IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v35y2015icp177-195.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Media news and earnings management prior to equity offerings

Author

Listed:
  • Chahine, Salim
  • Mansi, Sattar
  • Mazboudi, Mohamad

Abstract

We examine whether media news reflect the extent to which issuing firms manage their earnings prior to their equity carve-outs (ECOs). We posit that managers will strategically respond to media requests prior to their equity offerings in order to signal their type and differentiate themselves from others. We find that media news at the time of the ECO is negatively related to earnings management during the year prior to the ECO date. However, when we examine the nature of media news (informative vs uninformative), we find that earnings management is negatively (positively) related to informative (uninformative) media news. Moreover, while price revision is positively related to both informative and uninformative media news, ECO underpricing is positively related to uninformative media news and negatively related to informative media news. This suggests that uninformative news induces investor sentiment during the first day of trading, whereas informative news reduces the asymmetric information between issuing firms and outside investors. Consistently, we document that long-run ECO performance decreases with earnings management and uninformative news, but is positively related to informative news. Our results highlight the importance of the nature of news in media coverage for issuers seeking to differentiate themselves from those managing their earnings prior to equity offerings, evidence consistent with signaling.

Suggested Citation

  • Chahine, Salim & Mansi, Sattar & Mazboudi, Mohamad, 2015. "Media news and earnings management prior to equity offerings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 177-195.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:35:y:2015:i:c:p:177-195
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2015.09.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119915001054
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2015.09.002?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. Alexander Dyck & Natalya Volchkova & Luigi Zingales, 2008. "The Corporate Governance Role of the Media: Evidence from Russia," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1093-1135, June.
    2. Tod Perry & Anil Shivdasani, 2005. "Do Boards Affect Performance? Evidence from Corporate Restructuring," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(4), pages 1403-1432, July.
    3. Kathleen Weiss Hanley, 2010. "The Information Content of IPO Prospectuses," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(7), pages 2821-2864, July.
    4. Terza, Joseph V. & Basu, Anirban & Rathouz, Paul J., 2008. "Two-stage residual inclusion estimation: Addressing endogeneity in health econometric modeling," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 531-543, May.
    5. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    6. Stephen A. Ross, 1977. "The Determination of Financial Structure: The Incentive-Signalling Approach," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 8(1), pages 23-40, Spring.
    7. Sendhil Mullainathan & Joshua Schwartzstein & Andrei Shleifer, 2008. "Coarse Thinking and Persuasion," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(2), pages 577-619.
    8. Hanley, Kathleen Weiss, 1993. "The underpricing of initial public offerings and the partial adjustment phenomenon," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 231-250, October.
    9. Michael O'Connor Keefe & David Gallagher, 2014. "Does the effect of revealed private information on initial public offering (IPO) first trading day return differ by IPO market heat?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(3), pages 921-964, September.
    10. Ball, Ray & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2008. "Earnings quality at initial public offerings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 324-349, August.
    11. Kim, Yongtae & Park, Myung Seok, 2005. "Pricing of Seasoned Equity Offers and Earnings Management," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(2), pages 435-463, June.
    12. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    13. Karen M. Hogan & Gerard T. Olson, 2004. "THE PRICING OF EQUITY CARVE‐OUTS DURING THE 1990s," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 27(4), pages 521-537, December.
    14. Amiyatosh K. Purnanandam, 2004. "Are IPOs Really Underpriced?," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 811-848.
    15. James Heckman & Salvador Navarro-Lozano, 2004. "Using Matching, Instrumental Variables, and Control Functions to Estimate Economic Choice Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 30-57, February.
    16. Bhattacharya, Utpal & Galpin, Neal & Ray, Rina & Yu, Xiaoyun, 2009. "The Role of the Media in the Internet IPO Bubble," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(3), pages 657-682, June.
    17. Re‐Jin Guo & Baruch Lev & Nan Zhou, 2004. "Competitive Costs of Disclosure by Biotech IPOs," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 319-355, May.
    18. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    19. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    20. Kenneth R. Ahern & Denis Sosyura, 2014. "Who Writes the News? Corporate Press Releases during Merger Negotiations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 241-291, February.
    21. Prezas, Alexandros P & Tarimcilar, Murat & Vasudevan, Gopala K, 2000. "The Pricing of Equity Carve-Outs," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 35(4), pages 123-137, November.
    22. Eli Ofek & Matthew Richardson, 2003. "DotCom Mania: The Rise and Fall of Internet Stock Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1113-1137, June.
    23. Benveniste, Lawrence M. & Spindt, Paul A., 1989. "How investment bankers determine the offer price and allocation of new issues," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 343-361.
    24. Lily Fang & Joel Peress, 2009. "Media Coverage and the Cross‐section of Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(5), pages 2023-2052, October.
    25. Cook, Douglas O. & Kieschnick, Robert & Van Ness, Robert A., 2006. "On the marketing of IPOs," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 35-61, October.
    26. Christine A. Botosan & Marlene A. Plumlee, 2002. "A Re‐examination of Disclosure Level and the Expected Cost of Equity Capital," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 21-40, March.
    27. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Yan, An, 2004. "A theory of corporate spin-offs," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 259-290, May.
    28. Baolei Qi & Rong Yang & Gaoliang Tian, 2014. "Can media deter management from manipulating earnings? Evidence from China," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 571-597, April.
    29. Eli Ofek & Matthew Richardson, 2003. "DotCom Mania: The Rise and Fall of Internet Stock Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1113-1138, June.
    30. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. Daniel J. Bradley & Bradford D. Jordan & Jay R. Ritter, 2003. "The Quiet Period Goes out with a Bang," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(1), pages 1-36, February.
    32. Booth, James R. & Smith, Richard II, 1986. "Capital raising, underwriting and the certification hypothesis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 261-281.
    33. Dechow, Patricia M., 1994. "Accounting earnings and cash flows as measures of firm performance : The role of accounting accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 3-42, July.
    34. Ray Ball & Lakshmanan Shivakumar, 2006. "The Role of Accruals in Asymmetrically Timely Gain and Loss Recognition," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 207-242, May.
    35. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    36. DuCharme, Larry L. & Malatesta, Paul H. & Sefcik, Stephan E., 2004. "Earnings management, stock issues, and shareholder lawsuits," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 27-49, January.
    37. Leland, Hayne E & Pyle, David H, 1977. "Informational Asymmetries, Financial Structure, and Financial Intermediation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 371-387, May.
    38. Alexander Dyck & Luigi Zingales, 2002. "The Corporate Governance Role of the Media," NBER Working Papers 9309, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    39. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2008. "All That Glitters: The Effect of Attention and News on the Buying Behavior of Individual and Institutional Investors," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 785-818, April.
    40. Joseph E. Engelberg & Christopher A. Parsons, 2011. "The Causal Impact of Media in Financial Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 67-97, February.
    41. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    42. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2002. "Online Investors: Do the Slow Die First?," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(2), pages 455-488, March.
    43. Lauren Cohen & Dong Lou & Christopher Malloy, 2013. "Playing Favorites: How Firms Prevent the Revelation of Bad News," NBER Working Papers 19429, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    44. Tim Loughran & Jay Ritter, 2004. "Why Has IPO Underpricing Changed Over Time?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(3), Fall.
    45. Siew Hong Teoh & Ivo Welch & T.J. Wong, 1998. "Earnings Management and the Long-Run Market Performance of Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(6), pages 1935-1974, December.
    46. Miller, Merton H & Rock, Kevin, 1985. "Dividend Policy under Asymmetric Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(4), pages 1031-1051, September.
    47. Salim Chahine & Marc Goergen, 2011. "On the Publicity of Two‐Stage Spin‐Offs and Equity Carve‐Outs," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 46(4), pages 671-701, November.
    48. Beatty, Randolph P & Welch, Ivo, 1996. "Issuer Expenses and Legal Liability in Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 545-602, October.
    49. Teoh, Siew Hong & Welch, Ivo & Wong, T. J., 1998. "Earnings management and the underperformance of seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 63-99, October.
    50. Paul C. Tetlock, 2007. "Giving Content to Investor Sentiment: The Role of Media in the Stock Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(3), pages 1139-1168, June.
    51. Lewis H. K. Tam, 2014. "The impacts of parent’s listing status on subsidiary’s financial constraint and cost of equity capital: the case of equity carve-outs," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(1), pages 275-299, March.
    52. Jeffrey W. Allen & John J. McConnell, 1998. "Equity Carve-Outs and Managerial Discretion," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(1), pages 163-186, February.
    53. Yu, Fang (Frank), 2008. "Analyst coverage and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 245-271, May.
    54. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    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. Ahmed M. Elnahas & Pankaj K. Jain & Thomas H. McInish, 2022. "Mixed‐signal stock splits," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5-6), pages 934-962, May.
    2. An, Yunbi & Jin, Han & Liu, Qingfu & Zheng, Kaixin, 2022. "Media attention and agency costs: Evidence from listed companies in China," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    3. Suwan (Cheng) Long & Brian Lucey & Ying Xie & Larisa Yarovaya, 2023. "“I just like the stock”: The role of Reddit sentiment in the GameStop share rally," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 58(1), pages 19-37, February.
    4. Bajo, Emanuele & Raimondo, Carlo, 2017. "Media sentiment and IPO underpricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 139-153.
    5. Danning Yu, 2023. "Media Coverage, Real Earnings Management, and Long-Run Market Performance: Evidence from Chinese IPOs," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 30(4), pages 729-760, December.
    6. Xie, Linlin & Liu, Guangqiang & Liu, Boyang, 2023. "Patent pledge policy and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    7. Fauver, Larry & Loureiro, Gilberto & Taboada, Alvaro G., 2017. "The impact of regulation on information quality and performance around seasoned equity offerings: International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 73-98.
    8. Linyan Fan & Sheng Yao, 2022. "Analyst Site Visits and Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Que, Jiangjing & Zhang, Xueyong, 2021. "Money chasing hot industries? Investor attention and valuation of venture capital backed firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    10. Marian Pompiliu Cristescu & Dumitru Alexandru Mara & Raluca Andreea Nerișanu & Lia Cornelia Culda & Ionela Maniu, 2023. "Analyzing the Impact of Financial News Sentiments on Stock Prices—A Wavelet Correlation," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-20, November.
    11. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Truong, Cameron & Henry, Darren & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Audit quality and seasoned equity offerings methods," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Garel, Alexandre & Martin-Flores, Jose M. & Petit-Romec, Arthur & Scott, Ayesha, 2021. "Institutional investor distraction and earnings management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    13. Gao, Shenghao & Meng, Qingbin & Chan, Kam C. & Wu, Weixing, 2017. "Earnings management before IPOs: Are institutional investors misled?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 90-108.
    14. Pavlopoulos, Athanasios & Magnis, Chris & Iatridis, George Emmanuel, 2017. "Integrated reporting: Is it the last piece of the accounting disclosure puzzle?," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 23-46.
    15. Pan, Jianping & Weng, Ruoyu & Yin, Sirui & Fu, Xiaoqing (Maggie), 2022. "Central supervision and earnings management: Quasi-experimental evidence from China," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(3).
    16. Chen, Jun & Ke, Bin & Wu, Donghui & Yang, Zhifeng, 2018. "The consequences of shifting the IPO offer pricing power from securities regulators to market participants in weak institutional environments: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 349-370.

    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. Salim Chahine & Gonul Colak & Iftekhar Hasan & Mohamad Mazboudi, 2020. "Investor relations and IPO performance," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 474-512, June.
    2. Jeppsson, Hans, 2018. "Initial public offerings, subscription precommitments and venture capital participation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 650-668.
    3. Carey, Peter & Fang, Victor & Zhang, Hong Feng, 2016. "The role of optimistic news stories in IPO pricing," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 16-29.
    4. Feng, Xunan & Johansson, Anders C. & Wei, Dengxi, 2023. "Judging a book by its cover: Analysts and attention-driven price patterns in China's IPO market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Michael O'Connor Keefe & David Gallagher, 2014. "Does the effect of revealed private information on initial public offering (IPO) first trading day return differ by IPO market heat?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(3), pages 921-964, September.
    6. Jeon, Jin Q. & Lee, Cheolwoo & Nasser, Tareque & Via, M. Tony, 2015. "Multiple lead underwriter IPOs and firm visibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 128-149.
    7. Thomas Boulton & Bill B. Francis & Thomas Shohfi & Daqi Xin, 2021. "Investor awareness or information asymmetry? Wikipedia and IPO underpricing," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 535-561, August.
    8. Buehlmaier, Matthias M. M. & Zechner, Josef, 2016. "Financial media, price discovery, and merger arbitrage," CFS Working Paper Series 551, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    9. Bajo, Emanuele & Raimondo, Carlo, 2017. "Media sentiment and IPO underpricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 139-153.
    10. Shao‐Chi Chang & Tsai‐Yen Chung & Wen‐Chun Lin, 2010. "Underwriter reputation, earnings management and the long‐run performance of initial public offerings," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(1), pages 53-78, March.
    11. Di Giuli, Alberta & Laux, Paul A., 2022. "The effect of media-linked directors on financing and external governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 103-131.
    12. Laura Xiaolei Liu & Ann E. Sherman & Yong Zhang, 2014. "The Long-Run Role of the Media: Evidence from Initial Public Offerings," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(8), pages 1945-1964, August.
    13. Guldiken, Orhun & Tupper, Christina & Nair, Anil & Yu, Huizhi, 2017. "The impact of media coverage on IPO stock performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 24-32.
    14. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Truong, Cameron & Henry, Darren & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Audit quality and seasoned equity offerings methods," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    15. Bradley, Daniel J. & Gonas, John S. & Highfield, Michael J. & Roskelley, Kenneth D., 2009. "An examination of IPO secondary market returns," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 316-330, June.
    16. Andrew J. Leone & Steve Rock & Michael Willenborg, 2007. "Disclosure of Intended Use of Proceeds and Underpricing in Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 111-153, March.
    17. Kanagaretnam, Kiridaran & Lee, Jimmy & Lim, Chee Yeow & Lobo, Gerald J., 2022. "Trusting the stock market: Further evidence from IPOs around the world," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    18. Jo, Hoje & Kim, Yongtae, 2007. "Disclosure frequency and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 561-590, May.
    19. Sonu, Catherine Heyjung, 2022. "Information quality and IPO underpricing: The role of underwriter pricing and allocation powers," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    20. Pavlopoulos, Athanasios & Magnis, Chris & Iatridis, George Emmanuel, 2017. "Integrated reporting: Is it the last piece of the accounting disclosure puzzle?," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 23-46.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Media news; Earnings management; Equity offering; Signaling; Price revision; Underpricing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • 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:corfin:v:35:y:2015:i:c:p:177-195. 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/jcorpfin .

    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.