Influential Chief Marketing Officers and Management Revenue Forecasts

2017 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Koo ◽  
Dongyoung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Propensity Score ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Matched Pair ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Chief Marketing Officer ◽  
Chief Marketing Officers ◽  
Revenue Forecast ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACT We examine the role of the chief marketing officer (CMO) in corporate voluntary disclosure of future revenues. Using a sample of S&P 1500 firms for the period from 2003 to 2011, we find that the presence of an influential CMO in top management is positively associated with the likelihood of a firm issuing a management revenue forecast. We also find that firms with an influential CMO provide more accurate revenue forecasts than other firms. These findings extend to long-window change analyses and are robust to the use of a propensity score matched-pair approach. Overall, the results are consistent with the notion that CMO influence in top management appears to play an important role in voluntary revenue disclosures. JEL Classifications: M12; M31; M41. Data Availability: All data are publicly available from sources identified in the paper.

scholarly journals General Counsel Prominence and Corporate Tax Policy

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Abernathy ◽  
Thomas R. Kubick ◽  
Adi Masli
Keyword(s):  
Tax Policy ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Top Management ◽  
General Counsel ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Tax Aggressiveness

ABSTRACT Prior research provides evidence that individual executives have a significant effect on firm-level tax policy. Further research has shown that having a corporate general counsel (GC) in a firm's top management team (top five highest-paid executives) significantly affects a firm's accounting and disclosure practices. In this paper, we examine the role of the GC in corporate tax policy. Specifically, we use the ascension of the corporate GC to top management as the identifying event in which the role and influence of the corporate GC becomes more salient. We find strong evidence that GC ascension to top management is associated with an increase in tax aggressiveness, as evidenced by greater book-tax differences and a higher likelihood of engaging in tax shelter activities. Data Availability: Data are obtained from public sources identified in the paper.

Do Big 4 Auditors Provide Higher Audit Quality after Controlling for the Endogenous Choice of Auditor?

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 197-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Daniel Eshleman ◽  
Peng Guo
Keyword(s):  
Propensity Score ◽  
Propensity Score Matching ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Accounting Restatements ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
Weak Evidence ◽  
Matching Procedure ◽  
Jel Classifications

SUMMARY: Recent research suggests that Big 4 auditors do not provide higher audit quality than other auditors, after controlling for the endogenous choice of auditor. We re-examine this issue using the incidence of accounting restatements as a measure of audit quality. Using a propensity-score matching procedure similar to that used by recent research to control for clients' endogenous choice of auditor, we find that clients of Big 4 audit firms are less likely to subsequently issue an accounting restatement than are clients of other auditors. In additional tests, we find weak evidence that clients of Big 4 auditors are less likely to issue accounting restatements than are clients of Mid-tier auditors (Grant Thornton and BDO Seidman). Taken together, the evidence suggests that Big 4 auditors do perform higher quality audits. JEL Classifications: M41, M42 Data Availability: All data are publicly available from sources identified in the text.

Audit Quality and Specialist Tenure

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Gaver ◽  
Steven Utke
Keyword(s):  
Propensity Score ◽  
Propensity Score Matching ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Client Characteristics ◽  
Industry Specialization ◽  
Auditor Industry Specialization ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACT We argue that the association between auditor industry specialization and audit quality depends on how long the auditor has been a specialist. We measure audit quality using absolute discretionary accruals, income-increasing discretionary accruals, and book-tax differences. Our results, based on a sample of Big 4 audit clients from 2003–2015, indicate that auditors who have only recently gained the specialist designation produce a level of audit quality that does not surpass that produced by non-specialist auditors, and is generally lower than the audit quality produced by seasoned specialists. We estimate that the seasoning process takes two to three years. In contrast to prior research that finds no effect of specialization after propensity score matching, we find that seasoned specialists generally produce higher-quality audits than other auditors even after matching. This suggests that the audit quality effect associated with seasoned industry specialist auditors is not due to differences in client characteristics. JEL Classifications: M42. Data Availability: Data used in this study are available from public sources identified in the text.

scholarly journals Editorial: Promulgating innovative ideas in corporate governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-5
Author(s):  
Kalin Kolev
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Board Of Directors ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Compensation Contracts ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Stakeholder Interactions

This issue keeps the Journal’s tradition of promulgating innovative ideas on a broad range of questions related to corporate governance. By its nature, governance is inseparable from the existence, operation, and evolution of economic entities. As such, gaining understanding of its characteristics informs the spectrum of social science disciplines. Compensation contracts, a board of directors’ composition, stakeholder interactions, and the role of mandatory and voluntary disclosure of entities that are searching for or have acquired capital, serve as some of its many manifestations. Limited by data availability, extant research often favors public, for-profit entities. Understanding the role of governance in non-for-profit entities, private enterprises, and individuals, however, is just as important, and offers a fertile ground for future research

The Effect of Shareholder-Level Taxes on Organizational Form and Stock Ownership: Evidence from Equity Carve-Outs of Master Limited Partnerships

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 327-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Utke
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Form ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Stock Ownership ◽  
Limited Partnership ◽  
Average Decrease ◽  
Tax Exempt ◽  
Limited Partnerships ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACT I examine the role of heterogeneous shareholder-level taxes in organizational form decisions and in subsequent changes in investor stock ownership. Specifically, I investigate the decision to form a master limited partnership (MLP), which is a tax-advantaged entity for tax-sensitive shareholders, but a tax-disadvantaged entity for tax-exempt shareholders. Consistent with shareholder-level taxes influencing organizational form decisions, I find that firms owned by more tax-exempt shareholders are less likely to carve-out MLPs. Consistent with shareholder-level taxes influencing stock ownership, I find that tax-sensitive investors, on average, decrease their ownership in the parent and hold a relatively larger ownership share in the MLP than in the parent after the carve-out. In contrast, tax-exempt investors own less of the MLP than of the parent. These results provide evidence that firms cater to investors' shareholder-level taxes in making organizational form decisions and that investors sort on tax characteristics inherent to organizational form. JEL Classifications: G32; H24; H25. Data Availability: Data used in this study are available from public sources identified in the paper.

Auditors and Disclosure Quality: The Case of Major Customer Disclosures

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Legoria ◽  
Kenneth J. Reichelt ◽  
Jared S. Soileau
Keyword(s):  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
National Level ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Disclosure Quality ◽  
Specialized Knowledge ◽  
Auditor Quality ◽  
Second Tier ◽  
Office Size ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Jel Classifications

SUMMARY Little is known about the relationship between disclosure quality and auditor quality. We measure disclosure quality as the likelihood of a firm fully disclosing the identity of their major customers in the Form 10-K filing. We also measure voluntary disclosure by exempt smaller reporting companies (SRCs) disclosing, and all firms disclosing the identity in the audited notes, or affirming no major customers. We expect that firms are more likely to disclose when they engage higher-quality auditors who have specialized knowledge of 10-K regulations. We hand-collect a sample of more than 26,000 (34,000) major customer disclosures that we use for our main tests (voluntary disclosure tests). We find that firms are more likely to mandatorily disclose their major customers' identity when audited by either an office- or national-level specialist whose clientele consists largely of firms with major customers. We corroborate these results with other higher-quality auditor measures: Big N, second tier, and office size. We also show that SRCs are more likely to voluntarily disclose when they engage a higher-quality auditor. We provide further evidence of an association between voluntary disclosure and a higher-quality auditor by ranking disclosure quality on audited disclosure, nonaudited disclosure, and no disclosure. JEL Classifications: M42; M41; D23. Data Availability: All data are available from public sources identified in the text.

Non-CPAs and Office Audit Quality

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew G. Sherwood ◽  
Albert L. Nagy ◽  
Aleksandra B. Zimmerman
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Growth Regulators ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
External Audit ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Jel Classifications

SYNOPSIS During the time surrounding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Big 4 firms either spun-off or downsized their consulting practices. However, in recent years, consulting service lines of the large accounting firms have seen a dramatic resurgence and growth. Regulators have taken notice of, and expressed concern over, this renewed focus on consulting. The accounting firms claim that such services enhance audit quality, mainly due to the prominent role of non-accounting specialists in today's external audit function. This study examines whether the availability of non-CPAs in U.S. Big 4 firm offices is associated with audit quality. We find that greater access to non-CPAs in the office is associated with higher audit quality and conclude that office audit quality is not just a function of audit-specific human resources but also the availability of non-CPAs to support audit engagement teams. JEL Classifications: M41; M42. Data Availability: All data are publicly available from sources identified in the study.

scholarly journals The Economic Relevance Of Chief Marketing Officers In Firms Top Management Teams

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 555
Author(s):  
John Abernathy ◽  
Tom Kubick ◽  
Adi Masli
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
Shareholder Wealth ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Chief Marketing Officer ◽  
Chief Marketing Officers ◽  
Finance Theory

Management theory suggests that the presence of the Chief Marketing Officer in the Top Management Team reflects a corporate emphasis on marketing and customer relations. Finance theory suggests that this emphasis should translate into additional shareholder wealth. However, prior research has failed to document such a relationship. Using performance attribution analysis, the authors construct a long-short portfolio that buys (sells) stocks of firms with (without) a Chief Marketing Officer in the Top Management Team and find this investment strategy would have earned risk-adjusted excess returns of approximately 3%. Additional analyses suggest the value of having a Chief Marketing Officer in the Top Management Team manifests primarily among firms with high operating margin, low asset turnover, high profitability, high R&D intensity and high advertising expenses. The authors conclude that having a Chief Marketing Officer in the Top Management Team has a positive impact on shareholder wealth.

Does External Assurance Enhance the Credibility of CSR Reports? Evidence from CSR-Related Misconduct Events in Taiwan

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 101-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Du ◽  
Shing-Jen Wu
Keyword(s):  
Firm Value ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Repeat Offenders ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Perceived Credibility ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
First Time ◽  
Jel Classifications ◽  
Country Specific

SUMMARY This study examines the credibility of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and the role of external assurance on CSR reports. Based on a sample of listed firms in Taiwan, we find that the issuance of CSR reports is not associated with a lower incidence, or frequency, of future CSR-related misconduct, unless accompanied by external assurance. In other words, external assurance can enhance the credibility of CSR reports. Moreover, the perceived credibility of CSR reports depends on whether firms genuinely fulfill their CSR commitments. For first-time offenders, prior CSR reports play a significant role in protecting firm value when misconduct does occur; however, for repeat offenders, such an insurance role does not exist, regardless of whether the CSR report is assured or not. Our findings attest to the benefits of CSR assurance and underscore the importance of understanding CSR practice in the context of country-specific institutions. JEL Classifications: M14; M41; M42. Data Availability: Data are available from sources identified in the paper. Manually collected data on CSR-related misconduct events will be provided upon request.

Firm-Value Effects of Carbon Emissions and Carbon Disclosures

2013 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 695-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ella Mae Matsumura ◽  
Rachna Prakash ◽  
Sandra C. Vera-Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Selection Bias ◽  
Capital Markets ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Carbon Disclosure Project ◽  
Self Selection ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACT Using hand-collected carbon emissions data for 2006 to 2008 that were voluntarily disclosed to the Carbon Disclosure Project by S&P 500 firms, we examine the effects on firm value of carbon emissions and of the act of voluntarily disclosing carbon emissions. Correcting for self-selection bias from managers' decisions to disclose carbon emissions, we find that, on average, for every additional thousand metric tons of carbon emissions, firm value decreases by $212,000, where the median emissions for the disclosing firms in our sample are 1.07 million metric tons. We also examine the firm-value effects of managers' decisions to disclose carbon emissions. We find that the median value of firms that disclose their carbon emissions is about $2.3 billion higher than that of comparable non-disclosing firms. Our results indicate that the markets penalize all firms for their carbon emissions, but a further penalty is imposed on firms that do not disclose emissions information. The results are consistent with the argument that capital markets impound both carbon emissions and the act of voluntary disclosure of this information in firm valuations. JEL Classifications: G14, Q51, M14. Data Availability: Data are available from the sources identified in the study.

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