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Executive turnover has increased in recent years. Most studies of executive turnover focus on CEO turnover and treat each incident of turnover as an isolated event. This research…
Abstract
Purpose
Executive turnover has increased in recent years. Most studies of executive turnover focus on CEO turnover and treat each incident of turnover as an isolated event. This research considers both CEO and CFO turnover and investigates whether the frequency of executive turnover has distinct effects on financial reporting quality.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a sample of firms extracted from Execucomp from the 1992 to 2021 period and examine three important indicators of firm’s accounting information quality: earning persistence; earnings informativeness; and accrual earnings management.
Findings
The authors find that higher frequency of executive turnovers in a 5-year period is associated with lower financial reporting quality. Specifically, the authors find that the frequency of executive turnovers is negatively associated with earnings persistence and positively associated with accrual earnings management, especially income-increasing accrual earnings management. Furthermore, the authors find that the frequencies of CEO-only turnover and combined CEO and CFO turnover, but not CFO-only turnover, are negatively associated with earnings informativeness about future cash flows. In addition, the authors find some evidence that promoting executives internally weakens the negative effect of frequent executive turnover on financial reporting quality.
Practical implications
The results suggest that while change is sometimes inevitable, frequent executive changes can create a short-horizon problem and make the realization of adaptation effects of leadership change difficult, and hence hurt company’s performance. The study suggests that organizations, especially corporate board should have robust and effective change management systems and strategies in place, which can help to mitigate the negative effect of frequent executive changes and align firms’ operations with the new leadership’s vision, maintain operational continuity, and employee engagement during periods of transition.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the management turnover literature by examining the impact of executive turnover frequency on firms’ financial reporting quality. While previous studies primarily rely on binary variables to measure management turnover, this study is among the first that focuses on the frequency of executive turnover, thus capturing more nuanced information beyond the scope of a binary variable. This measure allows the authors to focus on the disruptive effect of executive turnover, and hence better disentangles the distinct effects that multiple executive turnovers have on firm performance, which can differ from the effect of individual turnover. This distinction is crucial because the adaptation effect from executive turnover may not have adequate time to materialize within the context of several short executive tenures. The authors provide evidence that the disruptive effect manifests more strongly in firms with a higher rate of executive turnover and such disruption deteriorates firms’ financial reporting quality.
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Valerie Li and Yan Luo
The authors investigate how managers adapt their financial reporting and disclosure practices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic through changes in accounting estimates (CAEs).
Abstract
Purpose
The authors investigate how managers adapt their financial reporting and disclosure practices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic through changes in accounting estimates (CAEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors define the pandemic period as starting on March 1, 2020. The sample consists of 9,575 CAEs disclosed in quarterly (10-Qs) and annual (10-Ks) financial reports by US firms between January 1, 2004 and May 31, 2022. The authors perform multivariate analyses of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of CAEs and on whether the impact of CAEs on firms' financial performance and reporting quality changes during the pandemic.
Findings
In the examination of the CAE footnote disclosures in the quarterly (10-Qs) and annual (10-Ks) reports of US companies, the authors find no evidence that the incidence of CAEs in 10-Ks or the number of firms reporting CAEs are significantly different in the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, but the incidence of CAEs in 10-Qs is significantly higher in the pandemic period than in the pre-pandemic period. The authors also find that the number of CAEs related to revenue recognition increase significantly in the pandemic period, but CAEs in other categories decrease, with the sharpest drop seen in the liabilities category. Further investigation suggests that although the dollar impact of 10-K CAEs on current financial statements is higher during the pandemic period, firms with CAEs, especially positive CAEs, in either 10-Ks or 10-Qs are less likely to use CAEs to boost earnings in the pandemic period. However, the authors find evidence that firms tend to use CAEs to “big bath” current earnings and create reserve for future period. The authors have not observed any significant differences in how the various phases of the pandemic affect the reporting of CAEs. Additionally, there is no evidence to suggest that financially distressed firms report more or fewer CAEs during the pandemic.
Practical implications
The results are consistent with the notion that, during the pandemic, firms exercise greater caution in their CAE disclosures, refraining from using CAEs as a means of boosting earnings but as a strategy to create reserve for future period. The paper highlights the challenges that various stakeholders face when assessing a company's current and future financial performance based on management's accounting estimates.
Originality/value
This study captures the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of CAEs and CAEs' impact on the financial performance and financial reporting quality of firms during the pandemic.
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Maryam Seifzadeh, Mahdi Salehi, Bizhan Abedini and Mohammad Hossien Ranjbar
The present study attempts to assess the relationship between management characteristics (managerial entrenchment, CEO narcissism and overconfidence, managers' myopia, real and…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study attempts to assess the relationship between management characteristics (managerial entrenchment, CEO narcissism and overconfidence, managers' myopia, real and accrual-based earnings management) and financial statement readability of listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange. In other words, this paper seeks to answer the question that “whether management characteristics have a favorable effect on financial statement readability or not.”
Design/methodology/approach
Multivariate regression model is used to meet the purpose of this study and research hypotheses are also examined using a sample of 1,050 listed observations on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2012–2017 and by employing multiple regression patterns based on panel data technique and fixed effects model. Moreover, exploratory factor analysis of six variables (tenure, board independence, CEO duality, CEO ownership, board compensation and CEO change) is used for calculating managerial entrenchment and the FGO index is used for measuring readability.
Findings
The obtained results show that there is a negative and significant relationship between managerial entrenchment and accrual-based earnings management and a positive and significant relationship between real earnings management, managers' myopia, managers' narcissism and overconfidence and financial statement readability.
Originality/value
Since the present study is the first paper to investigate such a topic in the emerging markets, it provides useful information about intrinsic and acquisitive characteristics of management for accounting information users, analysts and legal institutions that contribute greatly to financial statement readability. Besides, the results of this study aid the development of science and knowledge in this field and fill the existing gap in the literature.
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Kriengkrai Boonlert-U-Thai and Pradyot K. Sen
The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence that the quality of earnings of family run firms is superior to that of the other firms and that firms run by founding family…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence that the quality of earnings of family run firms is superior to that of the other firms and that firms run by founding family members exhibit this trait even more prominently. Using insights from the fundamental accounting valuation model, this study also hypothesizes that financial markets place a higher weightage on earnings than book value for founding family-run firms in Thailand as these firms report a more reliable earnings number.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an empirical archival research.
Findings
The authors report evidence that financial markets place a higher weightage on earnings than book value for founding family-run firms. The evidence is consistent with the insight that current earnings of the founding family-run firms offer more information about future earnings and cash flow compared to book value than those for family (FAM) and non-family (NonCS) firms. The authors also provide evidence that earnings persistence and the accrual quality of the founding family firms are higher compared to the other firms. This evidence is contrary to the notion that family firms have more opaque disclosures, lower earnings quality and higher implied cost of equity capital.
Research limitations/implications
The authors find support for the alignment hypothesis of the long-term family ownership of Thai firms. The authors consider these evidences consistent with the shareholder interest alignment hypothesis of the controlling shareholders as opposed to the entrenchment hypothesis.
Practical implications
The study implies that earnings of the Thai firms run by founding family members are more reliable and can be relied on more for firm valuation. Additionally, the authors also offer a different methodology by appealing to the valuation properties of the reported accounting numbers besides looking at the quality of accruals and earnings persistence tests offered in the existing literature.
Social implications
The society is better off if there are more opportunities to invest in Thai firms run by founding family members. The finding of the quality difference in governance by firms with founding family members is new. Therefore, the study points to the need of finer partition of the family firms while looking at their corporate governance practices. The fact that the FF firms offer a higher quality of earnings implies that they are less engaged in opportunistic manipulation of earnings and cash flow and, thus, are self-motivated to protect the longer term interest of the firms.
Originality/value
This if the first time the accounting fundamental valuation theory has been used to provide evidence of higher earnings quality.
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Zhihui Fang, Brittany Adams, Valerie T. Gresser and Cuiying Li
This paper describes and exemplifies a pedagogical heuristic for promoting critical literacy in science.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper describes and exemplifies a pedagogical heuristic for promoting critical literacy in science.
Design/methodology/approach
One way to support critical literacy in science is through a linguistically informed pedagogical heuristic called 5Es – Enquire, Engage, Examine, Exercise and Extend.
Findings
This paper describes the implementation of 5Es in a four-week middle school science unit on climate change, showing how the heuristic can be used to develop students’ understanding of the varied ways authors use language to present information, structure text, infuse judgment and evaluation, engage with and position the reader and express epistemic commitment to knowledge claims.
Originality/value
5Es offer teachers a new heuristic for text exploration that develops students’ critical language awareness, advanced literacy and disciplinary literacy at the same time.
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Fue Zeng, Wenjie Li, Valerie Lynette Wang and Chiquan Guo
The purpose of this paper is to propose the self-presentation styles of advertising influence consumer self-image, which in turn influence purchase intention.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose the self-presentation styles of advertising influence consumer self-image, which in turn influence purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach
Using virtual brands as stimuli in a series of experiments, this study collects data on consumer self-image and purchase intention in the conditions of different advertising styles.
Findings
While consumer self-image mediates the relationship between advertising self-presentation style and purchase intention, the consumption situation (public vs private) moderates the relationship between self-presentation style, consumer self-image and purchase intention. That is, self-enhancing advertising promotes customers’ ideal self, which in turn increases their purchase intention for publicly consumed products, whereas self-deprecating advertising solicits customers’ real self, which in turn increases their purchase intention for privately consumed products.
Practical implications
This study informs product/brand managers and marketers of the importance of aligning the self-presentation style of advertising with the consumption situation of the product being advertised.
Originality/value
Based on self-consistency theory, this study not only finds a relationship between the self-presentation style of advertising and purchase intention, but also uncovers the mediating role of self-image in this relationship. Furthermore, the relationship chain of “self-presentation style of advertising – self-image – purchase intention” is moderated by the consumption situation of the product. This is one of the first studies to explore the intricacies of these relationships.
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Ludi Darmawan, Rossilah Jamil and Christopher J. Rees
This paper aims to explore how one industry leader in Indonesia addressed its hiring and training problems while simultaneously contributing to society through an human resource…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how one industry leader in Indonesia addressed its hiring and training problems while simultaneously contributing to society through an human resource management (HRM)-led corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative involving a vocational education training (VET) intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
The VET case study, which is central to the paper, followed a four-stage action research design. Data were collected through series of consultations with the company’s top management, benchmarking companies, the vocational school, local community and government bodies.
Findings
The intervention reduced the company’s hiring and training problems and provided jobs for graduates which addressed local youth unemployment. This experience generated lessons on CSR strategic interventions which should be considered when HRM professionals are seeking to address simultaneously organisational and social objectives.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on a single case in a local setting in one country.
Practical implications
The study offers insights to HRM practitioners who face similar problems relating to upskilling, local talent supply and employee recruitment. The proposed framework is likely to be relevant to HRM practitioners who play a lead role in their organisations’ CSR initiatives.
Social implications
The case provides a realistic example of how a company, through its HRM function, can play a meaningful role in addressing societal issues and strategic business objectives.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is an original case study based on primary data, conducted as action research.
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Yan Guo, Min Zhang and Valerie Lynette Wang
This study examines consumers' channel attitudes and choices leading to webrooming and showrooming, and how product attributes (informational vs experiential and perceived risk…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines consumers' channel attitudes and choices leading to webrooming and showrooming, and how product attributes (informational vs experiential and perceived risk) moderate the effects of channel attitudes.
Design/methodology/approach
A research framework is built upon the heterogeneity of channel attitudes, the lack of intrachannel lock-in and interchannel synergy. A questionnaire-based survey yields 868 multi-channel consumer responses in China. Simultaneous equation modeling and STATA 12.0 are used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Consumers webroom when buying high-risk informational products (e.g. personal computers or mobile phones). They webroom as well as showroom for high-risk experiential products (e.g. clothing or cosmetics). Moreover, a single channel is preferred to webrooming or showrooming for purchasing low-risk informational (e.g. books or stationery) and low-risk experiential (e.g. snacks or toys) products. The results also show that webrooming is more frequently used than showrooming by consumers.
Research limitations/implications
This study extends current understanding on multi-channel and omnichannel shopping behavior and highlights the role of product attributes in customer journey mapping.
Practical implications
This study offers retailers and other downstream firms a fresh perspective on multi-channel customer experience management and channel design.
Originality/value
This study offers a clear explanation on the commonalities and differences between webrooming and showrooming.
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Grégory De Boe, Valérie Swaen and Marie Lamensch
This study examines conditions under which taxes and subsidies designed to mitigate corporate environmental impact positively influence corporate pro-environmental behavior (CPEB…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines conditions under which taxes and subsidies designed to mitigate corporate environmental impact positively influence corporate pro-environmental behavior (CPEB) adoption, considering unique dynamics within different industries.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted on 171 articles. Articles were coded using an inductive grid for comprehensive examination.
Findings
Taxes generally positively influence CPEB adoption, but reduced positive or even negative effects can arise. Subsidies, while often facilitating the achievement of environmental goals, variously impact CPEB. Explanations for variations include the level of taxation or subsidy, economic agent affected, subsidy source, nature of subsidy, factors external to tax or subsidy characteristics and conflicting environmental objectives. We suggest research avenues for each aspect, to enhance literature on the influence of tax policies on promoting CPEB.
Practical implications
Beyond general tax-policy considerations, we provide policymakers with recommendations for tax policies designed to promote CPEB.
Originality/value
We examine the distinctive effects of taxes and subsidies on CPEB adoption within diverse industries ((re)manufacturing, agriculture, shipping, automobile, freight transport and power generation). We compare specific effects across industries, and advocate detailed exploration of recurrent elements identified, emphasizing their potential significance in designing taxes and subsidies that promote CPEB.
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