IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/rqfnac/v54y2020i2d10.1007_s11156-019-00804-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Share repurchases and accounting conservatism

Author

Listed:
  • Gerald J. Lobo

    (University of Houston)

  • Ashok Robin

    (Rochester Institute of Technology)

  • Kean Wu

    (Rochester Institute of Technology)

Abstract

The prior literature indicates that financial policy (e.g., payout policy) as well as accounting policy (e.g., conservatism) can be used to address incentive problems in firms but finds mixed evidence. We conjecture that stock repurchases, an increasingly popular form of payout, and conservatism are potential mechanisms to counter managerial propensity to engage in overinvestment using free cash flows. Consequently, we expect a negative relation between repurchases and conservatism as well as a stronger negative relation between these two mechanisms in firms with high levels of free cash flows. We find results consistent with these expectations. By contrast, we find a weaker negative relation between repurchases and conservatism when CEO tenure is higher, which confirms that more entrenched CEOs have less incentives to solve the overinvestment problem.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerald J. Lobo & Ashok Robin & Kean Wu, 2020. "Share repurchases and accounting conservatism," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 699-733, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:54:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11156-019-00804-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-019-00804-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11156-019-00804-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11156-019-00804-9?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. Kravet, Todd D., 2014. "Accounting conservatism and managerial risk-taking: Corporate acquisitions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 218-240.
    2. Anwer S. Ahmed & Scott Duellman, 2013. "Managerial Overconfidence and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 1-30, March.
    3. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2001. "Disappearing Dividends: Changing Firm Characteristics Or Lower Propensity To Pay?," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 14(1), pages 67-79, March.
    4. Hribar, Paul & Jenkins, Nicole Thorne & Johnson, W. Bruce, 2006. "Stock repurchases as an earnings management device," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1-2), pages 3-27, April.
    5. Guojin Gong & Henock Louis & Amy X. Sun, 2008. "Earnings Management and Firm Performance Following Open‐Market Repurchases," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(2), pages 947-986, April.
    6. Lee, Bong Soo & Mauck, Nathan, 2014. "Information Asymmetry and the Market Response to Open Market Share Repurchases," MPRA Paper 54066, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Ikenberry, David & Lakonishok, Josef & Vermaelen, Theo, 1995. "Market underreaction to open market share repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 181-208.
    8. Skinner, Douglas J., 2008. "The evolving relation between earnings, dividends, and stock repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 582-609, March.
    9. Francis, Jere R. & Martin, Xiumin, 2010. "Acquisition profitability and timely loss recognition," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1-2), pages 161-178, February.
    10. Anil Shivdasani & David Yermack, 1999. "CEO Involvement in the Selection of New Board Members: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(5), pages 1829-1853, October.
    11. 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.
    12. Jagannathan, Murali & Stephens, Clifford P. & Weisbach, Michael S., 2000. "Financial flexibility and the choice between dividends and stock repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 355-384, September.
    13. Bagwell, Laurie Simon & Shoven, John B, 1989. "Cash Distributions to Shareholders," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 129-140, Summer.
    14. Khan, Mozaffar & Watts, Ross L., 2009. "Estimation and empirical properties of a firm-year measure of accounting conservatism," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 132-150, December.
    15. Clifford P. Stephens & Michael S. Weisbach, 1998. "Actual Share Reacquisitions in Open-Market Repurchase Programs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(1), pages 313-333, February.
    16. Banyi, Monica L. & Dyl, Edward A. & Kahle, Kathleen M., 2008. "Errors in estimating share repurchases," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 460-474, September.
    17. Gustavo Grullon & Roni Michaely, 2002. "Dividends, Share Repurchases, and the Substitution Hypothesis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1649-1684, August.
    18. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-51, February.
    19. Ofer, Aharon R & Thakor, Anjan V, 1987. "A Theory of Stock Price Responses to Alternative Corporate Cash Disbursement Methods: Stock Repurchases and Dividends," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 42(2), pages 365-394, June.
    20. Opler, Tim & Pinkowitz, Lee & Stulz, Rene & Williamson, Rohan, 1999. "The determinants and implications of corporate cash holdings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 3-46, April.
    21. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    22. Marianne Bertrand & Antoinette Schoar, 2003. "Managing with Style: The Effect of Managers on Firm Policies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1169-1208.
    23. Lee, Bong-Soo & Rui, Oliver Meng, 2007. "Time-Series Behavior of Share Repurchases and Dividends," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(1), pages 119-142, March.
    24. Dann, Larry Y., 1981. "Common stock repurchases : An analysis of returns to bondholders and stockholders," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 113-138, June.
    25. Comment, Robert & Jarrell, Gregg A, 1991. "The Relative Signalling Power of Dutch-Auction and Fixed-Price Self-Tender Offers and Open-Market Share Repurchases," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1243-1271, September.
    26. 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.
    27. Chowdhry, Bhagwan & Nanda, Vikram, 1994. "Repurchase Premia as a Reason for Dividends: A Dynamic Model of Corporate Payout Policies," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 7(2), pages 321-350.
    28. Zhefeng Liu & Fayez Elayan, 2015. "Litigation risk, information asymmetry and conditional conservatism," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 581-608, May.
    29. Ball, Ray & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2005. "Earnings quality in UK private firms: comparative loss recognition timeliness," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 83-128, February.
    30. Christine Jolls, 1998. "Stock Repurchases and Incentive Compensation," NBER Working Papers 6467, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. Boudry, Walter I. & Kallberg, Jarl G. & Liu, Crocker H., 2013. "Investment opportunities and share repurchases," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 23-38.
    32. Murali Jagannathan & Clifford Stephens, 2003. "Motives for Multiple Open-Market Repurchase Programs," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 32(2), Summer.
    33. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    34. Vermaelen, Theo, 1981. "Common stock repurchases and market signalling : An empirical study," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 139-183, June.
    35. Easterbrook, Frank H, 1984. "Two Agency-Cost Explanations of Dividends," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(4), pages 650-659, September.
    36. Gustavo Grullon & Roni Michaely, 2004. "The Information Content of Share Repurchase Programs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(2), pages 651-680, April.
    37. Bong Soo Lee & Nathan Mauck, 2018. "Informed Repurchases, Information Asymmetry and the Market Response to Open Market Share Repurchases," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(03), pages 1-32, September.
    38. Hermalin, Benjamin E & Weisbach, Michael S, 1998. "Endogenously Chosen Boards of Directors and Their Monitoring of the CEO," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(1), pages 96-118, March.
    39. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    40. Itzhak Ben-David & John R. Graham & Campbell R. Harvey, 2007. "Managerial Overconfidence and Corporate Policies," NBER Working Papers 13711, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    41. Massa, Massimo & Rehman, Zahid & Vermaelen, Theo, 2007. "Mimicking repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 624-666, June.
    42. Frank Gigler & Chandra Kanodia & Haresh Sapra & Raghu Venugopalan, 2009. "Accounting Conservatism and the Efficiency of Debt Contracts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 767-797, June.
    43. Zahn Bozanic, 2010. "Managerial motivation and timing of open market share repurchases," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 517-531, May.
    44. Ahmed, Anwer S. & Duellman, Scott, 2007. "Accounting conservatism and board of director characteristics: An empirical analysis," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 411-437, July.
    45. Jing LI, 2013. "Accounting Conservatism and Debt Contracts: Efficient Liquidation and Covenant Renegotiation," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1082-1098, September.
    46. Matthew T. Billett & Hui Xue, 2007. "The Takeover Deterrent Effect of Open Market Share Repurchases," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1827-1850, August.
    47. Subramanian Rama Iyer & Harry Feng & Ramesh P. Rao, 2017. "Payout flexibility and capital expenditure," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 633-659, October.
    48. Alon Brav & Wei Jiang & Frank Partnoy & Randall Thomas, 2008. "Hedge Fund Activism, Corporate Governance, and Firm Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1729-1775, August.
    49. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "Corrigendum to "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings"; [Journal of Accounting and Economics 29 (2000) 1-51]," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 241-241, October.
    50. García Lara, Juan Manuel & García Osma, Beatriz & Penalva, Fernando, 2016. "Accounting conservatism and firm investment efficiency," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 221-238.
    51. Dittmar, Amy K, 2000. "Why Do Firms Repurchase Stock?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(3), pages 331-355, July.
    52. Bens, Daniel A. & Nagar, Venky & Skinner, Douglas J. & Wong, M. H. Franco, 2003. "Employee stock options, EPS dilution, and stock repurchases," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-3), pages 51-90, December.
    53. Sudipto Bhattacharya, 1979. "Imperfect Information, Dividend Policy, and "The Bird in the Hand" Fallacy," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 259-270, Spring.
    54. Hausch, Donald B & Seward, James K, 1993. "Signaling with Dividends and Share Repurchases: A Choice between Deterministic and Stochastic Cash Disbursements," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(1), pages 121-154.
    55. Lie, Erik, 2005. "Operating performance following open market share repurchase announcements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 411-436, September.
    56. Henock Louis & Oktay Urcan, 2015. "Agency Conflicts, Dividend Payout, and the Direct Benefits of Conservative Financial Reporting to Equity†Holders," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(2), pages 455-484, June.
    57. Andriosopoulos, Dimitris & Andriosopoulos, Kostas & Hoque, Hafiz, 2013. "Information disclosure, CEO overconfidence, and share buyback completion rates," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5486-5499.
    58. Zhang, Jieying, 2008. "The contracting benefits of accounting conservatism to lenders and borrowers," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 27-54, March.
    59. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, 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. Chih‐Wei Wang & Jing‐Yu Peng, 2021. "The impact of internal and external factors on the relationship between information opacity and open‐market repurchases," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(3), pages 4085-4118, September.
    2. Huai-Chun Lo & Shin-Rong Shiah-Hou, 2022. "The effect of CEO power on overinvestment," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 23-63, July.

    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. Haw, In-Mu & Ho, Simon S.M. & Hu, Bingbing & Zhang, Xu, 2011. "The contribution of stock repurchases to the value of the firm and cash holdings around the world," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 152-166, February.
    2. Banyi, Monica L. & Dyl, Edward A. & Kahle, Kathleen M., 2008. "Errors in estimating share repurchases," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 460-474, September.
    3. Paul Tanyi & David B. Smith & Xiaoyan Cheng, 2021. "Does firm payout policy affect shareholders’ dissatisfaction with directors?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 279-320, July.
    4. Grey, Colette & Flynn, Antoinette & Donnelly, Ray, 2020. "Management compensation contracts and distribution policies in the US technology sector," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    5. Alquhaif, Abdulsalam & Al-Gamrh, Bakr & Abdul Latif, Rohaida, 2020. "An overview of share buybacks: A descriptive case from Malaysia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    6. Su, Xuan-Qi & Lin, Yung-Chieh & Chen, Chin-Ming & Lowe, Alpha, 2019. "Are educational managers credible or overconfident? Evidence from share repurchases in Taiwan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 93-112.
    7. Li, Lingxiang, 2016. "New findings on repurchase anomaly — The first-month effect," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 331-349.
    8. Andriosopoulos, Dimitris & Lasfer, Meziane, 2015. "The market valuation of share repurchases in Europe," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 327-339.
    9. Lei, Zicheng & Zhang, Chendi, 2016. "Leveraged buybacks," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 242-262.
    10. Andriosopoulos, Dimitris & Andriosopoulos, Kostas & Hoque, Hafiz, 2013. "Information disclosure, CEO overconfidence, and share buyback completion rates," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5486-5499.
    11. Griffin, Paul A. & Zhu, Ning, 2010. "Accounting rules? Stock buybacks and stock options: Additional evidence," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 1-17.
    12. Wilson X. B. Li & Tina T. He & Andrew Marshall & Gordon Y. N. Tang, 2020. "An empirical analysis of accounting conservatism surrounding share repurchases," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(4), pages 609-627, December.
    13. Hussein Abedi Shamsabadi & Byung-Seong Min & Richard Chung, 2016. "Corporate governance and dividend strategy: lessons from Australia," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 583-610, October.
    14. Jun, Sang-gyung & Jung, Mookwon & Walkling, Ralph A., 2009. "Share repurchase, executive options and wealth changes to stockholders and bondholders," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 212-229, April.
    15. Kulchania, Manoj, 2013. "Catering driven substitution in corporate payouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 180-195.
    16. Avishek Bhandari & Joanna Golden & Kenton Walker & Joseph H. Zhang, 2022. "The relationship between stock repurchase completion rates, firm reputation and financial reporting quality: a commitment‐trust theory perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2687-2724, June.
    17. Steven Hegemann & Iuliana Ismailescu, 2017. "The Effect of FASB Statement No. 123R on Stock Repurchases: An Empirical Examination of Management Incentives," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(02), pages 1-31, June.
    18. Szládek, Dániel, 2024. "Osztalékfizetés helyett részvény-visszavásárlás?. A részvény-visszavásárlások népszerűségének lehetséges okai [Share repurchases instead of dividend payments?. The evolution of payout policies and ," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(2), pages 154-175.
    19. Lee, Bong Soo & Suh, Jungwon, 2011. "Cash holdings and share repurchases: International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 1306-1329.
    20. Tzu-Yu Liu & Li-Lun Liu & John Francis Diaz, 2016. "Effect of Managerial Overconfidence and Compensation on Share Repurchase: Empirical Evidence from Taiwanese Firms," Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance (AAMJAF), Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, vol. 12(1), pages 153-179.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Share repurchase; Accounting conservatism; Agency problem; Corporate governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy
    • 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:kap:rqfnac:v:54:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11156-019-00804-9. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://springer.com .

    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.