IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/reaccs/v28y2023i4d10.1007_s11142-022-09698-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is silence golden sometimes? Management guidance withdrawals during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Ole-Kristian Hope

    (University of Toronto
    BI Norwegian Business School)

  • Congcong Li

    (Duquesne University)

  • Mark Shuai Ma

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • Xijiang Su

    (University of Toronto)

Abstract

The many management guidance withdrawals during the COVID-19 pandemic have attracted considerable attention from the media, investors, and regulators. This study analyzes the determinants and consequences of these withdrawals. We find that guidance withdrawals are due to economic uncertainty, resulting from firms’ exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic rather than poor financial performance. Also, the effect of COVID-19 exposure on guidance withdrawals is stronger when firms face higher litigation risk. Further, guidance withdrawals result in abnormally large trading volumes and high analyst forecast dispersion but do not harm stock prices or the level of analyst earnings forecasts. Overall we believe the findings have implications for understanding corporate disclosure practices during periods with heightened economic uncertainty.

Suggested Citation

  • Ole-Kristian Hope & Congcong Li & Mark Shuai Ma & Xijiang Su, 2023. "Is silence golden sometimes? Management guidance withdrawals during the COVID-19 pandemic," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 2319-2360, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:reaccs:v:28:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s11142-022-09698-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s11142-022-09698-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11142-022-09698-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11142-022-09698-w?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. Skinner, Dj, 1994. "Why Firms Voluntarily Disclose Bad-News," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 38-60.
    2. Jeff L. McMullin & Bryce Schonberger, 2020. "Entropy-balanced accruals," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 84-119, March.
    3. Thomas Hale & Noam Angrist & Rafael Goldszmidt & Beatriz Kira & Anna Petherick & Toby Phillips & Samuel Webster & Emily Cameron-Blake & Laura Hallas & Saptarshi Majumdar & Helen Tatlow, 2021. "A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker)," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 529-538, April.
    4. Bartov, Eli & Bodnar, Gordon M. & Kaul, Aditya, 1996. "Exchange rate variability and the riskiness of U.S. multinational firms: Evidence from the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 105-132, September.
    5. Joos, Peter & Piotroski, Joseph D. & Srinivasan, Suraj, 2016. "Can analysts assess fundamental risk and valuation uncertainty? An empirical analysis of scenario-based value estimates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(3), pages 645-663.
    6. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    7. Patell, Jm, 1976. "Corporate Forecasts Of Earnings Per Share And Stock-Price Behavior - Empirical Tests," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 246-276.
    8. Beaver, Wh, 1968. "Information Content Of Annual Earnings Announcements," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6, pages 67-92.
    9. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2005. "The economic implications of corporate financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 3-73, December.
    10. Grossman, Sanford J, 1981. "The Informational Role of Warranties and Private Disclosure about Product Quality," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 461-483, December.
    11. Jennings, R, 1987. "Unsystematic Security Price Movements, Management Earnings Forecasts, And Revisions In Consensus Analyst Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 90-110.
    12. Nagar, Venky & Nanda, Dhananjay & Wysocki, Peter, 2003. "Discretionary disclosure and stock-based incentives," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-3), pages 283-309, January.
    13. Amy P. Hutton & Gregory S. Miller & Douglas J. Skinner, 2003. "The Role of Supplementary Statements with Management Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 867-890, December.
    14. Guojin Gong & Laura Yue Li & Ling Zhou, 2013. "Earnings Non‐Synchronicity and Voluntary Disclosure," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1560-1589, December.
    15. Noe, Christopher F., 1999. "Voluntary disclosures and insider transactions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 305-326, July.
    16. Paul H. Malatesta & Kathryn L. DeWenter, 2001. "State-Owned and Privately Owned Firms: An Empirical Analysis of Profitability, Leverage, and Labor Intensity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 320-334, March.
    17. Waymire, G, 1985. "Earnings Volatility And Voluntary Management Forecast Disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 268-295.
    18. Trueman, Brett, 1986. "Why do managers voluntarily release earnings forecasts?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 53-71, March.
    19. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    20. Julie Cotter & Irem Tuna & Peter D. Wysocki, 2006. "Expectations Management and Beatable Targets: How Do Analysts React to Explicit Earnings Guidance?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(3), pages 593-624, September.
    21. Karthik Balakrishnan & Mary Brooke Billings & Bryan Kelly & Alexander Ljungqvist, 2014. "Shaping Liquidity: On the Causal Effects of Voluntary Disclosure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(5), pages 2237-2278, October.
    22. Chen, Shuping & Matsumoto, Dawn & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2011. "Is silence golden? An empirical analysis of firms that stop giving quarterly earnings guidance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 134-150, February.
    23. Yongtae Kim & Minsup Song, 2015. "Management Earnings Forecasts and Value of Analyst Forecast Revisions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(7), pages 1663-1683, July.
    24. Verrecchia, Robert E., 2001. "Essays on disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-3), pages 97-180, December.
    25. Joel F. Houston & Baruch Lev & Jennifer Wu Tucker, 2010. "To Guide or Not to Guide? Causes and Consequences of Stopping Quarterly Earnings Guidance," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 4-4, March.
    26. Chen, Shuping & Matsumoto, Dawn & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2011. "Is silence golden? An empirical analysis of firms that stop giving quarterly earnings guidance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 134-150.
    27. Skinner, Douglas J., 1997. "Earnings disclosures and stockholder lawsuits," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 249-282, November.
    28. Paul R. Milgrom, 1981. "Good News and Bad News: Representation Theorems and Applications," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(2), pages 380-391, Autumn.
    29. Kim, Irene & Skinner, Douglas J., 2012. "Measuring securities litigation risk," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 290-310.
    30. Francis, J & Philbrick, D & Schipper, K, 1994. "Shareholder Litigation And Corporate Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 137-164.
    31. Dye, Ra, 1985. "Disclosure Of Nonproprietary Information," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 123-145.
    32. Kim, O & Verrecchia, Re, 1991. "Trading Volume And Price Reactions To Public Announcements," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 302-321.
    33. Joel F. Houston & Baruch Lev & Jennifer Wu Tucker, 2010. "To Guide or Not to Guide? Causes and Consequences of Stopping Quarterly Earnings Guidance," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 143-185, March.
    34. Coller, M & Yohn, TL, 1997. "Management forecasts and information asymmetry: An examination of bid-ask spreads," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 181-191.
    35. Nagar, Venky & Schoenfeld, Jordan & Wellman, Laura, 2019. "The effect of economic policy uncertainty on investor information asymmetry and management disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 36-57.
    36. Waymire, G, 1984. "Additional Evidence On The Information-Content Of Management Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 703-718.
    37. Lev, B & Penman, Sh, 1990. "Voluntary Forecast Disclosure, Nondisclosure, And Stock-Prices," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 49-76.
    38. Faccio, Mara & Xu, Jin, 2015. "Taxes and Capital Structure," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(3), pages 277-300, June.
    39. Penman, Sh, 1980. "An Empirical-Investigation Of The Voluntary Disclosure Of Corporate-Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 132-160.
    40. Janja Brendel & James Ryans, 2021. "Responding to Activist Short Sellers: Allegations, Firm Responses, and Outcomes," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 487-528, May.
    41. Ajinkya, Bb & Gift, Mj, 1984. "Corporate Managers Earnings Forecasts And Symmetrical Adjustments Of Market Expectations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 425-444.
    42. Lang, M & Lundholm, R, 1993. "Cross-Sectional Determinants Of Analyst Ratings Of Corporate Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 246-271.
    43. Qiang Cheng & Kin Lo, 2006. "Insider Trading and Voluntary Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 815-848, December.
    44. Verrecchia, Robert E., 1983. "Discretionary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 179-194, April.
    45. 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.
    46. Aboody, David & Kasznik, Ron, 2000. "CEO stock option awards and the timing of corporate voluntary disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 73-100, February.
    47. G. Barbato & E. M. Barini & G. Genta & R. Levi, 2011. "Features and performance of some outlier detection methods," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(10), pages 2133-2149.
    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. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    2. Hurwitz, Helen, 2017. "The understatement of large negative earnings news in managers’ annual guidance," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 119-133.
    3. Bozanic, Zahn & Roulstone, Darren T. & Van Buskirk, Andrew, 2018. "Management earnings forecasts and other forward-looking statements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 1-20.
    4. Charles E. Wasley & Joanna Shuang Wu, 2006. "Why Do Managers Voluntarily Issue Cash Flow Forecasts?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 389-429, May.
    5. Thorsten Knauer & Christian Ledwig & Andreas Wömpener, 2012. "Zur Wertrelevanz freiwilliger Managementprognosen in Deutschland," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 166-204, March.
    6. Tuo, Ling & Rezaee, Zabihollah & Gao, Lei, 2024. "Is there a tradeoff between management earnings forecasts and sustainability reporting?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    7. Kristian D. Allee & Theodore E. Christensen & Bryan S. Graden & Kenneth J. Merkley, 2021. "The Genesis of Voluntary Disclosure: An Analysis of Firms’ First Earnings Guidance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(3), pages 1914-1938, March.
    8. Ole-Kristian Hope & Junhao Liu, 2023. "Does stock liquidity shape voluntary disclosure? Evidence from the SEC tick size pilot program," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 2233-2270, December.
    9. Seo, Hojun, 2021. "Peer effects in corporate disclosure decisions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1).
    10. Imhof, Michael J & Seavey, Scott E., 2018. "How investors value cash and cash flows when managers commit to providing earnings forecasts," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 74-87.
    11. Jae B. Kim, 2016. "Accounting flexibility and managers’ forecast behavior prior to seasoned equity offerings," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1361-1400, December.
    12. Ertimur, Yonca & Sletten, Ewa & Sunder, Jayanthi, 2014. "Large shareholders and disclosure strategies: Evidence from IPO lockup expirations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 79-95.
    13. Billings, Mary Brooke & Jennings, Robert & Lev, Baruch, 2015. "On guidance and volatility," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 161-180.
    14. Konrad Lang, 2018. "Voluntary Disclosure and Analyst Forecast," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 23-36, January.
    15. Guojin Gong & Laura Y. Li & Jeff J. Wang, 2011. "Serial Correlation in Management Earnings Forecast Errors," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 677-720, June.
    16. Amy P. Hutton & Gregory S. Miller & Douglas J. Skinner, 2003. "The Role of Supplementary Statements with Management Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 867-890, December.
    17. Huang, Wenxuan & Xu, Weidong & Li, Donghui & (Duncan) Liu, Jiancheng, 2024. "Expanded auditor’s reports and voluntary disclosure," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3).
    18. Kannan, Yezen & Khallaf, Ashraf & Gleason, Kimberly & Bostan, Ibrahim, 2023. "The relationship between R&D intensity, conservatism, and management earnings forecast issuance," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    19. 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.
    20. Ling Tuo & Ji Yu & Yu Zhang, 2020. "How do industry peers influence individual firms’ voluntary disclosure strategies?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 911-956, April.

    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:spr:reaccs:v:28:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s11142-022-09698-w. 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://www.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.