{"title":"The effect of real earnings smoothing on corporate labour investment","authors":"Zhangfan Cao , William Rees , Zhifang Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.bar.2023.101178","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study investigates the impact of real earnings smoothing on labour investment efficiency. Our results show that real earnings smoothing is significantly associated with higher labour investment efficiency, supporting the private information signalling view of earnings smoothing. We also fine information asymmetry as a plausible channel through which real earnings smoothing improves labour investment efficiency. Further analyses find that the positive impact of real earnings smoothing on labour investment efficiency is primarily driven by the informational component rather than the garbling component of earnings smoothness, and is more pronounced for financially constrained firms with equity-based financing incentives and loss-making firms. Our paper advances the understanding of corporate labour investment and the benefits of real earnings smoothing.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47996,"journal":{"name":"British Accounting Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"British Accounting Review","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838923000057","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of real earnings smoothing on labour investment efficiency. Our results show that real earnings smoothing is significantly associated with higher labour investment efficiency, supporting the private information signalling view of earnings smoothing. We also fine information asymmetry as a plausible channel through which real earnings smoothing improves labour investment efficiency. Further analyses find that the positive impact of real earnings smoothing on labour investment efficiency is primarily driven by the informational component rather than the garbling component of earnings smoothness, and is more pronounced for financially constrained firms with equity-based financing incentives and loss-making firms. Our paper advances the understanding of corporate labour investment and the benefits of real earnings smoothing.
期刊介绍:
The British Accounting Review*is pleased to publish original scholarly papers across the whole spectrum of accounting and finance. The journal is eclectic and pluralistic and contributions are welcomed across a wide range of research methodologies (e.g. analytical, archival, experimental, survey and qualitative case methods) and topics (e.g. financial accounting, management accounting, finance and financial management, auditing, public sector accounting, social and environmental accounting; accounting education and accounting history), evidence from UK and non-UK sources are equally acceptable.