IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v76y2025ics1544612325001928.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The signaling effect of tone: The influence of key audit matters’ tone on bank lending decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Duan, Mingli

Abstract

I apply the BERT model to assess the tone of key audit matters (KAMs) disclosed by auditors of Chinese A-share companies from 2016 to 2022, and investigate the impact of tone on bank lending decisions. The findings indicate that a negative tone serves as a risk signal by helping reveal information risk and assess credit risk. Positive and negative tones exhibit asymmetric signaling effects, with expected tones exerting a stronger influence than unexpected tones. These results highlight that the audit report's tone is a more credible risk indicator than management's tone, thereby providing strong support for banks’ credit decision-making process.

Suggested Citation

  • Duan, Mingli, 2025. "The signaling effect of tone: The influence of key audit matters’ tone on bank lending decisions," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:76:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325001928
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.106928
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325001928
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106928?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. Graham, John R. & Li, Si & Qiu, Jiaping, 2008. "Corporate misreporting and bank loan contracting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 44-61, July.
    2. Jean H. Bédard & Nathalie Gonthier-Besacier & Alain Schatt, 2019. "Consequences of Expanded Audit Reports : Evidence from the Justifications of Assessments in France," Post-Print hal-02011144, HAL.
    3. Hasan, Iftekhar & Hoi, Chun Keung (Stan) & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2014. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: The effect of corporate tax avoidance on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 109-130.
    4. Li, Wenzhen & Zheng, Xiaoyu, 2024. "Key audit matter disclosure and stock mispricing: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    5. Elizabeth Gutierrez & Miguel Minutti-Meza & Kay W. Tatum & Maria Vulcheva, 2018. "Consequences of adopting an expanded auditor’s report in the United Kingdom," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1543-1587, December.
    6. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Nguyen, Manh Toan & Hoang, Viet Anh & Mazur, Mieszko & Henry, Darren, 2022. "Does managerial tone matter for stock liquidity? Evidence from textual disclosures," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    7. Kirtac, Kemal & Germano, Guido, 2024. "Sentiment trading with large language models," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    8. Tang, Yajun & Wang, Li & Shu, Haicheng & Li, Tianci, 2024. "Does managerial ability affect bank loan pricing?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    9. Ertugrul, Mine & Lei, Jin & Qiu, Jiaping & Wan, Chi, 2017. "Annual Report Readability, Tone Ambiguity, and the Cost of Borrowing," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 811-836, April.
    10. Hasan, Iftekhar & Hoi, Chun Keung (Stan) & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2014. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: The effect of corporate tax avoidance on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 109-130.
    11. Liang, Dawei & Pan, Yukun & Du, Qianqian & Zhu, Ling, 2022. "The information content of analysts’ textual reports and stock returns: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    12. Annette Köhler & Nicole Ratzinger-Sakel & Jochen Theis, 2020. "The Effects of Key Audit Matters on the Auditor’s Report’s Communicative Value: Experimental Evidence from Investment Professionals and Non-professional Investors," Accounting in Europe, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 105-128, July.
    13. Yao, Jie & Su, Shengqi & Liu, Shanmin, 2023. "The effect of key audit matters reviewing on loan approval decisions?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PB).
    14. Wei, Fang & Yan, Siyao & Su, Daan & Zhang, Minyuan, 2024. "Management tone and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Chinese listed companies' involvement in rural revitalization," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2014_003 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Dimitrios V. Kousenidis & Anestis C. Ladas & Christos I. Negkakis, 2019. "Aggregate Accounting Data and the Prediction of Credit Risk," The International Journal of Accounting (TIJA), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 54(01), pages 1-30, March.
    17. Smith, Kecia Williams, 2023. "Tell Me More: A content analysis of expanded auditor reporting in the United Kingdom," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    18. Zhou, Weihua & Li, Yuanjie & Wang, Deli & Xueqin, Du & Ke, Yishun, 2024. "Management's tone in MD&A disclosure and investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    19. Andreas Seebeck & Devrimi Kaya, 2023. "The Power of Words: An Empirical Analysis of the Communicative Value of Extended Auditor Reports," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(5), pages 1185-1215, October.
    20. Dong, Rui & Fisman, Raymond & Wang, Yongxiang & Xu, Nianhang, 2021. "Air pollution, affect, and forecasting bias: Evidence from Chinese financial analysts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(3), pages 971-984.
    21. Guo, Borui & Huang, Xiaoxia, 2024. "Digital transformation tone signal and the cost of equity: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    22. Lauren C. Reid & Joseph V. Carcello & Chan Li & Terry L. Neal & Jere R. Francis, 2019. "Impact of Auditor Report Changes on Financial Reporting Quality and Audit Costs: Evidence from the United Kingdom," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(3), pages 1501-1539, September.
    23. Camacho-Miñano, María-del-Mar & Muñoz-Izquierdo, Nora & Pincus, Morton & Wellmeyer, Patricia, 2024. "Are key audit matter disclosures useful in assessing the financial distress level of a client firm?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(2).
    24. Clive S. Lennox & Jaime J. Schmidt & Anne M. Thompson, 2023. "Why are expanded audit reports not informative to investors? Evidence from the United Kingdom," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 497-532, June.
    25. Chen, Peter F. & He, Shaohua & Ma, Zhiming & Stice, Derrald, 2016. "The information role of audit opinions in debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 121-144.
    26. 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.
    27. Lepori, Gabriele M., 2016. "Air pollution and stock returns: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 25-42.
    28. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2011. "When Is a Liability Not a Liability? Textual Analysis, Dictionaries, and 10‐Ks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 35-65, February.
    29. DeFond, Mark & Zhang, Jieying, 2014. "A review of archival auditing research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 275-326.
    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. Xu, Jingjing & Deng, Yingwen & Wen, Lin & Wang, Kuanliang, 2025. "Can auditing facilitate the effective implementation of goodwill accounting? A perspective based on key audit matters," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. María‐del‐Mar Camacho‐Miñano & Domenico Campa & Laura Parte, 2024. "Earnings management reactions to key audit matters," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(S7), pages 115-130, November.
    3. Smith, Kecia Williams, 2023. "Tell Me More: A content analysis of expanded auditor reporting in the United Kingdom," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Md. Mustafizur Rahaman & Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan, 2025. "Audit report lag and key audit matters in Australia," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(2), pages 532-554, June.
    5. Wang, Lu & Su, Zhong-qin & Fung, Hung-Gay & Jin, Hong-min & Xiao, Zuoping, 2021. "Do CEOs with academic experience add value to firms? Evidence on bank loans from Chinese firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    6. Tarek Abdelfattah & Mohamed Elmahgoub & Ahmed A. Elamer, 2021. "Female Audit Partners and Extended Audit Reporting: UK Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 177-197, November.
    7. Ahmed Aboud & Hany Elbardan & Moataz El-Helaly & Amr Kotb, 2024. "Does the audit committee member’s accounting experience associated with key audit matter types?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 753-780, August.
    8. Li, Valerie & Luo, Yan, 2023. "Costs and benefits of auditors' disclosure of critical audit matters: Initial evidence from the United States," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    9. Hosseinniakani, Mahmoud & Overland, Conny & Samani, Niuosha, 2024. "Do key audit matters matter? Correspondence between auditor and management disclosures and the role of audit committees," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    10. Li, Donghui & Xing, Lu & Zhao, Yang, 2022. "Does extended auditor disclosure deter managerial bad-news hoarding? Evidence from crash risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Elsayed, Mohamed & Elshandidy, Tamer & Ahmed, Yousry, 2023. "Is expanded auditor reporting meaningful? UK evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    12. Liu, Hui & Chang, Yufan & Zuo, Man, 2023. "Key audit matters and insider trading profitability: Evidence from China," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3).
    13. Lu, Chien-Lin & Lin, Chih-Yung & Lin, Tse-Chun & Miao, Bin, 2024. "Financial statement disaggregation and bank loan pricing," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    14. Zhai, Huayun & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen & Liu, Qingzhuo & Zhao, Ying, 2021. "Key audit matters and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    15. Clive S. Lennox & Jaime J. Schmidt & Anne M. Thompson, 2023. "Why are expanded audit reports not informative to investors? Evidence from the United Kingdom," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 497-532, June.
    16. Chia-Ying Chan & Iftekhar Hasan & Chih-Yung Lin, 2021. "Agency cost of CEO perquisites in bank loan contracts," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1221-1258, May.
    17. Wang, Qi & Zhang, Lin & Ma, Qianqun & Wu, Chong, 2024. "The impact of financial risk on boilerplate of key audit matters: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    18. Nan Hu & Xingnan Xue & Ling Liu, 2022. "The impact of air pollution on financial reporting quality: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 3609-3644, September.
    19. Duboisée de Ricquebourg, Alan & Maroun, Warren, 2023. "How do auditor rotations affect key audit matters? Archival evidence from South African audits," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    20. Duong, Huu Nhan & Khalifa, Mariem & Sheikhbahaei, Ali & Sualihu, Mohammed Aminu, 2024. "Corporate noncompliance: Do corporate violations affect bank loan contracting?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).

    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:finlet:v:76:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325001928. 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/frl .

    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.