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Interactive Reporting Bias Surrounding CEO Turnover

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  • Chia-Feng (Jeffrey) Yu

Abstract

This paper analyzes how CEO turnover affects successive CEOs' financial reporting decisions and the capital market price. I show that when an outgoing CEO (O) in period 1 is succeeded by an incoming CEO (N) in period 2, strategic interaction between O and N leads to interlinked earnings reports. Specifically, when the level of earnings reported by O is lower, N's reporting strategy is more likely to feature a downward reporting bias. Furthermore, by a comparison of the two-CEO setting with a setting with no CEO turnover, I show that with CEO turnover, (i) the period 2 earnings report is more sensitive to the private information of the CEO in control and less sensitive to the period 1 earnings report; (ii) the period 1 earnings report is more sensitive to the private information of the CEO in control; and (iii) the equilibrium stock price has the same sensitivities toward the associated risks, but is less sensitive to the periods 1 and 2 earnings reports. These results provide a novel explanation for managerial under-reporting bias based on strategic interaction between successive CEOs and shed light on the role of CEO turnover in earnings management behavior and capital market responses.

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  • Chia-Feng (Jeffrey) Yu, 2017. "Interactive Reporting Bias Surrounding CEO Turnover," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 239-282, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:26:y:2017:i:2:p:239-282
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2016.1145068
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    Cited by:

    1. Tim Hensel & Jens Robert Schöndube, 2022. "Big bath accounting and CEO turnover: the interplay between optimal contracts and career concerns," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(8), pages 1249-1281, October.

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