scholarly journals Improving the information environment for analysts

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Farooq ◽  
Christian Nielsen

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to document the relationship between intellectual capital disclosure and analyst following for biotechnology firms listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange between 2001 and 2010. Design/methodology/approach – Intellectual capital disclosure was computed from financial statements applying the disclosure index of Bukh et al. (2005), while analyst following data were retrieved from the Institutional Brokers’ Estimate System (I/B/E/S). Findings – The results show that analysts are more likely to follow firms with high intellectual capital disclosure. This finding suggests that analysts wish to follow those firms for which they have more information. The results also show that the most important intellectual capital disclosures for analysts are those related to employees and strategic statements. This paper therefore expands on previous results by raising awareness of which information companies should disclose to the capital market in order to improve analyst following, in turn helping to improve the general disclosure environment. Research limitations/implications – More relevant methods, such as surveys or interviews with management, could be used to improve the information content of intellectual capital disclosure. Analysts probably deduce the intellectual capital of a firm from interaction with management rather than financial statements. Practical implications – Firms in and beyond the biotechnology sector can improve their information environment by disclosing more information on intellectual capital in relation to employees and strategic statements in their financial statements. Originality/value – The findings shed light on the importance of understanding intellectual capital in the biotechnology sector for analysts and investors who wish to value such firms.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Hassan Mohammadzadeh Moghadam ◽  
Zohreh Hajiha

Purpose The present study aims to investigate the relationship between intellectual capital and the readability of financial statements with the mediating role of management characteristics of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. In other words, this research tries to find the answer to whether intellectual capital can positively affect the readability of financial statements. Design/methodology/approach A multivariate regression model was used to test the hypotheses for this purpose. The research hypotheses were tested using a sample of 1,309 observations listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2018 and a multiple regression model based on panel data and fixed-effects models. Findings The results indicate that intellectual capital has a positive and significant relationship with the readability of financial statements, which means that with increasing intellectual capital in companies, financial statements’ readability also increases. Based on the hypothesis test results, it has been determined that narcissism, accrual and real earnings management have a negative effect on the relationship between intellectual capital and the readability of financial statements. Originality/value Since the present study examines such an issue in emerging markets, it provides users, analysts and legal entities with useful information about management’s inherent and acquired characteristics that significantly impact the purchase of audit opinion. This study’s results also contribute to developing science and knowledge in this field and close the literature gap.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Farooq

The purpose of this paper is to document the performance of analyst recommendations for biotechnology firms listed at the Copenhagen Stock Exchange during the period between 2001 and 2010.  Our results show that analysts are able to reveal value relevant information via their recommendations.  We report that buy recommendations are followed by significantly positive returns and sell recommendations are followed by significantly negative returns.  However, we also show that performance of analyst recommendations is not uniform across all firms.  It depends on the extent of information asymmetries present within firms.  We show that analyst recommendations contain no value for firms with the least level of transparency (lowest intellectual capital disclosure, lowest analyst coverage, and lowest frequency of recommendations).  However, as information environment improves, value of analyst recommendations also goes up. We recommend biotechnology firms to improve on their disclosure levels.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 681-700
Author(s):  
Mohammad Almaleki ◽  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Mahdi Moradi

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of managerial narcissism and overconfidence on financial statements’ comparability. In other words, this paper seeks to answer the question of whether the personality characteristics of managers may affect the level of financial statements’ quality of commercial entities or not. Design/methodology/approach The research hypotheses are tested using a sample of 896 observations taken from the Tehran Stock Exchange and 245 observations from the Iraqi Stock Exchange during 2012 and 2018 using the multiple regression model based on the combined data technique. Findings The findings show that managerial narcissism is positively and significantly associated with Iran’s financial statement comparability. In contrast, Iraqi data articulate a negative association between these two variables. This paper finds that Chief Executive Officer overconfidence and financial statements’ comparability are negatively related in both countries. Following the market variation, the different findings suggest that institutional settings such as the general managerial style, adopting international accounting standards (now IFRS) leading to the extent of auditing market globally in Iraq and suffering from international sanctions in Iran, the governing business environment may play an allocative role in preparing financial statements. Originality/value The present research is the first research conducted in two emerging markets (Iran and Iraq) examining the relationship between managers’ narcissism and overconfidence and financial statements’ comparability. Therefore, the present research in this area can significantly contribute to the development of science and knowledge.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-51
Author(s):  
A.A. Ousama ◽  
Mashael Thaar Al-Mutairi ◽  
A.H. Fatima

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the intellectual capital (IC) information reported in the annual reports and market value of the companies listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a panel data collected from the annual reports and Bloomberg database for six years, specifically the periods 2010-2012 and 2016-2018. The total sample consists of 252 observations. The theoretical framework was developed in reference to the resource-based theory. The regression model is based on Ohlson’s model, which has been modified by including IC information. Findings The study found that there is a significant relationship between IC information and firm market value. This finding indicates that companies report their IC to help the stakeholders (e.g. shareholders, investors) to understand the real value of the company (which includes IC values). Practical implications The shift to a knowledge-based economy (KBE) has made knowledge a driver for economic growth, and it has become more important than capital, land and labour. This shift makes IC and resources vital for companies to create wealth, value and gain competitive advantage. The State of Qatar plans to transform its economy to a KBE in its “Qatar Vision 2030”. The findings of the study show that the companies have started to depend more on IC to contribute to transforming Qatar’s economy to a KBE. Originality/value This study could be considered a pioneer study to examine the association of IC disclosure and firm value in Qatar. Furthermore, prior literature has mixed findings, which justifies further investigation of IC’s effect on market value, particularly in the emerging economy of Qatar.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 710-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Forte ◽  
Jon Tucker ◽  
Gaetano Matonti ◽  
Giuseppe Nicolò

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between intellectual capital (IC), measured in terms of the market to book (MTB) ratio, and potential key determinants of IC value such as intangible assets (IA) and a range of other factors. Design/methodology/approach The study is conducted for a sample of 140 Italian corporations over the period 2009-2013. Applying a holistic market-based approach, the relationship between IC value and selected determinants from the extant literature is tested. Five hypotheses are tested using a pooled OLS regression model, while controlling for time. ROE is employed as a useful firm profitability indicator from the perspective of an equity investor. Moreover, four robustness tests are undertaken. Findings The results show that IA, profitability, leverage, industry type, auditor type, and family ownership positively affect IC value, whereas SIZE and AGE negatively affect IC value. Moreover, the findings of the robustness tests suggest that all firms, and not just knowledge-intensive business service industry firms, manage knowledge. Research limitations/implications The validity of the findings is limited to the Italian context, as the study focuses on a sample of companies listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, all of which prepare their individual financial statements according to IFRS. Further limitations are related to the use of market value in the short term, as it is influenced by market volatility. The study may allow academic researchers to investigate the impact of other non-accounting sources of information on market value within a multidisciplinary perspective. Practical implications This paper also has implications for managers and practitioners. The findings suggest that managers should not take for granted that firm growth (an increase in SIZE) alone will lead to an increase in IC value, in the absence of a consistent IC-oriented investment strategy. Managers should also avoid smoothing their IC investment as the company grows, in order to maintain a stable MTB ratio. Further, standard setters should seek to explore better means of disclosing non-accounting information relating to IC value. Originality/value This paper contributes to the IC literature as it is the first study which applies the market capitalization approach to analyze IC value determinants in the Italian context, within the framework of IFRS. The findings reveal some interesting relationships between the MTB ratio and recognized intangible investments, which are found to be insignificant in previous studies, confirming that, through the holistic effect, the MTB ratio may be a good proxy for IC.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Afsaneh Lotfi ◽  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Mahmoud Lari Dashtbayaz

PurposeThe purpose of this present study is to assess the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on fraud in listed firms' financial statements on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). In other words, this paper seeks to figure out whether IC and its components, namely, the efficiency of human capital (HC), structural capital (SC), relational capital (RC) and customer capital (CC).Design/methodology/approachThe logistic regression model is used for analyzing the material of this study. Research hypotheses are also examined using a sample of 187 listed firms on the TSE during 2011–2018 by employing the logistic regression pattern based on synthetic data technique. Moreover, some robustness checks are also used to ensure the correctness of the obtained results.FindingsThe findings show a negative and significant relationship between IC and its components, including the efficiency of HC, SC, RC and CC, and fraud in financial statements. This means that by investing in the IC and its components, the amount of fraud in business firms' financial statements decreases.Originality/valueSince few studies are carried out by existing literature, this paper is among the pioneer efforts assessing IC's potential impact on fraud commitment. The findings apply to policymakers to improve the clarity of the business atmosphere of Iran.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jalil Khaksar ◽  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Mahmoud Lari DashtBayaz

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the relationship between the following auditor's characteristics with detecting frauds in the listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange. Design/methodology/approach A multiple regression model is used to test the research hypothesis. The hypothesis was further tested with a sample of 187 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (1,309 observations) from 2012 to 2018 and by using multiple regression models based on panel data and the random-effects model. Findings The results suggest a positive and significant relationship between audit firms' size, auditor rotation, specialization in the industry, the audit market's focus, auditor's independence, audit report lag and renewal of financial statements with fraud detection. The results revealed a significant relationship between the period of auditor tenure, auditor's narcissism, audit fees and the type of auditors' opinion (un-qualified opinion) with fraud detection. Originality/value As the present study is a pioneer in examining this issue in the emerging markets, it provides users, analysts and legal entities with useful information about auditor characteristics that significantly affect the fraud detection of financial statements. The results mitigate the literature gap and improve knowledge in this area.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasser Rezaei Pitenoei ◽  
Mehdi Safari Gerayli ◽  
Ahmad Abdollahi

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between financial reporting quality and information environment (IE) in firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Design/methodology/approach In this study, composite measures were used as the proxy to measure financial reporting quality and IE. In this regard, a sample of 1,490 firm-year observations of the firms listed on the TSE during the years 2008 to 2017 and a multivariate regression model was used to examine the research hypothesis. Findings Findings indicate that financial reporting quality has a positive relationship with firms’ IE. This result is robust to the alternate measure of financial reporting quality and endogeneity problem. Originality/value The present study is the first study to develop a composite measure for the firms’ IE in the Iranian capital market. As a result, it not only expands the theoretical literature on the firms’ IE but also helps policymakers, regulators, investors and financial reporting users make informed decisions.


Author(s):  
Federico Stezano ◽  
Ruben Oliver Espinoza

Purpose This paper aims to provide empirical evidence regarding the relationship between different capabilities and innovation performances in the biotechnology sector, in the case of Mexico. Design/methodology/approach Given the aforementioned objective, this paper constructs different indicators on types of capabilities and innovative performances and, based on them, performs an econometric analysis based on a logit model. The work assumes the central assumptions of the firm's evolutionary theory and, in this sense, seeks to provide quantitative empirical evidence that explains the way in which the construction of different types of capacities determines the innovation results of Mexican firms in the biotechnology sector. Findings Corroborating the previous empirical evidence in analysis of firm’s capabilities in the biotechnology sector, this work empirically states that productive, absorption, technological and innovative capabilities positively influence the innovative performance of Mexican biotechnology firms. Originality/value This work examines a central theme linked to the current analysis of innovation and knowledge processes: the relationship between the organizational capacities of firms in the biotechnology sector and their innovative performance. Through a detailed analysis based on a national survey of Mexican biotechnology firms, this work underlines the importance of generating a new type of reflection on linkage among capabilities, innovation, paradigms and trajectories, technological opportunities, relationship dynamics among actors and modes of insertion into the biotechnology value chain.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1125-1152
Author(s):  
Tamanna Dalwai ◽  
Syeeda Shafiya Mohammadi

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate governance of Oman's financial sector companies. Intellectual capital has been found to successfully contribute to the economic wealth creation of firms in germane literature. Unfortunately, financial statements do not necessarily capture and reflect the contributions of intellectual capital, thereby leading to an information asymmetry between companies and users of financial statements. The research also investigates the relationship between corporate governance and intellectual capital efficiency across various financial subsectors.Design/methodology/approachData are collected from annual reports available on Muscat Securities Market for 31 listed financial sector companies for the period 2012 to 2016 and analyzed using a multiple regression model. Intellectual capital is measured using Pulic's efficiency measure of value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC). Corporate governance individual components such as board characteristics, audit committee characteristics and ownership structure are presented as independent variables.FindingsThe findings suggest that board size and frequency of audit committee meetings have a significant association with the intellectual capital efficiency of Oman's financial sector. VAIC and human capital efficiency of banks are also significantly influenced by most of the corporate governance mechanisms; however, other subsectors do not report such findings. Corporate governance of banks in comparison to other subsectors effectively engages in utilizing the potential of intellectual capital efficiency. Agency theory and resource dependency theory find limited support as a result of this study. The GMM results are not robust to the alternative instruments.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size is small as the study is limited to the listed financial sector of Oman. Future studies can be extended to include all of Oman's or GCC’s listed companies. Additionally, the intellectual capital is measured using the construct of VAIC which suffers some limitations and can be overcome using other tools such as content analysis.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that Oman's regulators can create an awareness strategy on highlighting the importance of intellectual capital for companies (board of directors and managers), investors, debtors and creditors. Further, Oman's Capital Market Authority and Muscat Securities Market need to strengthen the regulations related to intellectual capital.Originality/valueThis study extends intellectual capital and corporate governance literature by presenting the research outcome for Oman's financial sector. It is useful for Oman's financial sector companies to direct corporate governance measures for driving value creation of firms through the management of intellectual capital efficiency.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document