Are Seemingly Self-Serving Attributions in Earnings Press Releases Plausible? Empirical Evidence

2013 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 635-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Kimbrough ◽  
Isabel Yanyan Wang

ABSTRACT Seemingly self-serving attributions either attribute favorable performance to internal causes (enhancing attributions) or poor performance to external causes (defensive attributions). Managers presumably provide such attributions in earnings press releases to heighten (dampen) investors' perceptions of the persistence of good (bad) earnings news, thereby increasing (decreasing) the market reward (penalty) for good (bad) earnings news. Building on attribution theory and prior research on earnings commonality, this study investigates cross-sectional differences in investors' responses to quarterly earnings press releases that contain seemingly self-serving attributions. Using a random sample of press releases from 1999 to 2005, we find that firms that provide defensive attributions to explain earnings disappointments experience less severe market penalties when: (1) more of the their industry peers also release bad news, and (2) their earnings share higher commonality with industry- and market-level earnings. On the other hand, firms that provide enhancing attributions to explain good earnings news reap greater market rewards when: (1) more of their industry peers release bad news, and (2) their earnings share lower commonality with industry- and market-level earnings. Collectively, our results demonstrate that investors neither ignore seemingly self-serving attributions nor accept them at face value, but rely on industry- and firm-specific information to assess their plausibility. Data Availability: Data are publicly available from the sources identified in the text.

2012 ◽  
Vol 87 (5) ◽  
pp. 1679-1708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sugata Roychowdhury ◽  
Ewa Sletten

ABSTRACT We propose that the value of the earnings reporting process as an information source lies in limiting delays in the release of bad news, either by inducing managers to disclose it voluntarily or by directly releasing the negative news that managers have incentives to withhold. We compare earnings informativeness in bad-news and good-news quarters. Using returns to measure news, we find, consistent with our prediction, that earnings informativeness relative to other sources is higher in bad-news quarters than in good-news quarters. Further, cross-sectional tests indicate that earnings differential informativeness in bad-news quarters is more pronounced when managers do not voluntarily disclose the news, information asymmetry is stronger, and managers are net sellers of stock. JEL Classifications: G3; M4; M40; M41; M48. Data Availability: Data are available from Compustat, CRSP, First Call, I/B/E/S, ISSM, TAQ, and Thompson Financial.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 440
Author(s):  
Sri Handayani ◽  
Puteri Fannya ◽  
Putri Nazofah

<p><em>Based on data from the Indonesia Ministry of Health in 2015, In Indonesia, new professional nurses were just 2% of the total nurses. This figure was much lower than the Philippines which has reached 40% with bachelor and master level as their education. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between age, and leadership with the performance of health personnel</em><em>. </em><em>The design of this research was analytical research with Cross Sectional Study. The population in this study was all nurses and doctors who served in the internal room, children, surgery and midwifery</em><em>. </em><em>Sampling using total sampling</em><em> </em><em>by questionnaires. The data was processed by univariate and bivariate analysis using Chi-square test</em><em>. </em><em>The result showed that 57,8% nurses had poor performance, 56,3% doctors had poor performance, 64,4% nurses had average age 26-35 years, 56,2% doctors had average age  36-45 years, 64.4% nurses have poor leadership, </em><em>and </em><em>50.0% of doctors have less good leadership</em><em>.</em><em> There is a relationship between age</em><em> and </em><em>leadership with the performance of health personnel.</em><em></em></p><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>Berdasarkan data kemenkes RI tahun 2015 jumlah tenaga kesehatan terbanyak yaitu perawat sebanyak 147.264 orang (45,65%). Di Indonesia, perawat profesional baru mencapai 2% dari total perawat yang ada. Angka ini jauh lebih rendah dibandingkan dengan Filipina yang sudah mencapai 40% dengan pendidikan strata satu dan dua. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui hubungan antara umur, kepemimpinan dengan kinerja tenaga kesehatan. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan adalah desain penelitian analitik dengan Cross Sectional Study. Populasi pada penelitian ini adalah semua perawat dan dokter. Pengambilan sampel dengan menggunakan Total Sampling. Pengambilan data menggunakan kuesioner. Data diolah dengan analisis univariat menggunakan statistik deskriptif dan analisis bivariat menggunakan uji Chi-square. Hasil penelitian didapatkan 57,8% perawat memiliki kinerja kurang baik, 56,3% dokter memiliki kinerja kurang baik, 64,4% perawat memiliki umur rata-rata 26-35 tahun 64,4%, 56,2% dokter memiliki umur rata-rata 36-45 tahun, 64,4% perawat memiliki kepemimpinan kurang baik, 50,0% dokter memiliki kepemimpinan kurang baik. Terdapat hubungan antara umur dan kepemimpinan dengan kinerja tenaga kesehatan.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dichu Bao ◽  
Yongtae Kim ◽  
G. Mujtaba Mian ◽  
Lixin (Nancy) Su

ABSTRACT Prior studies provide conflicting evidence as to whether managers have a general tendency to disclose or withhold bad news. A key challenge for this literature is that researchers cannot observe the negative private information that managers possess. We tackle this challenge by constructing a proxy for managers' private bad news (residual short interest) and then perform a series of tests to validate this proxy. Using management earnings guidance and 8-K filings as measures of voluntary disclosure, we find a negative relation between bad-news disclosure and residual short interest, suggesting that managers withhold bad news in general. This tendency is tempered when firms are exposed to higher litigation risk, and it is strengthened when managers have greater incentives to support the stock price. Based on a novel approach to identifying the presence of bad news, our study adds to the debate on whether managers tend to withhold or release bad news. Data Availability: Data used in this study are available from public sources identified in the study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darush Yazdanfar ◽  
Peter Öhman

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to empirically investigate determinants of financial distress among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the global financial crisis and post-crisis periods.Design/methodology/approachSeveral statistical methods, including multiple binary logistic regression, were used to analyse a longitudinal cross-sectional panel data set of 3,865 Swedish SMEs operating in five industries over the 2008–2015 period.FindingsThe results suggest that financial distress is influenced by macroeconomic conditions (i.e. the global financial crisis) and, in particular, by various firm-specific characteristics (i.e. performance, financial leverage and financial distress in previous year). However, firm size and industry affiliation have no significant relationship with financial distress.Research limitationsDue to data availability, this study is limited to a sample of Swedish SMEs in five industries covering eight years. Further research could examine the generalizability of these findings by investigating other firms operating in other industries and other countries.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine determinants of financial distress among SMEs operating in Sweden using data from a large-scale longitudinal cross-sectional database.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1813
Author(s):  
Durmuş Çağrı Yıldırım ◽  
Seda Yıldırım ◽  
Seyfettin Erdoğan ◽  
Işıl Demirtaş ◽  
Gualter Couto ◽  
...  

This study proposes the time-varying nonlinear panel unit root test to investigate the convergence of ecological foot prints between the EU and candidate countries. Sixteen European countries (such as Albania, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Turkey) and analysis periods are selected according to data availability. This study proposes a cross-sectional Panel KSS with Fourier to test the convergence of the ecological footprints. Then, we combine this methodology with the rolling window method to take into account the time-varying stationarity of series. This study evaluated sub-components of ecological footprints separately and provided more comprehensive findings for the ecological footprint. According to empirical findings, this study proves that convergence or divergence does not show continuity over time. On the other side, this study points out the presence of divergence draws attention when considering the properties of the sub-components in general. As a result, this study shows that international policies by EU countries are generally accepted as successful to reduce ecological footprint, but these are not sufficient as expected. In this point, it is suggested to keep national policies to support international policies in the long term.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Jialin Fan ◽  
Andrew P Smith

(1) Psychology must play an important role in the prevention and management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present study was to examine associations between the perceptions of information overload and wellbeing in China during the initial phase of COVID-19. (2) Methods: The present research involved a cross-sectional online survey, which controlled for established predictors of wellbeing and the perception of general (not COVID-19-specific) information overload. The setting of the research was China, February 2020. A total of 1349 participants completed an online survey, and the results from 1240 members of the general public who stated that they were uninfected are reported here (55.6% female; 49.4% single; age distribution: 17–25 years: 26%; 26–30 years: 24.3%; 31–40 years: 23.9%; 41–50 years: 16.2%; 51 years+: 9.6%; the most frequent occupations were: 21.5% students; 19.5% teachers; 25.9% office workers; 10.8% managers, plus a few in a wide range of jobs). The outcomes were positive wellbeing (positive affect and life satisfaction) and negative wellbeing (stress, negative affect, anxiety and depression). (3) Results: Regressions were carried out, controlling for established predictors of wellbeing (psychological capital, general information overload, positive and negative coping). Spending time getting information about COVID-19 was associated with more positive wellbeing. In contrast, perceptions of COVID-19 information overload and feeling panic due to COVID-19 were associated with more negative wellbeing. (4) Conclusions: These results have implications for the communication of information about COVID-19 to the general public and form the basis for further research on the topic.


Author(s):  
Mary Brooke Billings ◽  
Matthew C. Cedergren ◽  
Svenja Dube

AbstractResearch suggests that earnings-disclosure-related litigation causes managers to reduce subsequent disclosure, perhaps stemming from a belief that even their good faith disclosures will cause them trouble. This paper considers unexplored dimensions of disclosure and alternative channels of disclosure to provide additional evidence that speaks to how litigation shapes managers’ disclosure strategies. Consistent with Skinner (1994)’s classic legal liability hypothesis, we find that, while managers reduce and delay forecasts of positive earnings news following litigation, they increase the frequency and timeliness of their bad news forecasts. Moreover, many managers who were nonguiders prior to facing legal scrutiny begin guiding following litigation. Managers also maintain (if not increase) the information they provide via press releases and during conference calls following litigation. Supporting the notion that managers use disclosure to walk down expectations, additional analyses document an increase in the likelihood that lawsuit firms report earnings that beat consensus forecasts in the post-lawsuit period. Collectively, our evidence suggests that following litigation managers continue to view disclosure as a valuable tool that shapes their firms’ information environments and reduces expected legal costs. In so doing, it supports an important alternative viewpoint of how firms respond to litigation as well as the effectiveness of litigation as a disciplining mechanism.


2021 ◽  
pp. postgradmedj-2021-140719
Author(s):  
Andrew Wu ◽  
Ritika S Parris ◽  
Timothy M Scarella ◽  
Carrie D Tibbles ◽  
John Torous ◽  
...  

IntroductionPhysician burnout has severe consequences on clinician well-being. Residents face numerous work-stressors that can contribute to burnout; however, given specialty variation in work-stress, it is difficult to identify systemic stressors and implement effective burnout interventions on an institutional level. Assessing resident preferences by specialty for common wellness interventions could also contribute to improved efficacy.MethodsThis cross-sectional study used best–worst scaling (BWS), a type of discrete choice modelling, to explore how 267 residents across nine specialties (anaesthesiology, emergency medicine, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynaecology, pathology, psychiatry, radiology and surgery) prioritised 16 work-stressors and 4 wellness interventions at a large academic medical centre during the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2020).ResultsTop-ranked stressors were work-life integration and electronic health record documentation. Therapy (63%, selected as ‘would realistically consider intervention’) and coaching (58%) were the most preferred wellness supports in comparison to group-based peer support (20%) and individual peer support (22%). Pathology, psychiatry and OBGYN specialties were most willing to consider all intervention options, with emergency medicine and internal medicine specialties least willing to consider intervention options.ConclusionBWS can identify relative differences in surveyed stressors, allowing for the generation of specialty-specific stressor rankings and preferences for specific wellness interventions that can be used to drive institution-wide changes to improve clinician wellness. BWS surveys are a potential methodology for clinician wellness programmes to gather specific information on preferences to determine best practices for resident wellness.


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