IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v66y2023ics0275531923001526.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do powerful CEOs affect qualitative financial disclosure? Evidence from accounting comparability

Author

Listed:
  • Majeed, Muhammad Ansar
  • Xie, Shilei
  • Ullah, Irfan
  • Fu, Jianru
  • Wang, Chunlin

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between CEO power and financial statement comparability. Using a sample of A-listed Chinese firms for 2005–2020, we document a positive relationship between powerful CEOs and comparability. We further examined the impact of media coverage on comparability and its moderating role in the relationship between CEO power and comparability. Our results suggest that media coverage leads to higher comparability and reinforces the positive association between powerful CEO and comparability. Additionally, the positive association between CEO power and comparability is contingent on the gender of CEOs and is reversed under higher economic policy uncertainty. Our findings support the transparency argument, the quiet life hypothesis, and the media’s governance role. These results are robust to alternative measures of CEO power, comparability, econometric methods, and endogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Majeed, Muhammad Ansar & Xie, Shilei & Ullah, Irfan & Fu, Jianru & Wang, Chunlin, 2023. "Do powerful CEOs affect qualitative financial disclosure? Evidence from accounting comparability," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:66:y:2023:i:c:s0275531923001526
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.102026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531923001526
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.102026?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. Chen, Min & Zhu, Zhaobo & Han, Peiwen & Chen, Bo & Liu, Jia, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and analyst behaviours: Evidence from the United Kingdom," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Ryan, Harley Jr. & Wiggins, Roy III, 2004. "Who is in whose pocket? Director compensation, board independence, and barriers to effective monitoring," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 497-524, September.
    3. Luigi Zingales, 2000. "In Search of New Foundations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1623-1653, August.
    4. Majeed, Muhammad Ansar & Yan, Chao, 2021. "Financial statement comparability, state ownership, and the cost of debt: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    5. Skinner, Douglas J., 1997. "Earnings disclosures and stockholder lawsuits," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 249-282, November.
    6. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Srinidhi, Bin & Ng, Anthony C., 2011. "Does board gender diversity improve the informativeness of stock prices?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 314-338, April.
    7. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Balakrishnan, Karthik & Cohen, Daniel, 2012. "Corporate governance and the information environment: Evidence from state antitakeover laws," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 185-204.
    8. DeFond, Mark & Hu, Xuesong & Hung, Mingyi & Li, Siqi, 2011. "The impact of mandatory IFRS adoption on foreign mutual fund ownership: The role of comparability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 240-258, April.
    9. Hyejin Ahn & Catherine Heyjung Sonu, 2021. "The effect of audit partner style on financial statement comparability," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 44-70, January.
    10. Chiu, Junmao & Chen, Chin-Ho & Cheng, Chung-Chieh & Hung, Shih-Chang, 2021. "Knowledge capital, CEO power, and firm value: Evidence from the IT industry," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    11. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Faulkender, Michael & Yang, Jun, 2010. "Inside the black box: The role and composition of compensation peer groups," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 257-270, May.
    15. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Jong Chool Park & Qiang Wu, 2015. "Gender Differences in Financial Reporting Decision Making: Evidence from Accounting Conservatism," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 1285-1318, September.
    16. Majeed, Muhammad Ansar & Yan, Chao & Zhong, Huijie, 2022. "Do firms manipulate earnings after winning public-private partnership bids? Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PB).
    17. Sweeney, Amy Patricia, 1994. "Debt-covenant violations and managers' accounting responses," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 281-308, May.
    18. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    19. Yung, Kenneth & Root, Andrew, 2019. "Policy uncertainty and earnings management: International evidence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 255-267.
    20. Datta, Sudip & Iskandar-Datta, Mai & Singh, Vivek, 2013. "Product market power, industry structure, and corporate earnings management," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3273-3285.
    21. Liu, Yixin & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2010. "The effect of CEO power on bond ratings and yields," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 744-762, September.
    22. Wintoki, M. Babajide & Linck, James S. & Netter, Jeffry M., 2012. "Endogeneity and the dynamics of internal corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 581-606.
    23. Ling Lei Lisic & Terry L. Neal & Ivy Xiying Zhang & Yan Zhang, 2016. "CEO Power, Internal Control Quality, and Audit Committee Effectiveness in Substance Versus in Form," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(3), pages 1199-1237, September.
    24. Borochin, Paul & Cu, Wei Hua, 2018. "Alternative corporate governance: Domestic media coverage of mergers and acquisitions in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 1-25.
    25. Myung-Gun Lee & Minjung Kang & Ho-Young Lee & Jong Chool Park, 2016. "Related-party transactions and financial statement comparability: evidence from South Korea," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 224-252, June.
    26. Yong-Shik Kim & Sun A Kang & Sang-Hun Park, 2021. "The effect of management style on financial statement comparability: evidence from Korean business groups," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 454-471, July.
    27. Basu, Sudipta, 1997. "The conservatism principle and the asymmetric timeliness of earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 3-37, December.
    28. Collins, Daniel W. & Kothari, S. P. & Shanken, Jay & Sloan, Richard G., 1994. "Lack of timeliness and noise as explanations for the low contemporaneuos return-earnings association," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 289-324, November.
    29. Jong‐Hag Choi & Sunhwa Choi & Linda A. Myers & David Ziebart, 2019. "Financial Statement Comparability and the Informativeness of Stock Prices About Future Earnings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 389-417, March.
    30. Shahab, Yasir & Ntim, Collins G. & Ullah, Farid & Yugang, Chen & Ye, Zhiwei, 2020. "CEO power and stock price crash risk in China: Do female directors' critical mass and ownership structure matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    31. Francois Brochet & Alan D. Jagolinzer & Edward J. Riedl, 2013. "Mandatory IFRS Adoption and Financial Statement Comparability," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1373-1400, 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. Lakhal, Faten & Hamrouni, Amal & Jilani, Ibtissem & Mahjoub, Imen & Benkraiem, Ramzi, 2024. "The power of inclusion: Does leadership gender diversity promote corporate and green innovation?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).

    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. Ding Ning & Irfan-Ullah & Muhammad Ansar Majeed & Aurang Zeb, 2022. "Board diversity and financial statement comparability: evidence from China," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(4), pages 743-801, December.
    2. Yiwei Fang & Iftekhar Hasan & Woon Sau Leung & Qingwei Wang, 2019. "Foreign ownership, bank information environments, and the international mobility of corporate governance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(9), pages 1566-1593, December.
    3. Wang, Fangjun & Zhang, Zhichao & Ho, L.C. Jennifer & Usman, Muhammad, 2023. "CFO gender and financial statement comparability," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Zhang, Zhuang & Ntim, Collins G. & Zhang, Qingjing & Elmagrhi, Mohamed H., 2020. "Does accounting comparability affect corporate employment decision-making?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    5. Zhichao Zhang & Fangjun Wang, 2023. "Managerial short‐termism and financial statement comparability," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(5), pages 5027-5067, December.
    6. Sanjukta Brahma & Fotini Economou, 2024. "CEO power and corporate strategies: a review of the literature," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1069-1143, April.
    7. Kryzanowski, Lawrence & Mohebshahedin, Mahmood, 2016. "Board governance, monetary interest, and closed-end fund performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 196-217.
    8. Majeed, Muhammad Ansar & Yan, Chao, 2021. "Financial statement comparability, state ownership, and the cost of debt: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    9. Md Arafat Hossain & Elaine Yen Nee Oon, 2022. "Board leadership, board meeting frequency and firm performance in two‐tier boards," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 862-879, April.
    10. Chowdhury, Md Raihan Uddin & Alam, Md Asif Ul & Devos, Erik & Chy, Md Kamrul Hasan, 2024. "Women in C-suite: Does Top Management Team gender diversity matter? Evidence from firm investment efficiency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    11. Searat Ali & Benjamin Liu & Jen Je Su, 2022. "Does corporate governance have a differential effect on downside and upside risk?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(9-10), pages 1642-1695, October.
    12. Sardar Ahmad & Saeed Akbar & Devendra Kodwani & Anwar Halari & Syed Zubair Shah, 2023. "Compliance or non‐compliance during financial crisis: Does it matter?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 2348-2366, July.
    13. Guadalupe del Carmen Briano Turrent & Jannine Poletti-Hughes & Jonathan Williams, 2023. "Transparency on Corporate Governance and board of directors' strategies," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 18(2), pages 1-22, Abril - J.
    14. Rami Salem & Ernest Ezeani & Xi Song, 2023. "The relationship between religiosity and voluntary disclosure quality: a cross-country evidence from the banking sector," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 983-1023, April.
    15. Camelia M. Kuhnen & Alexandra Niessen, 2012. "Public Opinion and Executive Compensation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(7), pages 1249-1272, July.
    16. Marwa Sallemi & Salah Ben Hamad & Nejla Ould Daoud Ellili, 2023. "Executive compensation and bank’s stability: which role of the corruption control? An empirical evidence from OECD banks," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(2), pages 457-477, June.
    17. Pathan, Shams & Faff, Robert, 2013. "Does board structure in banks really affect their performance?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1573-1589.
    18. Lim, Elizabeth, 2018. "Social pay reference point, external environment, and risk taking: An integrated behavioral and social psychological view," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 68-78.
    19. Jie Chen & Woon Sau Leung & Wei Song & Marc Goergen, 2018. "Why female board representation matters: The role of female directors in reducing male CEO overconfidence in corporate decisions," Working Papers 2018-12, Swansea University, School of Management.
    20. Jia Lu & Agyenim Boateng, 2018. "Board composition, monitoring and credit risk: evidence from the UK banking industry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1107-1128, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Comparability; CEO power; Media coverage; China;
    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
    • 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:riibaf:v:66:y:2023:i:c:s0275531923001526. 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/ribaf .

    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.