Audit committee characteristics, enterprise risk management and stock price synchronicity

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of audit committee (AC) characteristics and enterprise risk management (ERM) on stock price synchronicity (SYNCH). Design/methodology/approach Based on a sample of 437 US-based firms over the period 2010 to 2017, the current study uses fixed-effect and ordinary least square to test the formulated hypotheses. Majority of the sample firms are based on the S&P 500 index. This study also performs a battery of robustness checks. Findings The authors find that overall female members and female financial experts and female chairpersons of the AC are negatively associated with SYNCH. Similarly, the study endorses the monitoring role of financial experts and the diligence of the AC (threshold of four annual meetings), as both are negatively associated with SYNCH. However, the authors find that the AC chaired by the financial expert is also negative but insignificantly associated with SYNCH. Finally, the study finds that ERM is also negatively linked with SYNCH. Practical implications The findings of the current study offer some important policy implications. For instance, the shareholders can benefit from the monitoring abilities of women and financial experts by increasing their ratio in the AC. The study also offers some useful insights regarding the financial experts and chair of the AC and ERM. Originality/value The current study examines the association of AC characteristics with SYNCH, while the prior literature only assesses the impact of various board characteristics (such as size, independence and gender diversity). The study also contributes to the literature of ERM by providing new insights on the influence of the presence of ERM framework/program on SYNCH.

Can core competence help reduce stock price synchronicity? - Empirical evidence based on text analysis

This paper constructs the measurement index of core competence by text analysis method and empirically tests the impact of core competence on stock price synchronicity. We find that the stronger the core competence, the lower the stock price synchronicity, and mechanism test shows that core competence reduces the stock price synchronicity by enhancing the transparency of corporate information, which is still valid under a series of robustness tests. Further research shows that:(1) when the corporate governance environment is poor (higher level of internal earnings management, lower quality of accounting information, greater separation of ownership and control, lower shareholding ratio of external institutional investors, weaker product market competition, less media attention), the core competence has a more significant effect on the decline of stock price synchronization; (2)vertically, the dynamic improvement of core competence in the time dimension can play a role in stabilizing stock price synchronization; (3)after distinguishing the types of core competence, we find that the core competence related to information disclosure is more helpful to reduce the stock price synchronization; (4)after the CSRC forces listed companies to disclose the core competence information in the annual report, the core competence plays a stronger role in reducing the stock price synchronization. This study reveals the important role of core competence in reducing stock price synchronization. It not only enriches the relevant literature of core competence and stock price synchronization, but also has important practical significance for the government and regulatory departments to improve the efficiency of capital market allocation.

XBRL Adoption and Capital Market Information Efficiency

As a common standard for global business reporting, eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) can make up for the deficiencies of traditional financial reports in terms of standardized disclosure and information use costs, and provide firm-specific information to report users, reduce the level of corporate stock price synchronicity, and then improve capital market information allocation efficiency. Based on the financial data of Chinese listed companies from 2005 to 2011, this paper mainly focuses on the impact of XBRL adoption on stock price synchronicity.

XBRL Adoption and Capital Market Information Efficiency

As a common standard for global business reporting, eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) can make up for the deficiencies of traditional financial reports in terms of standardized disclosure and information use costs, and provide firm-specific information to report users, reduce the level of corporate stock price synchronicity, and then improve capital market information allocation efficiency. Based on the financial data of Chinese listed companies from 2005 to 2011, this paper mainly focuses on the impact of XBRL adoption on stock price synchronicity.