicity ◽  
Corporate Managers ◽  
Proprietary Information ◽  
Proprietary Cost ◽  
Trade Secret Protection

We exploit the staggered recognition of the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine (IDD) by US state courts to examine the effect of trade-secret protection on the amount of firm-specific information incorporated in stock prices, as reflected in stock price synchronicity. We find that after certain state courts recognize the IDD, firms headquartered in those states exhibit a significant increase in stock price synchronicity relative to firms in other states. We also find a significant decrease in the disclosure of proprietary information in the firms' 10-K reports. These results suggest that IDD recognition increases the proprietary cost of disclosure, and, in response, corporate managers withhold more information. In addition, we find that the increase in stock price synchronicity and the decrease in the disclosure of proprietary information lead to increases in the firm's market share, cost of equity, and market-to-book ratio, suggesting that managers sacrifice capital market benefits for product market gains.

scholarly journals Informational Consequences of Mandatory IFRS Adoption in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 295
Author(s):  
Archana Patro
Keyword(s):  
Stock Prices ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Demand Elasticity ◽  
Future Price ◽  
Multivariate Techniques ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Stock Price Synchronicity ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
Mandatory Adoption ◽  
The Impact

In China, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) have become mandatory for listed firms in 2007. While earlier research on “voluntary” adopters has provided valuable insights on the impact of IFRS disclosure, these results cannot be generalised in a mandatory setting. We expect effects from mandatory IFRS adoption to be different from those documented for voluntary IFRS adopters since the former group is essentially forced to adopt IFRS. The empirical model, relating to stock price synchronicity with adoption of IFRS, and other firm-specific control variables were analysed using both univariate and multivariate techniques. 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 markets. Studying data covering the period from 2001-2013, the present study examines whether mandatory adoption of IFRS reduces Stock Price Synchronicity for Chinese firms. The empirical results show that IFRS adoption improves information environment by the capitalization of firm-specific information into stock prices, thereby reduces the Stock Price synchronicity. The paper further examines if the information impact was homogeneous across industries. This pattern of decrease in stock price synchronicity after adoption of IFRS is different for different industries taken for analysis. Aerospace & Defense, Automobiles Beverages, Metals & Mining, Retailer& Real Estate Operations have reduced synchronicity but other industries such as Biotech, Electric utilities, Electronic, Leisure products, Renewable energy and Telecom have increased synchronicity. For these industries, the low reliance on market wide information makes reasonable economic sense because they have relatively low demand elasticity. Hence, in demand inelastic industries, future price sensitive factors remain constant and so a changed IFRS accounting regime has little marginal impact. This study provides a different methodological approach by concentrating on Industry wide information effects from the mandatory adoption. These findings have important implications that apply not only to China, but also to other emerging and transitional economies such as India where IFRS is yet to be mandated. Moreover it will help regulators, academicians and practitioners to assess the informational benefit of adopting IFRS.

New information in continuous disclosure

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Russell
Keyword(s):  
Information Content ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Price Sensitivity ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Disclosure Regulation ◽  
Stock Price Synchronicity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Information ◽  
Study Support ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the price-sensitivity of information under capital market disclosure regulation, the Australian continuous disclosure regulation (CDR). Design/methodology/approach – The study tests the information content of continuous disclosures and identifies the firm characteristics that condition the price-sensitivity of information under CDR. Findings – The study provides evidence that continuous firm disclosures are significantly associated with stock price adjustment to information. Further results are consistent with firm disclosure and its information content being determined by the economics of the firm. Practical implications – The findings of the study support the introduction of ongoing and continuous disclosure regimes in a number of capital markets, and assist firms and regulators model the price-sensitivity of information under CDR. Originality/value – The study highlights the sources of an informed market, and contributes to our understanding of the conditions under which the CDR reveals unexpected information. The results provide evidence of an association between firm disclosure and stock price synchronicity, consistent with managerial incentives to disclose information.

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