Do non-staggered board elections matter to earnings quality and the value relevance of earnings and book value?

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuling Chiang ◽  
Gary Kleinman ◽  
Picheng Lee

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of non-staggered voting for members of the board of directors on earnings quality and the value relevance of earnings and book value. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a sample of Taiwanese firms whose board was elected as a whole every three years from 2003 to 2013. The authors used multiple regression analysis to test whether board of directors elections and corporate governance affected earnings quality and the value relevance of earnings and book value. Findings The authors found that elections led to lower earnings quality, but better corporate governance led to greater earnings quality. In the presence of board elections, earnings have reduced value relevance but book value had increased value relevance. Finally, given board elections, the relative value relevance of earnings and book value on stock price was not fully moderated by strong corporate governance. Research limitations/implications The results presented here indicate the importance of better corporate governance in diffusing suspicions of management occasioned by the use of discretionary accruals in years in which board elections take place. Better corporate governance regimes led to a more positive relationship of discretionary accruals to earnings persistence, even in the presence of directorial elections. Similarly, better corporate governance regimes led to a more positive relationship between earnings per share and stock prices. Limitations include the restriction of the testing locale to Taiwan. That said, many companies around the globe use non-staggered board elections. Accordingly, these results suggest issues of importance to corporate governance advocates beyond Taiwan as well. Originality/value This study deepens the field’s understanding of the impact of corporate governance arrangements and schedules for electing board of directors’ members on issues of interest to stockholders.

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Cormier ◽  
Samira Demaria ◽  
Michel Magnan

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.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adel Almasarwah ◽  
Wasfi Alrawabdeh ◽  
Walid Masadeh ◽  
Munther Al-Nimer

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the link between earnings quality, Audit Committees and the Board of companies located in Jordan through the lens of enhancing corporate governance. Design/methodology/approach The real earnings management (REM) and accruals earnings management models were notably used within the panel data robust regression analysis approach; these were used against certain Audit Committee characteristics (i.e. meeting frequency, amount of Board and Committee participants [both internal and external], size) and Board of Directors. Findings The former characteristics were found to have a positive relationship with REM, while the latter yielded mixed results: while there was no significant identifiable relationship between Board outsiders and REM, there was a positive relationship identified between Board meetings, Board insiders and Board size and REM. In regard to this study’s limitations, the qualitative data gathered for the Board of Directors through the lens of corporate governance enhancement should have been documented with more detail; furthermore, the study was limited to the study of just one nation. Research limitations/implications The data is limited to only a single country. More explanation for Board of Directors need qualitative understandings into corporate governance improvement. The control variables are essentially partial in a developing market context. Practical implications The different corporate governance code and guidelines improvements have varied influence on earnings quality. As predictable, boards of directors most effect on earnings quality. Improvements have included most modification to audit committees but through them slight measured effect on earnings quality. Social implications Jordan’s corporate governance improvements expected organised corporate governance practices generally in place amongst its boards, and though invoking considerable modification to audit committees, eventually included slight modification to earnings quality. However, both improved earnings quality. Originality/value This particular research appears to be the first to consider both Audit Committee and Board of Directors characteristics in one model; indeed, in this vein, this research is also the first to explore the corporate governance enhancements that initially stemmed from there being zero code or guideline regarding its use, despite it becoming required recently. Hence, the authors can say this study has high originality.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Afef Khalil ◽  
Imen Ben Slimene

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the Board of Directors’ characteristics and their impact on the financial soundness of Islamic banks. Design/methodology/approach Regression analysis is applied to test the impact of the Board of Directors’ characteristics on the financial soundness of Islamic banks, using a panel data set of 67 Islamic banks covering 20 countries from 2005 to 2018. The Z-score indicator is used to evaluate the Islamic banks’ soundness. To check the robustness of the results, this paper uses other dependent variables (CAMEL) than the Z-score. Findings The main results show that the presence of an independent non-executive director negatively impacts the financial soundness of Islamic banks, while the chief executive officer duality practice has a positive effect on it. Other characteristics of the Board of Directors do not significantly impact the financial soundness of Islamic banks (foreign director, institutional director, chairman with a Shari’ah degree, interlocked chairman and the Board of Directors’ size). Practical implications This study aims to fill the gaps in the literature that discuss the Board of Directors’ role in corporate governance and its impact on the financial soundness of Islamic banks. In other words, it shows the role played by the Board of Directors and improves the knowledge of the corporate governance-financial soundness relationship. Plus, managers, investors and regulators may gain evocative insights, particularly those looking to improve their Islamic banks’ soundness by restructuring their boards’ composition. Originality/value This study sheds new light on the literature on Islamic banking by clarifying the relationship between the Board of Directors and the financial soundness of Islamic banks. Contrary to previous research, this paper uses an additional hypothesis stating that a chairman with a Shari’ah degree (Fiqh Muamalt) has a positive impact on the financial soundness of Islamic banks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-262
Author(s):  
Hesham I. Almujamed ◽  
Mishari M. Alfraih

Purpose This paper aims to explore how the characteristics of the board of directors (BoD) shape earnings and book value information available to market participants. Design/methodology/approach The authors investigated the impact of board size, presence of non-executives and role duality as proxies of effective corporate governance on the value relevance of financial reporting for 178 firms on the Kuwait stock exchange in 2013. Regression analysis based on Ohlson’s (1995) valuation model was used to test hypotheses. Findings The authors found that board size was significantly associated with company value and that Kuwaiti firms with large boards increased the value-relevance of earnings and book value. The influence of role duality was positive although not significant. The presence of non-executives on the board had a negative correlation with market value (not significant). Research limitations/implications These findings deliver empirical support for the prediction that the characteristics of the BoD improve the value relevance of financial reporting. Limitations such as small sample size and one-year duration of the study did not negate the basic findings, however. Future studies will use larger samples, longer duration and additional board characteristics. Practical implications This study provides empirical support for the hypothesis that board size influences market valuation. This study may benefit managers, investors and other decision-makers. Originality/value This study delivers empirical evidence on the impact of board characteristics on the value relevance of accounting information. It will be useful for regulators and market participants monitoring the influence of board characteristics on the value relevance of accounting information.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingli Liu ◽  
Ying Jiang ◽  
Lizhong Hao

Purpose Although short selling has been legalized in China for nearly 10 years, due to the existence of short-sale constraints, its impact on corporate governance of listed companies remains unclear. This paper aims to examine the impact of short-sale refinancing on earnings quality after the short-selling constraints have been released. The authors further explore whether this impact is subject to the nature of property rights and shareholding structures. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a sample of A-share firms in China for the period 2014–2016. The authors use earnings response coefficients (ERC) as a proxy for earnings quality. To empirically examine this issue, a matching sample is generated by using propensity score matching method (PSM) to reduce sample selection bias. Findings This study provides evidence that deregulation of short selling has positive external effect on corporate governance. The results indicate that the potential short-selling opportunities can effectively suppress earnings manipulation and improve earnings quality. However, the impact of short selling on earnings quality varies for companies with different nature of property rights and shareholding structure. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between short selling and earnings quality in the unique setting of short-sale refinancing. This study provides new evidence on the impact of short selling at the micro level and calls for further deregulation of short selling. In addition, this study contributes to existing studies on short-sale refinancing by examining an emerging market.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Mora Rodríguez ◽  
Francisco Flores Muñoz ◽  
Diego Valentinetti

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of recent developments in corporate reporting, specifically from the carbon disclosure project (CDP) environment, in the evolution of European post-crisis financial markets. Design/methodology/approach Theoretical and instrumental advancements from nonlinear dynamics have been applied to the analysis of market behaviour and the online presence or reputation of major European listed banks. Findings The application of a nonlinear statistical methodology (i.e. the autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average [ARFIMA] estimation model) demonstrates the presence of a long history of collected data, thus indicating a certain degree of predictability in the time series. Also, this study confirms the existence of structural breakpoints, specifically the impact of the CDP reporting in both stock prices and online search trends of the sampled companies for certain periods. Research limitations/implications This study introduces new methodological perspectives in corporate reporting studies, as the application of nonlinear techniques can be more effective in capturing corporate transparency issues. A limitation to overcome is to explore whether the impact of reporting is different due to the specific reporting behaviour each company adopts. Practical implications The “breakpoint” concept should enlighten the importance to firms of providing more information in specific moments, which can impact on both traditional (i.e. stock prices) and modern (i.e. online popularity) performance metrics. Additionally, it should be taken into account by stakeholders, when analysing the accountability of firms to improve their decision-making processes and policymakers, for monitoring and contrasting speculative and insider trading activities. Social implications Online search trends represent a new public attitude to how society “measures” the effectiveness of firms’ disclosure behaviours. Originality/value Combining ARFIMA with structural break techniques can be regarded as a relevant and complementary addition to classic “market reaction” or “value relevance” techniques.


Author(s):  
Xu_Dong Ji ◽  
Kamran Ahmed ◽  
Wei Lu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corporate governance and ownership structures on earnings quality in China both prior and subsequent to two important corporate reforms: the code of corporate governance (CCG) in 2002 and the split share structure reform (SSR) in 2005. Design/methodology/approach – This study utilises informativeness of earnings (earnings response coefficient), conditional accounting conservatism and managerial discretionary accruals to assess earnings quality using 12,267 firm-year observations over 11 years from 2000 to 2010. Further, two dummy variables for measuring the changes of CCG and SSR are employed to estimate the effects of CCG and SSR reforms on earnings quality via OLS regression. Findings – This study finds that the promulgation of the CCG in 2002 has had a positive impact, but the SSR reform in 2005 has had little effect on listed firms’ earnings quality in China. These results hold good after controlling for a number of ownership, governance and other variables and estimating models with multiple measures of earnings’ quality. Research limitations/implications – Future research could focus on how western style corporate governance mechanisms have been constrained by the old management systems and governmental dominated ownership structures in Chinese listed firms. The conclusion is that simply coping Western corporate governance model is not suitable for every country. Practical implications – The results will assist Chinese regulators in improving reporting quality, ownership structure and governance mechanisms in China. The results will help international investors better understand quality of financial information in China. Originality/value – This is the first to our knowledge that addresses the effects of major governance and ownership reforms together on accounting earnings quality and, thus, makes a significant contribution on understanding the effect of regulatory reforms on improving earnings quality. In doing so, it also indirectly assesses the effectiveness of western-style corporate governance mechanisms introduced in China.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 196-206
Author(s):  
Mwila Mulenga ◽  
Meena Bhatia

For accounting information to be useful for decision making it is essential that it is relevant for decision-making and should have a significant relation with stock prices or stock returns. Value relevance research aims to explain the impact of accounting information on stock prices or stock returns. This study examines the value relevance of earnings and book values on listed Indian pharmaceutical companies’ stock prices by using the Ohlson price model. The study gathered a series of panel data from 2006 to 2015 from the Nifty Pharma index. Ordinary least square and panel regression estimation were done using EViews. The findings provide sufficient evidence of those earnings per share (EPS) and book value per share (BVPS) jointly and individually for the Nifty Pharma index sample played an essential role in influencing stock prices. However, there is an insignificant decline in the combined value relevance of EPS and BVPS. The findings reveal that the EPS and BVPS played an important role in influencing stock prices. However, explanatory powers of EPS and BVPS in all years are significantly lower than that of developed countries. Overall findings show mixed results on the considerable influence of firm size on the value relevance of accounting information. This study’s findings have implications for analysts, investors, and other market participants; they should use EPS and BVPS in the equity valuation of pharmaceutical companies for better allocation of resources in capital markets.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moade Fawzi Shubita

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the practice of income smoothing in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) emerging markets; Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar. Then, to examine the impact of income smoothing on the earnings quality to decide whether income smoothing can serve as either a tool to enhance earnings quality or a tool for opportunistic behavior. Audit quality and corporate governance as additional factors are considered in this study. Design/methodology/approach – The study methodology measures income smoothing behavior based on the coefficient of variation method. Earnings quality is measured as an outcome of the explained variations in stock returns by earnings based on the efficient market hypothesis. Audit quality is measured based on brand as higher quality assigned to auditor from any of the Big 4, while the corporate governance is addressed based on the extent of governmental ownership. The initial study sample comprises 55 companies over a ten year period, from 1999 to 2008; the final sample represents approximately 64 percent of the industrial sector that have public data during the study. Findings – The results suggest that income smoothing behavior in the GCC markets has many variations in practice. Income smoothing, on average, improves earnings quality in three countries out of four, but not significantly for the whole sample based on earnings level. The earnings changes model demonstrated a positive and significant impact of income smoothing on earnings quality. Audit quality and earnings quality have a positive relationship within the region, and companies dominated by the government perform well in accordance with the earnings-return model. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to the industrial sector of the GCC. Practical implications – The study opens the door to future applications to other sectors within the GCC, same sectors and other sectors for Middle East countries and other emerging markets. Social implications – The study may foster a better understanding of accounting practices in the GCC and Middle East. The study reveals variations in different aspects among GCC countries, this matter should be considered in separate studies across different areas. Originality/value – The study makes an original contribution to being the first to explore this topic in the GCC. Additionally, this study shows that the GCC markets have different characteristics in the practice and impact of income smoothing on earnings’ quality. Further, audit quality and corporate governance was investigated for each country and for the region, in addition to the interaction between these factors with the income smoothing and earnings quality.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manish Bansal ◽  
Ashish Garg

Purpose The study aims to investigate the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)-converged standards (Indian Accounting Standards (INAS)) on the accounting quality of Indian firms. The phased manner approach of implementing INAS provides us a unique setting to investigate the issue in India. Design/methodology/approach The study used difference-in-difference (DiD) methodology, where the accounting quality is compared between test firms and benchmark firms during the pre-and post-INAS adoption period. Accounting quality is operationalized through four different constructs, namely, earnings smoothing, discretionary accruals, earnings timeliness and value relevance of earnings. Findings The findings deduced from the empirical results demonstrate that accounting quality has been significantly reduced after the adoption of INAS. In particular, results show that the degree of earnings smoothing, and the magnitude of discretionary accruals have been increased among test firms in the post-adoption year. Besides, findings provide evidence that timely recognition of losses and value relevance of earnings has been reduced for test firms relative to benchmark firms after the adoption of INAS. Practical implications The results suggest that the mere adoption of high-quality standards does not ensure higher accounting quality in countries with a weaker enforcement mechanism. Hence, stringent enforcement mechanisms are needed to ensure full compliance with accounting standards. This study serves as a case study for other emerging countries that are in the process of IFRS convergence and make them aware of the unintended consequences of IFRS adoption. Originality/value Indian authorities implemented INAS in a phased manner that provides a unique setting to use DiD methodology. DiD helps to control the impact of concurrent economic shocks, while examining the impact of the particular regulatory shock. Besides, this is the first attempt to investigate the impact of INAS on the accounting quality of Indian firms.


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