IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v68y2024ics0275531923003276.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Catering behaviors in corporate digitization disclosures: Identification and analyst forecast accuracy loss

Author

Listed:
  • Zhou, Bole
  • Ma, Lili
  • Yang, Shenghao

Abstract

This paper identifies the catering behaviors in corporate digitization disclosures (CDD) and examines their effects on analyst forecast accuracy. By creating a peer-relative catering behavior score, we measure the extent to which firms cater to investors and provide evidence that catering behaviors in CDD decrease the improvement effect of CDD on analyst forecast accuracy. We further find that catering behaviors reduce the improvement effect of CDD by decreasing information quality and information comparability. Finally, we document that the reduction effect of catering behaviors is more pronounced in firms with poor information environment and firms followed by fewer expert analysts. Overall, our findings are consistent with the argument that narrative disclosures can be used both to reduce information asymmetry and to cater to investor demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhou, Bole & Ma, Lili & Yang, Shenghao, 2024. "Catering behaviors in corporate digitization disclosures: Identification and analyst forecast accuracy loss," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:68:y:2024:i:c:s0275531923003276
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.102201
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531923003276
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.102201?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gus De Franco & S.P. Kothari & Rodrigo S. Verdi, 2011. "The Benefits of Financial Statement Comparability," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 895-931, September.
    2. Mark H. Lang & Russell J. Lundholm, 2000. "Voluntary Disclosure and Equity Offerings: Reducing Information Asymmetry or Hyping the Stock?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 623-662, December.
    3. Ole‐Kristian Hope, 2003. "Disclosure Practices, Enforcement of Accounting Standards, and Analysts' Forecast Accuracy: An International Study," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 235-272, May.
    4. Patricia M. Dechow & Amy P. Hutton & Richard G. Sloan, 2000. "The Relation between Analysts' Forecasts of Long†Term Earnings Growth and Stock Price Performance Following Equity Offerings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(1), pages 1-32, March.
    5. Liu, Shasha & Zhao, Huixian & Kong, Gaowen, 2023. "Enterprise digital transformation, breadth of ownership and stock price volatility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Kadan, Ohad & Madureira, Leonardo & Wang, Rong & Zach, Tzachi, 2012. "Analysts' industry expertise," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 95-120.
    7. HUN†TONG TAN & ROBERT Libby & JAMES E. HUNTON, 2010. "Retracted: When Do Analysts Adjust for Biases in Management Guidance? Effects of Guidance Track Record and Analysts’ Incentives," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 187-208, March.
    8. Gino, Francesca & Sezer, Ovul & Huang, Laura, 2020. "To be or not to be your authentic self? Catering to others’ preferences hinders performance," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 83-100.
    9. Huang, Heshu & Wang, Caiting & Wang, Liukai & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2023. "Corporate digital transformation and idiosyncratic risk: Based on corporate governance perspective," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    10. HUO, Peng & WANG, Luxin, 2022. "Digital economy and business investment efficiency: Inhibiting or facilitating?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    11. Hun†Tong Tan & Robert Libby & James E. Hunton, 2010. "When Do Analysts Adjust for Biases in Management Guidance? Effects of Guidance Track Record and Analysts’ Incentives," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 5-5, March.
    12. Paul M. Healy & Amy P. Hutton & Krishna G. Palepu, 1999. "Stock Performance and Intermediation Changes Surrounding Sustained Increases in Disclosure," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 485-520, September.
    13. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2004. "A Catering Theory of Dividends," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(3), pages 1125-1165, June.
    14. Rui Li & Jing Rao & Liangyong Wan, 2022. "The digital economy, enterprise digital transformation, and enterprise innovation," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(7), pages 2875-2886, October.
    15. Fang, Mingyue & Nie, Huihua & Shen, Xinyi, 2023. "Can enterprise digitization improve ESG performance?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    16. Thomas P. Lyon & John W. Maxwell, 2011. "Greenwash: Corporate Environmental Disclosure under Threat of Audit," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 3-41, March.
    17. Baker, Malcolm & Wurgler, Jeffrey, 2004. "Appearing and disappearing dividends: The link to catering incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 271-288, August.
    18. Ed-Dafali, Slimane & Patel, Ritesh & Iqbal, Najaf, 2023. "A bibliometric review of dividend policy literature," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    19. Nambisan, Satish & Wright, Mike & Feldman, Maryann, 2019. "The digital transformation of innovation and entrepreneurship: Progress, challenges and key themes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    20. Doris M. Merkl-Davies & Niamh Brennan, 2007. "Discretionary disclosure strategies in corporate narratives : incremental information or impression management?," Open Access publications 10197/2907, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    21. Volkan Muslu & Sunay Mutlu & Suresh Radhakrishnan & Albert Tsang, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility Report Narratives and Analyst Forecast Accuracy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 1119-1142, February.
    22. Chen, Kejing & Guo, Wenqi & Jiang, Lin & Xiong, Xiong & Yang, Mo, 2022. "Does time-space compression affect analyst forecast performance?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    23. Ni, Juan & Jin, Shuchang & Hu, Yi & Zhang, Lei, 2023. "Informative or distracting: CSR disclosure of peer firms and analyst forecast accuracy," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    24. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2016. "Textual Analysis in Accounting and Finance: A Survey," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1187-1230, September.
    25. Xu, Nianhang & Chan, Kam C. & Jiang, Xuanyu & Yi, Zhihong, 2013. "Do star analysts know more firm-specific information? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 89-102.
    26. Yi, Er, 2023. "Corporate governance, information disclosure and investment - Cash flow sensitivity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    27. Wu, Keping & Fu, Yumei & Kong, Dongmin, 2022. "Does the digital transformation of enterprises affect stock price crash risk?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    28. Wayne, Sandy J. & Kacmar, K. Michele, 1991. "The effects of impression management on the performance appraisal process," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 70-88, February.
    29. Boni, Leslie & Womack, Kent L., 2006. "Analysts, Industries, and Price Momentum," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(1), pages 85-109, March.
    30. Schiemann, Frank & Tietmeyer, Raphael, 2022. "ESG Controversies, ESG Disclosure and Analyst Forecast Accuracy," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    31. Matthias Demmer & Paul Pronobis & Teri Lombardi Yohn, 2019. "Mandatory IFRS adoption and analyst forecast accuracy: the role of financial statement-based forecasts and analyst characteristics," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1022-1065, September.
    32. Verhoef, Peter C. & Broekhuizen, Thijs & Bart, Yakov & Bhattacharya, Abhi & Qi Dong, John & Fabian, Nicolai & Haenlein, Michael, 2021. "Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 889-901.
    33. Yu, Ellen Pei-yi & Luu, Bac Van & Chen, Catherine Huirong, 2020. "Greenwashing in environmental, social and governance disclosures," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    34. Caban-Garcia, Maria T. & Choi, Heeick & Kim, Myungsun, 2020. "The effects of operating cash flow disclosure on earnings comparability, analysts' forecasts, and firms’ investment decisions during the Pre-IFRS era," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(4).
    35. Clement, Michael B., 1999. "Analyst forecast accuracy: Do ability, resources, and portfolio complexity matter?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 285-303, July.
    36. Jacob, John & Lys, Thomas Z. & Neale, Margaret A., 1999. "Expertise in forecasting performance of security analysts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 51-82, November.
    37. Tian, Guangning & Li, Bo & Cheng, Yue, 2022. "Does digital transformation matter for corporate risk-taking?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    38. Robert Libby & James E. Hunton & Hun‐Tong Tan & Nicholas Seybert, 2008. "Retracted: Relationship Incentives and the Optimistic/Pessimistic Pattern in Analysts' Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 173-198, March.
    39. Gaowen Kong & Jiating Huang & Shasha Liu, 2023. "Digital Transformation and Within-Firm Pay Gap: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(6), pages 1748-1766, May.
    40. Liu, Guangqiang & Wang, Shenghua, 2023. "Digital transformation and trade credit provision: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    41. Hongping Tan & Shiheng Wang & Michael Welker, 2011. "Analyst Following and Forecast Accuracy After Mandated IFRS Adoptions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5), pages 1307-1357, December.
    42. Joanne Horton & George Serafeim & Ioanna Serafeim, 2013. "Does Mandatory IFRS Adoption Improve the Information Environment?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 388-423, March.
    43. Stickel, Scott E, 1992. "Reputation and Performance among Security Analysts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(5), pages 1811-1836, December.
    44. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tsang, Albert & Xiang, Yi & Yu, Li, 2023. "Cross-border regulatory cooperation and analyst forecasts," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. André, Paul & Filip, Andrei & Moldovan, Rucsandra, 2016. "Segment Disclosure Quantity and Quality under IFRS 8: Determinants and the Effect on Financial Analysts' Earnings Forecast Errors," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 443-461.
    3. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    4. K. Hung Chan & Ray R. Wang & Ruixin Wang, 2021. "The Macbeth Factor: The Dark Side of Achievement‐driving Analysts," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 57(2), pages 325-361, June.
    5. Yu, Fang (Frank), 2008. "Analyst coverage and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 245-271, May.
    6. Matthias Demmer & Paul Pronobis & Teri Lombardi Yohn, 2019. "Mandatory IFRS adoption and analyst forecast accuracy: the role of financial statement-based forecasts and analyst characteristics," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1022-1065, September.
    7. Niu, Yuhao & Wang, Sai & Wen, Wen & Li, Sifei, 2023. "Does digital transformation speed up dynamic capital structure adjustment? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Ramnath, Sundaresh & Rock, Steve & Shane, Philip, 2008. "The financial analyst forecasting literature: A taxonomy with suggestions for further research," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 34-75.
    9. Barniv, Ran R. & Myring, Mark & Westfall, Tiffany, 2022. "Does IFRS experience improve analyst performance?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    10. Christof Beuselinck & Philip Joos & Inder Khurana & Sofie van Der Meulen, 2017. "Which Analysts Benefited Most from Mandatory IFRS Adoption in Europe?," Post-Print hal-01745251, HAL.
    11. Allen H. Huang & Reuven Lehavy & Amy Y. Zang & Rong Zheng, 2018. "Analyst Information Discovery and Interpretation Roles: A Topic Modeling Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(6), pages 2833-2855, June.
    12. Christian Leuz & Peter D. Wysocki, 2016. "The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 525-622, May.
    13. Huang, Lixin & Li, Wei & Wang, Hong & Wu, Liansheng, 2022. "Stock dividend and analyst optimistic bias in earnings forecast," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 643-659.
    14. Orens, Raf & Lybaert, Nadine, 2007. "Does the financial analysts' usage of non-financial information influence the analysts' forecast accuracy? Some evidence from the Belgian sell-side financial analyst," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 237-271.
    15. Lu Zhang & Yuan George Shan & Millicent Chang, 2021. "Can CSR Disclosure Protect Firm Reputation During Financial Restatements?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 157-184, September.
    16. Liu, Baohua & Huang, Dan & Chen, Tao & Chan, Kam C., 2023. "Mandatory R&D disclosure and analyst forecast Accuracy: Evidence from an emerging market," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3).
    17. Yiming Hu & Thomas Lin & Siqi Li, 2008. "An examination of factors affecting Chinese financial analysts’ information comprehension, analyzing ability, and job quality," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 397-417, May.
    18. Liu, Sun, 2017. "The impact of equity incentive plans on analysts’ earnings forecasts and stock recommendations for Chinese listed firms: An empirical study," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 1-13.
    19. Jun Han & Hun‐Tong Tan, 2010. "Investors' Reactions to Management Earnings Guidance: The Joint Effect of Investment Position, News Valence, and Guidance Form," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 81-104, March.
    20. Iatridis, George Emmanuel, 2016. "Financial reporting language in financial statements: Does pessimism restrict the potential for managerial opportunism?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-17.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate digitization disclosure; Catering behavior; Analyst forecast accuracy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:68:y:2024:i:c:s0275531923003276. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.