IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bracre/v54y2022i2s0890838921000044.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Narrative disclosure quality and the timeliness of goodwill impairments

Author

Listed:
  • Iatridis, George Emmanuel
  • Pappas, Kostas
  • Walker, Martin

Abstract

This paper studies the relation between the quality of corporate narrative disclosure and the timeliness of goodwill impairments. We combine five measures of the linguistic content of annual report narratives to generate a proxy for narrative disclosure quality. To measure the timeliness of impairments, we deploy a model that relates observed goodwill impairments to the main determinants of impairments identified by prior literature, focusing especially on current period negative stock returns. We hypothesise and find that the impairments of firms with low-quality narrative disclosures are less timely than the impairments of firms with high-quality disclosures. In addition, using a signalling argument, we hypothesise, and find that the market response to goodwill impairments is more negative for firms with low disclosure quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Iatridis, George Emmanuel & Pappas, Kostas & Walker, Martin, 2022. "Narrative disclosure quality and the timeliness of goodwill impairments," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(2).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:54:y:2022:i:2:s0890838921000044
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2021.100978
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838921000044
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bar.2021.100978?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. Frankel, Richard & Jennings, Jared & Lee, Joshua, 2016. "Using unstructured and qualitative disclosures to explain accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 209-227.
    2. Vasiliki Athanasakou & Khaled Hussainey, 2014. "The perceived credibility of forward-looking performance disclosures," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 227-259, June.
    3. Vasiliki Athanasakou & Florian Eugster & Thomas Schleicher & Martin Walker, 2020. "Annual Report Narratives and the Cost of Equity Capital: U.K. Evidence of a U-shaped Relation," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 27-54, January.
    4. Khaled Hussainey & Thomas Schleicher & Martin Walker, 2003. "Undertaking large-scale disclosure studies when AIMR-FAF ratings are not available: the case of prices leading earnings," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 275-294.
    5. Lapointe-Antunes, Pascale & Cormier, Denis & Magnan, Michel, 2009. "Value relevance and timeliness of transitional goodwill-impairment losses: Evidence from Canada," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 56-78, March.
    6. Jing He & Marlene A. Plumlee & He Wen, 2019. "Voluntary disclosure, mandatory disclosure and the cost of capital," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3-4), pages 307-335, March.
    7. Keryn G. Chalmers & Jayne M. Godfrey & John C. Webster, 2011. "Does a goodwill impairment regime better reflect the underlying economic attributes of goodwill?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 51(3), pages 634-660, September.
    8. Saverio Bozzolan & Marco Trombetta & Sergio Beretta, 2009. "Forward-Looking Disclosures, Financial Verifiability and Analysts' Forecasts: A Study of Cross-Listed European Firms," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 435-473.
    9. Benjamin T. Albersmann & Reiner Quick, 2020. "The Impact of Audit Quality Indicators on the Timeliness of Goodwill Impairments: Evidence from the German Setting," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(1), pages 66-103, March.
    10. Duh, Rong-Ruey & Lee, Wen-Chih & Lin, Ching-Chieh, 2009. "Reversing an impairment loss and earnings management: The role of corporate governance," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 113-137, June.
    11. Begoña Giner & Francisca Pardo, 2015. "How Ethical are Managers’ Goodwill Impairment Decisions in Spanish-Listed Firms?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 21-40, November.
    12. Cassell, Cory A. & Myers, Linda A. & Seidel, Timothy A., 2015. "Disclosure transparency about activity in valuation allowance and reserve accounts and accruals-based earnings management," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 23-38.
    13. Kearney, Colm & Liu, Sha, 2014. "Textual sentiment in finance: A survey of methods and models," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 171-185.
    14. Dyer, Travis & Lang, Mark & Stice-Lawrence, Lorien, 2017. "The evolution of 10-K textual disclosure: Evidence from Latent Dirichlet Allocation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 221-245.
    15. Greg Clinch, 1995. "Capital Markets Research And The Goodwill Debate," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 5(9), pages 22-30, June.
    16. Masters-Stout, Brenda & Costigan, Michael L. & Lovata, Linda M., 2008. "Goodwill impairments and chief executive officer tenure," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(8), pages 1370-1383.
    17. Schleicher, Thomas & Hussainey, Khaled & Walker, Martin, 2007. "Loss firms’ annual report narratives and share price anticipation of earnings," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 153-171.
    18. Li, Feng, 2008. "Annual report readability, current earnings, and earnings persistence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 221-247, August.
    19. Marshall, Andrew & McCann, Laura & McColgan, Patrick, 2014. "Do banks really monitor? Evidence from CEO succession decisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 118-131.
    20. Yoonseok Zang, 2008. "Discretionary behavior with respect to the adoption of SFAS no. 142 and the behavior of security prices," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 38-68, February.
    21. Martin Glaum & Peter Schmidt & Donna L. Street & Silvia Vogel, 2013. "Compliance with IFRS 3- and IAS 36-required disclosures across 17 European countries: company- and country-level determinants," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 163-204, June.
    22. Henning, SL & Lewis, BL & Shaw, WH, 2000. "Valuation of the components of purchased goodwill," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 375-386.
    23. Paul André & Andrei Filip & Luc Paugam, 2016. "Examining the Patterns of Goodwill Impairments in Europe and the US," Accounting in Europe, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 329-352, September.
    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. Thorsten Knauer & Arnt Wöhrmann, 2016. "Market Reaction to Goodwill Impairments," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 421-449, September.
    26. Anne Beatty & Joseph Weber, 2006. "Accounting Discretion in Fair Value Estimates: An Examination of SFAS 142 Goodwill Impairments," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 257-288, May.
    27. Quick, Reiner & Albersmann, B. T., 2020. "The Impact of Audit Quality Indicators on the Timeliness of Goodwill Impairments: Evidence from the German Setting," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 124767, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    28. Chauvin, Keith W. & Hirschey, Mark, 1994. "Goodwill, profitability, and the market value of the firm," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 159-180.
    29. Stephen P. Baginski & Saverio Bozzolan & Antonio Marra & Pietro Mazzola, 2017. "Strategy, Valuation, and Forecast Accuracy: Evidence from Italian Strategic Plan Disclosures," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 341-378, April.
    30. Lawrence, Alastair, 2013. "Individual investors and financial disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 130-147.
    31. Lee, Cheol, 2011. "The effect of SFAS 142 on the ability of goodwill to predict future cash flows," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 236-255, May.
    32. Kevin K. Li & Richard G. Sloan, 2017. "Has goodwill accounting gone bad?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 964-1003, June.
    33. Henry Jarva, 2009. "Do Firms Manage Fair Value Estimates? An Examination of SFAS 142 Goodwill Impairments," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(9-10), pages 1059-1086.
    34. Samuel B. Bonsall & Brian P. Miller, 2017. "The impact of narrative disclosure readability on bond ratings and the cost of debt," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 608-643, June.
    35. Shuyu Zhang & Walter Aerts, 2015. "Management's performance justification and failure to meet earnings thresholds," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(6-7), pages 841-868, December.
    36. Andrei Filip & Thomas Jeanjean & Luc Paugam, 2015. "Using Real Activities to Avoid Goodwill Impairment Losses: Evidence and Effect on Future Performance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3-4), pages 515-554, April.
    37. Feng Li, 2010. "The Information Content of Forward‐Looking Statements in Corporate Filings—A Naïve Bayesian Machine Learning Approach," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 1049-1102, December.
    38. Henry Jarva, 2009. "Do Firms Manage Fair Value Estimates? An Examination of SFAS 142 Goodwill Impairments," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(9‐10), pages 1059-1086, November.
    39. Mostafa Monzur Hasan, 2020. "Readability of Narrative Disclosures in 10-K Reports: Does Managerial Ability Matter?," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 147-168, January.
    40. Stephen V. Brown & Jennifer Wu Tucker, 2011. "Large‐Sample Evidence on Firms’ Year‐over‐Year MD&A Modifications," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(2), pages 309-346, May.
    41. Martin Bugeja & Natalie Gallery, 2006. "Is older goodwill value relevant?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(4), pages 519-535, December.
    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. Xu, Jingjing & Huang, Haijie & Lee, Edward & Petaibanlue, Jirada, 2023. "Does goodwill pressure drive business restructuring based on subsidiary disposal?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(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. Bagna, Emanuel & Ramusino, Enrico Cotta & Ogliari, Matteo, 2023. "The impact of different goodwill accounting methods on stock prices: A comparison of amortization and impairment-only methodologies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    2. Benjamin T. Albersmann & Reiner Quick, 2020. "The Impact of Audit Quality Indicators on the Timeliness of Goodwill Impairments: Evidence from the German Setting," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(1), pages 66-103, March.
    3. Alshehabi, Ahmad & Georgiou, George & Ala, Alessandro S., 2021. "Country-specific drivers of the value relevance of goodwill impairment losses," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    4. Araceli Amorós Martínez & José Antonio Cavero Rubio, 2018. "The Economic Effects of IFRS Goodwill Reporting," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 28(3), pages 309-322, September.
    5. Begoña Giner & Francisca Pardo, 2015. "How Ethical are Managers’ Goodwill Impairment Decisions in Spanish-Listed Firms?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 21-40, November.
    6. Xu, Jingjing & Huang, Haijie & Lee, Edward & Petaibanlue, Jirada, 2023. "Does goodwill pressure drive business restructuring based on subsidiary disposal?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Rjiba, Hatem & Saadi, Samir & Boubaker, Sabri & Ding, Xiaoya (Sara), 2021. "Annual report readability and the cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    8. Blankespoor, Elizabeth & deHaan, Ed & Marinovic, Iván, 2020. "Disclosure processing costs, investors’ information choice, and equity market outcomes: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2).
    9. Hongwen Han & Jiali Jenna Tang & Qingquan Tang, 2021. "Goodwill Impairment, Securities Analysts, and Information Transparency," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 767-799, August.
    10. Andrei Filip & Gerald J. Lobo & Luc Paugam, 2021. "Managerial discretion to delay the recognition of goodwill impairment: The role of enforcement," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 36-69, January.
    11. Roncagliolo, Elisa & Avallone, Francesco, 2022. "Recognition of provisional goodwill: Real need or communication strategy?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    12. Hassanein, Ahmed & Hussainey, Khaled, 2015. "Is forward-looking financial disclosure really informative? Evidence from UK narrative statements," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 52-61.
    13. Killins, Robert & Ngo, Thanh & Wang, Hongxia, 2021. "Goodwill impairment and CEO overconfidence," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    14. Berkin, Anil & Aerts, Walter & Van Caneghem, Tom, 2023. "Feasibility analysis of machine learning for performance-related attributional statements," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    15. Muhammad Nadeem, 2022. "Board Gender Diversity and Managerial Obfuscation: Evidence from the Readability of Narrative Disclosure in 10-K Reports," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 153-177, August.
    16. Wen, He & Moehrle, Stephen R., 2016. "Accounting for goodwill: An academic literature review and analysis to inform the debate," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 11-21.
    17. Moumen, Néjia & Ben Othman, Hakim & Hussainey, Khaled, 2015. "The value relevance of risk disclosure in annual reports: Evidence from MENA emerging markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 177-204.
    18. Durnev, Art & Mangen, Claudine, 2020. "The spillover effects of MD&A disclosures for real investment: The role of industry competition," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1).
    19. Lale Guler, 2018. "Has SFAS 142 improved the usefulness of goodwill impairment loss and goodwill balances for investors?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 559-592, July.
    20. Brian J. Bushee & Ian D. Gow & Daniel J. Taylor, 2018. "Linguistic Complexity in Firm Disclosures: Obfuscation or Information?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 85-121, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Annual report narratives; Disclosure quality; Goodwill impairments; Signalling; Timeliness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M4 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting
    • M40 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - General

    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:bracre:v:54:y:2022:i:2:s0890838921000044. 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: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-british-accounting-review .

    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.