Proprietary costs: Why do R&D-active firms choose single-lender financing?

We examine whether proprietary costs drive R&D-active firms’ choice of private loan structure. We find that R&D-active firms are more likely to choose single-lender over multi-lender private loan financing. This is consistent with the theory that high-ability entrepreneurs protect their proprietary knowledge by communicating it to a single lender while disclosing generic and less sensitive information to the public. This propensity, however, significantly decreases after the enactment of the American Inventor’s Protection Act (AIPA), which accelerated public disclosure of firms’ patent details in filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office. This accelerated public disclosure potentially caused R&D information to spill over to rivals, increasing the proprietary costs of single-lender borrowers. AIPA enactment also increased the spread on R&D-active firms’ single-lender loans. These findings contribute to the voluntary disclosure and financing-choice literature by linking R&D-active firms’ choice of single-lender financing to the proprietary costs of public disclosure.

Earnings forecasts of female CEOs: quality and consequences

This study examines the voluntary disclosure of earnings forecasts by female CEOs. We find that in the backdrop of increased pressure to perform from investors and other stakeholders, female CEOs tend to issue more earnings forecasts than male CEOs, and those forecasts are more accurate. We also find that while financial analysts generally prefer to follow companies headed by male CEOs, female CEOs’ efforts to issue accurate earnings forecasts pay off, as these efforts help them close the analyst coverage gap. We provide complementary evidence on the disclosure efforts of female CEOs with regard to updates to the forecast and the 10-K report. Lastly, we show that financial analysts rely more on the earnings forecasts of female CEOs, possibly because they recognize female CEOs’ superior forecasting quality. Our results are robust to the use of alternative research designs, including difference-in-difference, propensity score matching, and entropy balancing. Overall, our study documents gender differences in voluntary disclosure by senior management.

Unregulated Corporate Financial Disclosure and Analysts’ Forecast Properties: The Case of Embedded Value Reporting by Life Insurers

This paper investigates the association between life insurers’ voluntary disclosure of embedded value (EV), an unregulated market-driven fair value measure, and analyst forecast accuracy and dispersion. EV is an estimate of the present value of future net cash flows from in-force life insurance business. Advocates of this disclosure believe that EV is a better measure of economic performance than traditional GAAP measures. Others argue that corporate management has discretion in estimating and reporting EV. Further, analysts may have access to information that allows the development of possibly more accurate estimation metrics in the absence of EV disclosure. It is then an empirical issue to determine whether EV disclosure has any incremental effect on analysts’ forecast properties. Using a multi-country setting, we find that EV disclosure is positively associated with analysts’ earnings forecast accuracy and negatively related to forecast dispersion. This result is consistent with the alternative hypothesis that disclosure of EV provides a richer information set that enriches analysts’ forecasts beyond their own in-house developed surrogates. As guidance for insurance accounting and disclosure evolves, our findings support the value of continuing to provide EV information to the public.

Informações dos Investimentos de Marketing: Recurso de Diferenciação ou Segredo?

ABSTRACT Objective: drawing on voluntary disclosure theory, the paper’s main goal was to analyze the main effect of marketing intensity and the moderating role of life cycle on disclosure of marketing investments. Method: the sample includes 89 Brazilian companies listed on B3 stock exchange. We collected financial data from two sources, such as Economatica platform and in the explanatory notes and management report from the companies, which we coded through content analysis. We merged these two datasets and analyzed it using multiple linear regression. Results: both the marketing intensity and the life cycle of companies have effects on disclosure of marketing investments. In addition, the birth and growth phases moderate the main effect of marketing intensity, reducing the level of disclosure. This moderation is identified especially in disclosures of qualitative information. Conclusions: the findings support the voluntary disclosure theory based on arguments of judgment-based disclosure. Outcomes showed that when there is a high intensity of marketing investments, disclosure of marketing investments is managed by moving from the status of secrecy in companies in the birth and growth phases of life cycle to the status of differentiation resource in companies in the maturity phase of life cycle.

Marketing Investment Information: Differentiation Resource or Secret?

ABSTRACT Objective: drawing on voluntary disclosure theory, the paper’s main goal was to analyze the main effect of marketing intensity and the moderating role of life cycle on disclosure of marketing investments. Method: the sample includes 89 Brazilian companies listed on B3 stock exchange. We collected financial data from two sources, such as Economatica platform and in the explanatory notes and management report from the companies, which we coded through content analysis. We merged these two datasets and analyzed it using multiple linear regression. Results: both the marketing intensity and the life cycle of companies have effects on disclosure of marketing investments. In addition, the birth and growth phases moderate the main effect of marketing intensity, reducing the level of disclosure. This moderation is identified especially in disclosures of qualitative information. Conclusions: the findings support the voluntary disclosure theory based on arguments of judgment-based disclosure. Outcomes showed that when there is a high intensity of marketing investments, disclosure of marketing investments is managed by moving from the status of secrecy in companies in the birth and growth phases of life cycle to the status of differentiation resource in companies in the maturity phase of life cycle.

Voluntary Environmental Disclosure and Corporate Performance: A Study of Quoted Consumer Goods Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

This study examined the effect of voluntary environmental disclosure on the corporate performance of quoted consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study specifically examined the effect of voluntary disclosure on the current ratio and quick ratio. The study used the ex post facto research design. The population of the study was drawn from selected consumer good manufacturing firms quoted on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The study was based on secondary sources of data, collected from annual financial reports. The study found that voluntary disclosure is positively related to the current ratio and a quick ratio of quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The study recommended among others that to further fortify corporate governance practices among firms, there should be severe execution of Nigerian Stock Exchange sustainability disclosure guidelines for manufacturing firms.

Program Pengungkapan Sukarela Dalam Rangka Meningkatkan Kepatuhan Pajak Di Masa Pandemi Covid-19

Undang-Undang Nomor 7 Tahun 2021 tentang Harmonisasi Peraturan Perpajakan (UU HPP) merupakan kelanjutan dari Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2020 tentang Cipta Kerja (UU Ciptaker) dalam hal pengaturan ketentuan di bidang perpajakan. UU HPP mengatur beberapa perubahan dan pencantuman ketentuan baru termasuk di antaranya Program Pengungkapan Sukarela (PPS). Salah satu tujuan PPS yang utama adalah meningkatkan kepatuhan wajib pajak. PPS dilaksanakan berdasarkan asas kesederhanaan, kepastian hukum dan dan kemanfaatan. Kegiatan pengabdian kepada masyarakat dilakukan melalui web seminar bertujuan untuk memberikan pemahaman kepada masyarakat mengenai PPS dan ruang lingkupnya. Materi yang disajikan dalam webinar ini antara lain kondisi makro ekonomi indonesia, dampak situasi pandemi, dan kaitan PSS dengan kepatuhan pajak. Pelaksanaan webinar terdiri dari tiga tahap. Pertama, penyajian materi dari narasumber 1. Kedua, penyajian materi dari narasumber 2. Ketiga, sesi tanya jawab dengan peserta. Jumlah peserta webinar sekitar 300 yang berasal dari berbagai latar belakang profesi, seperti mahasiswa, akademisi, praktisi, dan para profesional lainnya. Law Number 7 of 2021 concerning Harmonization of Tax Regulations (UU HPP) is a continuation of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation (UU Ciptaker) in terms of regulating provisions in the taxation sector. The HPP Law regulates several changes and the inclusion of new provisions including the Voluntary Disclosure Program (PPS). One of the main objectives of PPS is to increase taxpayer compliance. PPS is implemented based on the principles of simplicity, legal certainty and benefit. Community service activities are carried out through web seminars aimed at providing understanding to the public about PPS and its scope. The material presented in this webinar includes Indonesia's macroeconomic conditions, the impact of the pandemic situation, and the relationship between PSS and tax compliance. The webinar consists of three stages. First, presentation of material from resource persons 1. Second, presentation of material from resource persons 2. Third, question and answer session with participants. The number of webinar participants is around 300 who come from various professional backgrounds, such as students, academician, practitioners, and other professionals.

Environmental, Social, and Governance Information Disclosure and Intellectual Capital Efficiency in Jordanian Listed Firms

In this study, we explore the association between the intellectual capital (IC) efficiency of firms and their voluntary disclosure of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information, using data on Jordanian listed firms and the value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) model with its three components of human, structural, and relational capital efficiency (HCE, SCE, and RCE, respectively). We find that disclosing environmental information is unrelated to IC efficiency, that disclosing governance information is associated with raised IC efficiency through the HCE and RCE components, and that disclosing social information is negatively associated with IC efficiency through the SCE and RCE components. We also find that releasing information on one or two of the three ESG dimensions has a positive effect on IC efficiency. This evidence has implications for the management of intangible assets.