IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v57y2017i4p1101-1125.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does internal control over financial reporting really alleviate agency conflicts?

Author

Listed:
  • Baolei Qi
  • Liuchuang Li
  • Qing Zhou
  • Jinghui Sun

Abstract

This study investigates whether internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) alleviates the managerial expropriation of corporate resources. We do this by examining the potential effects of material weaknesses in internal control on the values of corporate cash holdings and capital expenditures. Our findings suggest that ICFR facilitates the scrutiny and discipline of capital markets and thus alleviates the agency problems. Our results support the premise that high financial reporting quality impairs managers’ abilities to use corporate resources in a self†serving manner.

Suggested Citation

  • Baolei Qi & Liuchuang Li & Qing Zhou & Jinghui Sun, 2017. "Does internal control over financial reporting really alleviate agency conflicts?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(4), pages 1101-1125, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:57:y:2017:i:4:p:1101-1125
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.12198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12198
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.12198?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    2. Yael V. Hochberg & Paola Sapienza & Annette Vissing‐Jørgensen, 2009. "A Lobbying Approach to Evaluating the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 519-583, May.
    3. Kanodia, C & Lee, DH, 1998. "Investment and disclosure: The disciplinary role of periodic performance reports," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 33-55.
    4. Biddle, Gary C. & Hilary, Gilles & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2009. "How does financial reporting quality relate to investment efficiency?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 112-131, December.
    5. Lee Pinkowitz & René Stulz & Rohan Williamson, 2006. "Does the Contribution of Corporate Cash Holdings and Dividends to Firm Value Depend on Governance? A Cross‐country Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2725-2751, December.
    6. Hollis Ashbaugh‐Skaife & Daniel W. Collins & William R. Kinney Jr & Ryan Lafond, 2009. "The Effect of SOX Internal Control Deficiencies on Firm Risk and Cost of Equity," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 1-43, March.
    7. Chen, Alex A. & Cao, Hong & Zhang, Dayong & Dickinson, David G., 2013. "The impact of shareholding structure on firm investment: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 85-100.
    8. Her-Jiun Sheu & Shiou-Ying Lee, 2012. "Excess cash holdings and investment: the moderating roles of financial constraints and managerial entrenchment," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52, pages 287-310, October.
    9. Johnson, Simon & Boone, Peter & Breach, Alasdair & Friedman, Eric, 2000. "Corporate governance in the Asian financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 141-186.
    10. Kin-Wai Lee & Cheng-Few Lee & Robert Faff, 2014. "Are Multiple Directorships Beneficial in East Asia?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(3), pages 999-1032, September.
    11. Dittmar, Amy & Mahrt-Smith, Jan, 2007. "Corporate governance and the value of cash holdings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 599-634, March.
    12. Fauver, Larry & McDonald, Michael B., 2015. "Culture, agency costs, and governance: International evidence on capital structure," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-23.
    13. Li, Chan & Sun, Lili & Ettredge, Michael, 2010. "Financial executive qualifications, financial executive turnover, and adverse SOX 404 opinions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 93-110, May.
    14. Pankaj K. Jain & Zabihollah Rezaee, 2006. "The Sarbanes†Oxley Act of 2002 and Capital†Market Behavior: Early Evidence," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(3), pages 629-654, September.
    15. Michael Faulkender & Rong Wang, 2006. "Corporate Financial Policy and the Value of Cash," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1957-1990, August.
    16. Sara B. Moeller & Frederik P. Schlingemann & René M. Stulz, 2005. "Wealth Destruction on a Massive Scale? A Study of Acquiring‐Firm Returns in the Recent Merger Wave," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 757-782, April.
    17. Haidan Li & Morton Pincus & Sonja Olhoft Rego, 2008. "Market Reaction to Events Surrounding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Earnings Management," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(1), pages 111-134, February.
    18. Zhang, Ivy Xiying, 2007. "Economic consequences of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 74-115, September.
    19. Titman, Sheridan & Wei, K. C. John & Xie, Feixue, 2004. "Capital Investments and Stock Returns," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(4), pages 677-700, December.
    20. Chan, Konan & Chen, Hung-Kun & Hong, Li-Hong & Wang, Yanzhi, 2015. "Stock market valuation of R&D expenditures—The role of corporate governance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 78-93.
    21. Doyle, Jeffrey & Ge, Weili & McVay, Sarah, 2007. "Determinants of weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 193-223, September.
    22. Feng, Mei & Li, Chan & McVay, Sarah, 2009. "Internal control and management guidance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 190-209, December.
    23. Richard Lambert & Christian Leuz & Robert E. Verrecchia, 2007. "Accounting Information, Disclosure, and the Cost of Capital," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 385-420, May.
    24. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1997. "Industry costs of equity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 153-193, February.
    25. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    26. Edward Lee & Ronan Powell, 2011. "Excess cash holdings and shareholder value," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 51(2), pages 549-574, June.
    27. 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.
    28. Kusnadi, Yuanto, 2011. "Do corporate governance mechanisms matter for cash holdings and firm value?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 554-570, November.
    29. Cheng, Mei & Dhaliwal, Dan & Zhang, Yuan, 2013. "Does investment efficiency improve after the disclosure of material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 1-18.
    30. Jarrad Harford, 1999. "Corporate Cash Reserves and Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 1969-1997, December.
    31. Ashbaugh-Skaife, Hollis & Collins, Daniel W. & Kinney Jr., William R., 2007. "The discovery and reporting of internal control deficiencies prior to SOX-mandated audits," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 166-192, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liangcheng Wang & Yining Dai & Yuye Ding, 2019. "Internal Control and SMEs’ Sustainable Growth: The Moderating Role of Multiple Large Shareholders," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Imran Abbas Jadoon & Umara Noreen & Usman Ayub & Muhammad Tahir & Naima Shahzadi, 2021. "The Impact of Family Ownership on Quality and Disclosure of Internal Control in Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Hideaki Sakawa & Naoki Watanabel, 2021. "Earnings quality and internal control in bank-dominated corporate governance," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(2), pages 188-220, April.
    4. Shouyu Yao & Zhuoqun Wang & Mengyue Sun & Jing Liao & Feiyang Cheng, 2020. "Top executives’ early‐life experience and financial disclosure quality: impact from the Great Chinese Famine," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(5), pages 4757-4793, December.
    5. Liangbo Ma & Shiguang Ma, 2020. "Trade credit use and bank loan access: an agency theory perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(2), pages 1835-1865, June.
    6. Stefano Azzali & Tatiana Mazza & Luca Fornaciari & Laura Trinchera, 2021. "Effects of Materiality Assessment on Internal Controls over Financial Reporting Maturity," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(11), pages 1-17, July.
    7. Chenxi Wang & Deli Wang & Xincai Deng & Shun Wang, 2023. "Research on the Impact of Enterprise Digital Transformation on Internal Control," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, May.
    8. Derrick W. H. Fung & David Jou & Ai Ju Shao & Jason J. H. Yeh, 2021. "The informativeness of embedded value reporting to stock price," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5341-5376, December.
    9. Huili Chen & Ying Chen & Bin Lin & Yanchao Wang, 2019. "Can short selling improve internal control? An empirical study based on the difference‐in‐differences model," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(5), pages 1233-1259, March.
    10. Chalmers, Keryn & Hay, David & Khlif, Hichem, 2019. "Internal control in accounting research: A review," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 80-103.
    11. Haidong Li & Ziming Qian & Shanyong Wang & Jing Wang & Qian Wang, 2023. "Do green concerns promote corporate green innovation? Evidence from Chinese stock exchange interactive platforms," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(3), pages 1786-1801, April.
    12. Cao, Yuqiang & Li, Chenglin & Liu, Xinghe & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and debt allocation within business groups," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

    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. Huang, Pinghsun & Guo, Jun & Ma, Tongshu & Zhang, Yan, 2015. "Does the value of cash holdings deteriorate or improve with material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 30-45.
    2. Cheng, Mei & Dhaliwal, Dan & Zhang, Yuan, 2013. "Does investment efficiency improve after the disclosure of material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 1-18.
    3. Chen, Hanwen & Yang, Daoguang & Zhang, Joseph H. & Zhou, Haiyan, 2020. "Internal controls, risk management, and cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    4. Pinghsun Huang & Yi-Chieh Wen & Yan Zhang, 2020. "Does the monitoring effect of Big 4 audit firms really prevail? Evidence from managerial expropriation of cash assets," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 739-768, August.
    5. DeFond, Mark & Zhang, Jieying, 2014. "A review of archival auditing research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 275-326.
    6. Todd D. Kravet & Sarah E. McVay & David P. Weber, 2018. "Costs and benefits of internal control audits: evidence from M&A transactions," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1389-1423, December.
    7. Chang, Che-Chia & Kao, Li-Han & Chen, Hsin-Yu, 2018. "How does real earnings management affect the value of cash holdings? Comparisons between information and agency perspectives," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 47-64.
    8. Jan Felix Weidemann, 2018. "A state-of-the-art review of corporate cash holding research," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(6), pages 765-797, August.
    9. Alexander, Cindy R. & Bauguess, Scott W. & Bernile, Gennaro & Lee, Yoon-Ho Alex & Marietta-Westberg, Jennifer, 2013. "Economic effects of SOX Section 404 compliance: A corporate insider perspective," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 267-290.
    10. Pascal Nguyen & Nahid Rahman, 2020. "Institutional ownership, cross‐shareholdings and corporate cash reserves in Japan," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(S1), pages 1175-1207, April.
    11. Ranjan D’Mello & Xinghua Gao & Yonghong Jia, 2017. "Internal control and internal capital allocation: evidence from internal capital markets of multi-segment firms," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 251-287, March.
    12. Huang, Winifred & Mazouz, Khelifa, 2018. "Excess cash, trading continuity, and liquidity risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 275-291.
    13. Jeong‐Bon Kim & Leye Li & Louise Yi Lu & Yangxin Yu, 2021. "Financial statement comparability and managers’ use of corporate resources," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1697-1742, April.
    14. Chowdhury, Rajib & Doukas, John A. & Park, Jong Chool, 2021. "Stakeholder orientation and the value of cash holdings: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    15. Ge, Weili & Koester, Allison & McVay, Sarah, 2017. "Benefits and costs of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404(b) exemption: Evidence from small firms’ internal control disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 358-384.
    16. Imhof, Michael J & Seavey, Scott E., 2018. "How investors value cash and cash flows when managers commit to providing earnings forecasts," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 74-87.
    17. Roychowdhury, Sugata & Shroff, Nemit & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2019. "The effects of financial reporting and disclosure on corporate investment: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2).
    18. Clarkson, Peter & Gao, Ru & Herbohn, Kathleen, 2020. "The relationship between a firm’s information environment and its cash holding decision," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2).
    19. Louise Yi Lu & Greg Shailer & Yangxin Yu, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and the Value of Cash Holdings," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 729-753, October.
    20. Lenard, Mary Jane & Petruska, Karin A. & Alam, Pervaiz & Yu, Bing, 2016. "Internal control weaknesses and evidence of real activities manipulation," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 47-58.

    More about this item

    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:bla:acctfi:v:57:y:2017:i:4:p:1101-1125. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    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.