Gender diverse boards and goodwill changes: association between accounting conservatism, gender and governance

We study the relation between board gender diversity and goodwill (GW). GW on the balance sheet is connected to both the firm’s risk-taking and its accounting conservatism which are two popular topics in how gender diversity affects the governance of firms. GW captures the firm’s decision to acquire another business for a price exceeding the received identifiable net assets and the subsequent valuation of the purchase. We propose that board decisions affecting GW could depict information about board gender diversity and its potential effects. Specifically, we examine Nordic listed firms in the period 2009–2018, to determine whether and how female representation on the board of directors is linked to the GW change. Big GW increases are associated with risk-taking and GW write-downs are signs of conservative accounting. Thus, we hypothesize and evidence that firms with substantial GW increases (decreases) are associated with fewer (more) women on the board. These results provide insight on board composition and potentially also on good governance and their consequences for strategic decision-making. Our findings contribute to the board diversity literature in accounting and corporate governance.

Investor sentiment and accounting conservatism: evidence from Iran

Purpose The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of investor sentiment on accounting conservatism in listed companies in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Design/methodology/approach In this paper, two models of Ball and Shivakumar (2006) and Basu (1997) have been used for measuring conditional conservatism in accounting. To measure investor sentiment, the author uses the Baker and Wurgler (2006, 2007) index. The research sample consists of 1,820 observations and 182 firms listed on TSE over a ten-year period between 2011 and 2020. This study uses panel data and multivariate regression analysis to test it hypotheses. Findings Consistent with this hypothesis that accounting conservatism will increase with investor sentiment, the results showed that Iranian firms recognize economic losses and bad news in a more timely manner during high sentiment periods than during low sentiment periods. This implies that Iranian managers recognize economic losses and bad news in earnings in a more timely manner during periods of high investor sentiment. Practical implications This finding provides significant evidence for investors and financial reporting standard-setters in Iran because by removing accounting conservatism from the conceptual framework, managers are not able to present conservative financial reports, and this can intensify the negative impact of investors sentiment in the Iranian capital market. Managers of Iranian companies can reduce information asymmetry and increase capital market efficiency by accelerating the disclosure of bad news. Thus, managers can strategically recognize losses and prevent investors from making emotional decisions that reduce their wealth. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically examine the impact of investor sentiment on accounting conservatism in a developing market called Iran. This study contributes to the corporate disclosure literature. Also, the result of this study contributes to standard-setters of accounting standards to improve the mandatory disclosure literature on more conservative accounting earnings.

Environmental sustainability disclosure and accounting conservatism

In this article, we analyzed whether the level of accounting conservatism of a firm is affected by its environmental sustainability information disclosure. For that purpose, we developed two Environmental Disclosure Indices (EDI), one obtained from the mandatory reporting (annual report) and the other from the voluntary reporting (sustainability report), and compared the effects on conditional conservatism. Content analysis was used to develop two indices to evaluate the level of environmental disclosures. Moreover, the technique of multiple linear regression, using panel data, was applied to provide original empirical evidence for Portuguese companies listed on the stock exchange. We found evidence that higher environmental sustainability information disclosure enhances the conservative accounting practice, which is consistent with the argument that a higher level of Corporate Social Responsibility tends to increase financial statements transparency. In addition, we found that environmental information disclosed in specific and voluntary reporting has a superior impact on the level of conditional conservatism. These results showed that managers tend to engage in earnings management activities by being more accounting conservative in order to meet shareholders' expectations and disclose higher levels of environmental information. Therefore, this article brings some insights to the debate about the usefulness of accounting conservatism and the contribution of sustainability goals to monitor and guide managers’ activities.

EARNINGS AND FIRM VALUE: THE MODERATING IMPACT OF LARGE DEFERRED TAXES AND LARGE ACCRUALS IN INDONESIA

Deferred tax and accruals have the characteristic of causing reported earnings to be above or below normal. Both are permitted to be used by companies in financial reporting. This study examines whether large deferred taxes and large accruals have an impact on the relationship between earnings and firm value. Using a sample that includes 1938 company-year observations for the 2007−2017 periods listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), this study found that large positive deferred taxes with large positive accruals had weakened the relationship between earnings and firm value. In contrast to these results, a large negative deferred tax with a large negative accrual does not have an impact on the relationship between earnings and the firm value. This finding suggests that “liberal” accounting policies that cause reported “above normal” earnings have a negative effect on the association between earnings and firm value. However, “below normal” earnings resulting from “conservative” accounting policies do not affect the association between earnings and firm value. The uniqueness of this study is the incorporation of deferred taxes with accruals with variations in the form of positive versus negative and large versus small. The findings imply that the presentation of financial information with small deferred taxes and small accruals is more beneficial for investors compared to financial information with large positive deferred taxes and large positive accruals. However, results of this study indicate that large negative deferred taxes and large negative accruals, indicating conservative accounting, are not responded differently by investors.

Pengaruh tata kelola perusahaan, kualitas audit, dan konservatisme terhadap persyaratan agunan pinjaman

Debtors and creditors have equal access to information about default risks in competitive credit markets. Loan collateral is less important in credit decision-making in these circumstances. However, in emerging credit markets such as Indonesia, where debtors and creditors do not have equal information about a firm's prospects, the use of collateral to mitigate default risk has become common practice. Despite the strong theoretical framework for the use of collateral to secure creditors from credit risk, some Indonesian firms are exempt from providing collateral for bank debts. This study looks at how the independence of the Board of Commissioners, governance committees, audit quality, and conservatism affect the likelihood of using debt collateral. Around 785 firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange were collected using Slovin's formula, during the sample period of 2017-2020. According to logistic regression analysis, firms with a more independent Board of Commissioners, a separate governance committee, Big 4 auditors, and conservative accounting policies are less likely to provide loan collateral

تأثير الخصائص الديموغرافية لأعضاء مجلس الإدارة في التحفظ غير المشروط: دراسة على عينة من الشركات المدرجة في سوق العراق للأوراق المالية

This study examines the relationship between the demographic characteristics of the Board directors (gender, nationality, education, and age) and the unconditional accounting conservatism in Iraqi companies. The sample consisted of 10 Iraqi banks listed in the Iraq market over the period from 2012-2017. The research was based on the main hypothesis that demographic characteristics positively influence unconditional conservatism. The results of the study show that the gender (percentage of females in the board) and the age of the members of the board of directors are positively related to the accounting conservatism, which indicates that the appointment of women to the board helps to provide conservative accounting information and avoid exaggeration in measuring profits. While there is no relationship between nationalism and education with the unconditional accounting conservatism. Based on the experimental results and based on the benefits provided by the conservatism, the study recommends the competent authorities to develop legislation requiring companies listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange to allocate a percentage for female representation in the board of directors, the study also recommends companies electing board members from among the elderly because they are inclined towards conservative reporting.

The effect of gender diversity of board directors and accounting conservatism on firm value

The study aims to investigate the relationship between the gender diversity of board director, the accounting conservatism and firm value in Iraqi firms. The sample was represented by 30 Iraqi firms listed on the Iraqi market over the period 2017. The research was based on the main hypothesis that gender diversity has a positive relationship with conservatism and firm value, that conservatism as an intermediate variable will enhance the positive relationship between gender diversity and firm value. The study reached results that support the research hypotheses. The appointment of females to the board helps improve the provision of conservative accounting information and avoids overstate when reporting earnings. Based on these results, Therefore, we recommend the Iraqi companies appoint between 15 to 30% of females on the board.

Conservative Accounting, Audit Quality, and Litigation

Investors are much more likely to sue corporations and their auditors for overstated earnings reports than for understated reports. This asymmetry in litigation exposure is viewed as an important driver for conservative accounting practices in corporations because conservatism reduces the probability of overstatements and hence, investor litigation. This argument is incomplete, however, because it ignores that litigation concerns also affect the incentives of the auditor, which, in turn, affect the firm’s optimal reporting system. We find that the threat of litigation encourages firms to report more conservatively only when the auditor’s cost of detecting misstatements is relatively high but promotes less conservative reporting when the auditor’s cost of auditing is low. This paper was accepted by Brian Bushee, accounting

The relationship between managerial entrenchment and accounting conservatism

Purpose This study aims to assess the relationship between managerial entrenchment and accounting conservatism in Iran. Design/methodology/approach To test hypotheses, all listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2013–2018 (six years) that qualified were selected. Given the defined limitations of the study, a total of 120 firms with 720 year-observations was selected. After collecting data and figures, they were analyzed using EViews software. Having presented the inferential model tests, the panel data with fixed effects model is chosen. Findings The study results indicate a positive and significant relationship between managerial entrenchment and unconditional conservatism presented in the income statement. Moreover, the authors find a meaningful relationship between managerial entrenchment and unconditional conservatism about the balance sheet. Practical implications Managers will be more aware of the positive consequences of employment optimal corporate governance such as conservative accounting. Such corporate governance is likely to serve their interest in the long run by providing positive signals to the equity owners and board of directors. Originality/value By assessing conservatism’s literature in Iran, we observe many studies on this concept. Still, no investigation is carried out on the relationship between conservatism in accounting and managerial entrenchment. The present study is innovative because it evaluates the relationship between managerial entrenchment and two types of conservatism, namely, balance sheet and income statement conservatism, which have never been investigated by prior studies, notably in emerging markets.

Conservatism, Earnings Quality, and Stock Prices - Indonesian Evidence

Research aims: This research investigates the association of conservatism (both conditional and unconditional) with quality of earnings as well as with stock prices on companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).Design/Methodology/Approach: The research uses a sample of 846 observations of publicly listed companies on the Indonesian Stock Exchange for the fiscal year that ends on December 31, 2016 through 2018. Conditional conservatism is measured by using an asymmetric timeliness measure from Basu (ATMB). Net income ratio (CFO/NI) is a proxy for earnings quality whereas ratio between market value and book value (MTB) is a measure of unconditional conservatism. The data used in this study are obtained both from Indonesian Stock Exchange database, and from company annual reports.Research findings: The study finds that all companies analyzed implement conservative accounting policies and practices. Besides, quality of earnings and stock prices are negatively associated with conditional conservatism. This research also proves that stock price negatively associated with unconditional conservatism, whereas unconditional conservatism does not associated with earnings quality.Theoretical contribution/ Originality: This study enriches the existing literature about conservatism, especially in emerging market environment. Moreover, this study discusses a set of conservatism that consist of conditional and unconditional conservatism. This may give a complete picture of conservatism practices adopted by Indonesian companies.Practitioner/Policy implication: Since conservatism can solve agency cost problems, the result of this study may affect the way a company produce useful information for interest parties.Research limitation/Implication: The use of the purposive sampling method limits generalizations, because sample designs could not be assumed to characterize all companies listed on IDX.