Attention to dividends, inattention to earnings?

We examine whether dividends serve as substitutes or complements to accounting information in firm valuation. Consistent with dividends substituting for earnings information, we find that dividend paying firms have 11%–15% lower earnings response coefficients (ERCs) than non-payers. We find more substitution when the dividend provides a stronger signal of permanent earnings: when the firm is less likely to cut the dividend, when the firm is likely to fund the dividend out of earnings rather than cash reserves, or when the dividend is larger. We then show that dividend payers have lower absolute returns, less trading volume, and fewer analyst forecasts at the earnings announcement (EA), suggesting that dividend payers attract less attention to their less informative EAs. Finally, we show that the lower EA attention translates into less earnings management and fewer earnings-related disclosures for dividend payers relative to non-payers. Collectively, this evidence suggests that dividends supply information about permanent earnings and, although costly, could be an efficient way for some firms to satisfy investors’ demand for earnings information.

How does reciprocal rent-seeking between politicians and auditors influence audit quality? - Evidence from China

In this study, we propose a reciprocal rent-seeking game between politicians and individual auditors with political connections, and examine how these auditors' political connections influence their audit quality. Using hand-collected data from the Chinese market from 2008 to 2013, we find that politically connected auditors have a significantly lower tendency to issue modified audit opinions (MAOs). In addition, we also find that politicians' career prospects are significantly adversely influenced by MAOs being issued in their jurisdictions, while auditors' political connections enable them to charge higher audit fees, acquire larger market share, and reduce the likelihood of encountering regulatory sanctions. Further evidence suggests that compared with their non-connected counterparts, the politically connected auditors tend to issue less accurate audit opinions, reduce client firms' earnings response coefficients (ERCs), and increase client firms' capital costs. Collectively, our study results suggest that individual auditors' political connections facilitate the reciprocal rent-seeking activities between these auditors and politicians, which ultimately undermines audit quality.

Voluntary Disclosure of Disaggregated Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Information Around Restatements

We examine changes in voluntary disclosure of balance sheet and cash flow (BS/CF) information in earnings releases after restatement announcements. We consider these disclosures to be particularly relevant in the restatement context since they help investors interpret accruals and assess reporting quality at a time when information uncertainty is high. We find that BS/CF disclosures drop significantly for at least five quarters following restatement announcements, particularly for severe restatements and those restatements more likely to lead to litigation, and less for firms likely to benefit from reputation-repairing activities. We next consider the impact of BS/CF changes on earnings informativeness and find significantly lower post-restatement earnings response coefficients for firms ceasing BS/CF disclosure, but not otherwise. Overall, we argue that litigation concerns provide a strong disincentive for disclosure following restatement announcements. Our findings add to a growing literature on the importance of disaggregated BS/CF information in interpreting accruals.

Post-Earning Announcement Drift and Value-Glamour Anomalies in NSE Listed Firms

Purpose of the article: Of the various market anomalies, the Value-Glamour anomaly and Post-Earnings Announcement Drifts (PEAD) have consistently attracted the attention of researchers. Prior studies have established that the reaction of value stocks and glamour stocks to the earnings announcement differs significantly and there is a close relationship between the PEAD and abnormal returns arising due to earning announcement surprises. We have studied the drift patterns of various value and glamour portfolios and tested whether the direction of the earnings announcement abnormal return is opposite to that of earnings surprise in the Indian market.Methodology: We use the statistics of 100 firms listed on the NSE for a sample period of 2014–2018. We use a set of 1130 observations analysed using the expectations formation approach around earnings and evaluate the post earnings announcement drift. We use the Earnings Response Coefficients to find the association between abnormal stock returns and earnings surprises.Scientific aim: The aim of this research is to improve the knowledge of market anomalies in developing markets such as India focusing on the impact of earnings announcement on growth and value stocks.Findings: We find that a negative association of abnormal stock returns with surprise in accounting earnings announcements. The stocks, which are overvalued or undervalued, are properly priced after the earnings announcements. Our results refute the earlier studies evidencing the strong support in favour of market inefficiency in the Indian context, particularly with respect to publicly available earnings information.Conclusions: The Indian stock market tends to be efficient with respect to earnings announcements and therefore does not produce excessive returns. However, a heterogeneity with respect to earnings announcement may exist among the category of stocks depending upon liquidity position. Superior returns cannot be derived by traders and investors on a consistent basis from value-glamour anomaly.

The impact of leverage on the earning response coefficients

This study aims to examine whether there is an influence of leverage on earnings response coefficients with corporate governance as moderation. This study uses 108 data of manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) during the year of observation 2016 to 2018. The analysis technique used in this study is a moderated regression analysis using SPSS version 24. The results of this study provide empirical evidence that leverage has an effect but not significant on the earnings response coefficient. This study also provides empirical evidence that corporate governance is unable to strengthen or weaken the effect of leverage on the earnings response coefficient.

Market Responsiveness to Corporate Social Responsibility

Market reaction to surprises in earnings announcements has long been used to measure the quality of the information content of the announcement, and studies have explored various factors affecting the response. This study adds to this body of research by factoring in the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) exhibited by the firm and employs a relatively new measure of a company’s level of CSR, rankings published by JUST Capital. I hypothesize that financial information reported by higher ranked companies is weighed more heavily by investors than those reported by non-ranked or lower-ranked companies. Using earnings response coefficients as a measure of the perceived quality of the financial information reported by the firms, my results provide direct support of the hypothesis, indicating that the market reacts more strongly to earnings surprises for firms with high JUST rankings than for unranked firms or firms with lower rankings. This result contributes new insights into the impact of a firm’s CSR in terms of the perceived quality of a firm’s financial reporting.

Determinan Earnings Response Coefficient dan Peran Konservatisme Akuntansi sebagai Pemoderasi pada Perusahaan Property dan Real Estate

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence the earnings response coefficient consisting of leverage, profitability, and investment opportunities that are moderated by accounting conservatism in companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in the period 2011-2017. The selection of a sample of 49 year data was used with the purposive sampling method. The results of this study indicate that, leverage has a negative effect on earnings response coefficients. Profitability, investment opportunity sets and accounting conservatism have no significant effect on earnings response coefficients. Conservatism accounting does not moderate the relationship between leverage and profitability to the earnings response coefficient. Conservative accounting moderates the relationship between investment opportunities set at the earnings response coefficient. ABSTRAK Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menguji faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi koefisien respon laba yang terdiri dari leverage, profitabilitas, dan peluang investasi yang dimoderasi oleh konservatisme akuntansi pada perusahaan yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia pada periode 2011-2017. Pemilihan sampel sejumlah 49 data tahun digunakan dengan metode purposive sampling. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa, leverage berpengaruh negatif terhadap koefisien respon laba. Profitabilitas, set kesempatan investasi dan konservatisme akuntansi tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap koefisien respon laba. Akuntansi konservatisme tidak memoderasi hubungan antara leverage dan profitabilitas terhadap koefisien respons laba. Akuntansi konservatisme memoderasi hubungan antara peluang investasi yang ditetapkan pada koefisien respons laba. JEL Classification: M41, G11

Determinan Earnings Response Coefficient dan Peran Konservatisme Akuntansi sebagai Pemoderasi pada Perusahaan Property dan Real Estate

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence the earnings response coefficient consisting of leverage, profitability, and investment opportunities that are moderated by accounting conservatism in companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in the period 2011-2017. The selection of a sample of 49 year data was used with the purposive sampling method. The results of this study indicate that, leverage has a negative effect on earnings response coefficients. Profitability, investment opportunity sets and accounting conservatism have no significant effect on earnings response coefficients. Conservatism accounting does not moderate the relationship between leverage and profitability to the earnings response coefficient. Conservative accounting moderates the relationship between investment opportunities set at the earnings response coefficient. ABSTRAK Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menguji faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi koefisien respon laba yang terdiri dari leverage, profitabilitas, dan peluang investasi yang dimoderasi oleh konservatisme akuntansi pada perusahaan yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia pada periode 2011-2017. Pemilihan sampel sejumlah 49 data tahun digunakan dengan metode purposive sampling. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa, leverage berpengaruh negatif terhadap koefisien respon laba. Profitabilitas, set kesempatan investasi dan konservatisme akuntansi tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap koefisien respon laba. Akuntansi konservatisme tidak memoderasi hubungan antara leverage dan profitabilitas terhadap koefisien respons laba. Akuntansi konservatisme memoderasi hubungan antara peluang investasi yang ditetapkan pada koefisien respons laba. JEL Classification: M41, G11

An Examination of Factors Driving Big 4 Audit Fee Premiums: Evidence from India's Audit Market

SYNOPSIS This study examines fee premiums earned by Big 4 auditors in India and identifies the primary reason for such fee premiums. There are three primary drivers of Big 4 fee premiums. Big 4 auditors charge a fee premium for their reputation, for providing a superior quality of audit, and for indemnifying losses for a company's stakeholders. Since the risk of auditor litigation in India is relatively low, Big 4 premiums in India would not be driven by the need for auditors to indemnify losses. The results indicate that Big 4 auditors earn significantly higher fees in India and also that their clients enjoy significantly higher earnings response coefficients compared to non-Big 4 clients. However, there is no difference in the quality of audit provided by Big 4 and non-Big 4 auditors as measured by the magnitude of reported discretionary accruals.