Pub Date : 2024-07-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101719
Qianqian Li, Edward M. Watts, Christina Zhu
An important debate exists around the extent to which retail investors make sustainable investments and, if they do, why. We contribute to this debate by investigating the aggregate trading patterns of retail investors around a comprehensive sample of key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) news events for U.S. firms. We show that ESG news events appear to be an important factor in retail investors’ portfolio allocation decisions. Yet, inconsistent with arguments about retail investors’ nonpecuniary preferences, our evidence shows that retail investors mainly trade on this information when they deem it financially material to a company’s stock performance. We also find their net trading demand predicts abnormal returns in the subsample of financially material events, consistent with retail traders benefiting from incorporating ESG-related information into their decision-making when it influences firm value. Overall we conclude that the average U.S. retail investor cares about firms’ ESG activities but primarily to the extent these activities matter for company financial performance.
{"title":"Retail investors and ESG news","authors":"Qianqian Li, Edward M. Watts, Christina Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101719","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101719","url":null,"abstract":"An important debate exists around the extent to which retail investors make sustainable investments and, if they do, why. We contribute to this debate by investigating the aggregate trading patterns of retail investors around a comprehensive sample of key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) news events for U.S. firms. We show that ESG news events appear to be an important factor in retail investors’ portfolio allocation decisions. Yet, inconsistent with arguments about retail investors’ nonpecuniary preferences, our evidence shows that retail investors mainly trade on this information when they deem it financially material to a company’s stock performance. We also find their net trading demand predicts abnormal returns in the subsample of financially material events, consistent with retail traders benefiting from incorporating ESG-related information into their decision-making when it influences firm value. Overall we conclude that the average U.S. retail investor cares about firms’ ESG activities but primarily to the extent these activities matter for company financial performance.","PeriodicalId":42721,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Economics Management and Accounting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141891654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-10DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101716
Peter Demerjian
{"title":"Financial statements vs. FinTech: A discussion of Minnis, Sutherland, and Vetter","authors":"Peter Demerjian","doi":"10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101716","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101716","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42721,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Economics Management and Accounting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141768936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-03DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101708
Felipe Cabezon
{"title":"Executive compensation: The trend toward one-size-fits-all","authors":"Felipe Cabezon","doi":"10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101708","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101708","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42721,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Economics Management and Accounting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141615127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-02DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101710
William J. Mayew
Guidance is an important and long-studied topic in the accounting literature. Call, Hribar, Skinner, and Volant (this issue) survey managers who provide guidance and those that do not to generate insights on the costs and benefits of providing guidance. For managers who do provide guidance, perceptions regarding guidance characteristics are elicited. Firm responses are connected to archival data sources, enabling cross-sectional analysis of survey responses and facilitating comparison of self-reported guidance with common guidance proxies in the archival literature. I discuss key insights from the survey, considering the limitations inherent in the survey method. I also clarify what is meant by the term guidance, how it differs from other forward-looking information and how researchers operationalize the guidance construct. I conclude by offering six research questions for future consideration based on the survey evidence.
{"title":"Contemporary insights on corporate guidance: A discussion of call, Hribar Skinner, and Volant (2024)","authors":"William J. Mayew","doi":"10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101710","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101710","url":null,"abstract":"Guidance is an important and long-studied topic in the accounting literature. Call, Hribar, Skinner, and Volant (this issue) survey managers who provide guidance and those that do not to generate insights on the costs and benefits of providing guidance. For managers who do provide guidance, perceptions regarding guidance characteristics are elicited. Firm responses are connected to archival data sources, enabling cross-sectional analysis of survey responses and facilitating comparison of self-reported guidance with common guidance proxies in the archival literature. I discuss key insights from the survey, considering the limitations inherent in the survey method. I also clarify what is meant by the term guidance, how it differs from other forward-looking information and how researchers operationalize the guidance construct. I conclude by offering six research questions for future consideration based on the survey evidence.","PeriodicalId":42721,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Economics Management and Accounting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141615131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-27DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101709
Ana Albuquerque, Mary Ellen Carter, Zhe (Michael) Guo, Luann J. Lynch
This paper examines complexity in CEO compensation contracts. We develop a measure of compensation complexity and provide empirical evidence that complexity has increased substantially over time. We document that complexity results not only from factors reflecting efficient contracting, but also from external pressures from compensation consultants, institutional investors, proxy advisors, and attempts to benchmark to peers, with these external factors having greater impact in more recent years. Examining consequences of contract complexity, we find an association with lower future firm performance that is related to the influence of external factors on compensation design. We further find this relation is partially mitigated when a contract's performance metrics are more highly correlated, consistent with information processing costs hampering decision-making. Collectively, these findings confirm concerns raised by investors and the media regarding compensation complexity and can inform boards in their design of CEO pay packages.
{"title":"Complexity of CEO compensation packages","authors":"Ana Albuquerque, Mary Ellen Carter, Zhe (Michael) Guo, Luann J. Lynch","doi":"10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101709","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101709","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines complexity in CEO compensation contracts. We develop a measure of compensation complexity and provide empirical evidence that complexity has increased substantially over time. We document that complexity results not only from factors reflecting efficient contracting, but also from external pressures from compensation consultants, institutional investors, proxy advisors, and attempts to benchmark to peers, with these external factors having greater impact in more recent years. Examining consequences of contract complexity, we find an association with lower future firm performance that is related to the influence of external factors on compensation design. We further find this relation is partially mitigated when a contract's performance metrics are more highly correlated, consistent with information processing costs hampering decision-making. Collectively, these findings confirm concerns raised by investors and the media regarding compensation complexity and can inform boards in their design of CEO pay packages.","PeriodicalId":42721,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Economics Management and Accounting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141556930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101707
Kathy Rupar, Sean Wang, Hayoung Yoon
We find that the adverse impact of bad news on analysts’ valuations is 57% larger when the CEO is Non-White, resulting in more pessimistic valuations for Non-White CEOs relative to their White counterparts. Non-White CEO firms are more likely to surpass analysts’ valuation targets in the subsequent 12 months, suggesting that this racial gap lacks economic justification. To provide further evidence of a racial bias: (1) we triangulate our empirical findings with corroborating evidence from a controlled experiment and (2) we provide evidence that analysts’ valuation disparities towards Non-White CEO firms become larger when race relations are worse. Increases in CEO familiarity attenuate these disparities, suggesting the bias we document appears to be subconscious. Our findings suggest that resources allocated towards educating a firm’s stakeholders about the potential impact of implicit racial biases and increasing self-awareness may be impactful in promoting equality within capital markets.
{"title":"Do sell-side analysts react too pessimistically to bad news for minority-led firms? Evidence from target price valuations","authors":"Kathy Rupar, Sean Wang, Hayoung Yoon","doi":"10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101707","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101707","url":null,"abstract":"We find that the adverse impact of bad news on analysts’ valuations is 57% larger when the CEO is Non-White, resulting in more pessimistic valuations for Non-White CEOs relative to their White counterparts. Non-White CEO firms are more likely to surpass analysts’ valuation targets in the subsequent 12 months, suggesting that this racial gap lacks economic justification. To provide further evidence of a racial bias: (1) we triangulate our empirical findings with corroborating evidence from a controlled experiment and (2) we provide evidence that analysts’ valuation disparities towards Non-White CEO firms become larger when race relations are worse. Increases in CEO familiarity attenuate these disparities, suggesting the bias we document appears to be subconscious. Our findings suggest that resources allocated towards educating a firm’s stakeholders about the potential impact of implicit racial biases and increasing self-awareness may be impactful in promoting equality within capital markets.","PeriodicalId":42721,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Economics Management and Accounting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141931485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-04DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101704
Amy D. Garman, Thomas R. Kubick
We use staggered enactments of state stakeholder constituency laws as a natural experiment to examine the effect of such laws on corporate pension risk shifting. Our analysis encompasses three components of pension risk shifting: funding risk, investment risk, and benefit risk. We observe a reduction in all three elements of pension risk shifting following the enactment of stakeholder orientation laws that promote greater consideration of stakeholder interests. We also find that the post-enactment reduction in pension risk-shifting is greater for firms with fewer investment opportunities. Overall, our results provide insight into how stakeholder constituency can mitigate an important form of risk-shifting.
{"title":"Mitigating risk-shifting in corporate pension plans: Evidence from stakeholder constituency statutes","authors":"Amy D. Garman, Thomas R. Kubick","doi":"10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101704","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101704","url":null,"abstract":"We use staggered enactments of state stakeholder constituency laws as a natural experiment to examine the effect of such laws on corporate pension risk shifting. Our analysis encompasses three components of pension risk shifting: funding risk, investment risk, and benefit risk. We observe a reduction in all three elements of pension risk shifting following the enactment of stakeholder orientation laws that promote greater consideration of stakeholder interests. We also find that the post-enactment reduction in pension risk-shifting is greater for firms with fewer investment opportunities. Overall, our results provide insight into how stakeholder constituency can mitigate an important form of risk-shifting.","PeriodicalId":42721,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Economics Management and Accounting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141329642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-09DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101703
Daphne M. Armstrong, Stephen Glaeser, Jeffrey L. Hoopes
{"title":"Measuring firm exposure to government agencies","authors":"Daphne M. Armstrong, Stephen Glaeser, Jeffrey L. Hoopes","doi":"10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101703","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101703","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42721,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Economics Management and Accounting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140949770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: Taxes play a critical role for most governments around the world in funding investments in capital, infrastructure and the delivery of essential services. The study therefore sought to examine the effect of trade openness and agriculture on tax revenue performance in Kenya.
Methodology: The study adopted correlational research design, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) mechanism and Granger causality test to establish the relationship between the study variables. The choice of the VECM was influenced by its ability to estimate both short run and long run relationships. The theoretical framework of the study followed Heller’s neoclassical maximization utility approach. Annual time series data for the study were sourced from the World Bank Development Indicators for the period 1980-2020.
Results: The study findings established that in the long-run agriculture share (-0.64, t-statistics = 14.57) and trade openness (-0.08, t-statistics = 3.88) have negative and significant effect on tax revenue performance in Kenya. The Pairwise Granger Causality test results indicated unidirectional causality running from tax revenue performance to trade openness. This suggests that tax rates have effect on trade openness in Kenya.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The study adds to literature by proving the Arthur’s Laffer curve theory which advocates for lowering tax rates in order to boost productivity and encourage expansion of corporation. The findings of the study may provide the National Treasury with foundation for policy formulation and analytical framework for estimating the associated tax revenue with variables under consideration in this study. The study may be of importance to KRA in determining appropriate tax rates that are favorable in boosting revenue mobilization.
{"title":"Effect of Trade Openness and Agriculture on Tax Revenue Performance in Kenya","authors":"Jordan Moses, Nelson Obange, Evans Kiganda","doi":"10.47604/ijecon.2122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47604/ijecon.2122","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Taxes play a critical role for most governments around the world in funding investments in capital, infrastructure and the delivery of essential services. The study therefore sought to examine the effect of trade openness and agriculture on tax revenue performance in Kenya.
 Methodology: The study adopted correlational research design, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) mechanism and Granger causality test to establish the relationship between the study variables. The choice of the VECM was influenced by its ability to estimate both short run and long run relationships. The theoretical framework of the study followed Heller’s neoclassical maximization utility approach. Annual time series data for the study were sourced from the World Bank Development Indicators for the period 1980-2020.
 Results: The study findings established that in the long-run agriculture share (-0.64, t-statistics = 14.57) and trade openness (-0.08, t-statistics = 3.88) have negative and significant effect on tax revenue performance in Kenya. The Pairwise Granger Causality test results indicated unidirectional causality running from tax revenue performance to trade openness. This suggests that tax rates have effect on trade openness in Kenya.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The study adds to literature by proving the Arthur’s Laffer curve theory which advocates for lowering tax rates in order to boost productivity and encourage expansion of corporation. The findings of the study may provide the National Treasury with foundation for policy formulation and analytical framework for estimating the associated tax revenue with variables under consideration in this study. The study may be of importance to KRA in determining appropriate tax rates that are favorable in boosting revenue mobilization.","PeriodicalId":42721,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Economics Management and Accounting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135195365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: The objective was to determine the effect of per capita income on youth unemployment in Kenya.
Methodology: The study was anchored on Okun’s law, which predicts a 1% drop in employment from a 2% drop in GDP. The study used the World Bank Database’s quantitative time series data from 1991–2021. The choice of the ARDL was based on the ability of the model to give long-run and short-run analyses of stationary and non-stationary variables. Pre-estimation procedures and diagnostics tests were used to determine the stability of the model.
Findings: Findings revealed a significant negative relationship between per capita income (-0.3666, p = 0.013) and youth unemployment in the long-run. The speed of adjustment (-0.89999, p = 0.0001) from the short-run to the long-run is evident.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This study may help academicians develop their knowledge of youth unemployment. It may increase understanding of per capita income as an indicator of growth and its application in Okun’s law. The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) may benefit from this study by creating better packages of salaries, allowances, and mortgages that may attract and improve the standard of living of Kenyan youth. The Public Service Board (PSB) may establish youth-friendly offices to motivate youth to stay in the labour force. Moreover, this study may guide the State Department for Youth Affairs to promote youth employment and increase labour productivity in Kenya. The State Department of Gender may use the study in gender mainstreaming and gender policy management. Policymakers will assess the effectiveness of the curriculum in preparing youth for the job market. An increase in labour productivity will result from increasing youth employment.
{"title":"Effect of Per Capita Income on Youth Unemployment in Kenya","authors":"Jerry Okuom, Nelson Obange, Scholastica Odhiambo","doi":"10.47604/ijecon.2118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47604/ijecon.2118","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: The objective was to determine the effect of per capita income on youth unemployment in Kenya.
 Methodology: The study was anchored on Okun’s law, which predicts a 1% drop in employment from a 2% drop in GDP. The study used the World Bank Database’s quantitative time series data from 1991–2021. The choice of the ARDL was based on the ability of the model to give long-run and short-run analyses of stationary and non-stationary variables. Pre-estimation procedures and diagnostics tests were used to determine the stability of the model.
 Findings: Findings revealed a significant negative relationship between per capita income (-0.3666, p = 0.013) and youth unemployment in the long-run. The speed of adjustment (-0.89999, p = 0.0001) from the short-run to the long-run is evident.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This study may help academicians develop their knowledge of youth unemployment. It may increase understanding of per capita income as an indicator of growth and its application in Okun’s law. The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) may benefit from this study by creating better packages of salaries, allowances, and mortgages that may attract and improve the standard of living of Kenyan youth. The Public Service Board (PSB) may establish youth-friendly offices to motivate youth to stay in the labour force. Moreover, this study may guide the State Department for Youth Affairs to promote youth employment and increase labour productivity in Kenya. The State Department of Gender may use the study in gender mainstreaming and gender policy management. Policymakers will assess the effectiveness of the curriculum in preparing youth for the job market. An increase in labour productivity will result from increasing youth employment.","PeriodicalId":42721,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Economics Management and Accounting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135957983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}