Business Commons^™

Cross-Country Differences In The Effect Of Political Connections On Stock Price Informativeness, Yuanto Kusnadi, Bin Srinidhi

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using aninternational sample of firms from 28 countries, we document that there existsa negative relationship between political connections and the informativenessof stock price, as measured by idiosyncratic volatility (IV). This finding isrobust to alternative regression specifications, sub-samples analyses, andconcerns related to endogeneity. A more detailed analysis shows that out of thedifferent types of possible connections, the connectedness of the owners is theprimary driver of this result. Further, the negative association is onlysignificant for firms in countries characterized by low institutional quality(i.e. corrupted countries, countries with low access to external equitymarkets, and countries with low media penetration). There is no evidence …

U.S. Firms On Foreign (Tax) Holidays, Travis K. Chow, Jeffrey L. Hoopes, Edward L. Maydew

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We undertake the first large-sample analysis of foreign tax holiday participation by U.S. firms. Tax holidays are temporary reductions of tax granted by governments, usually contingent on the firm making new operational investments in the country. We predict and find that firms are more likely to participate in foreign tax holidays if they are highly capital-intensive and have highly profitable foreign operations, and less likely to participate in foreign tax holidays if they are capital constrained and if the firm is headed by a short-term focused CEO. While foreign tax holidays reduce taxes on foreign income, we also find that …

Teaching Internal Control Using A Student-Generated Video Project, Poh Sun Seow, Gary Pan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Educators consider the video learning approach an effective method to deliver educational content as compared to the traditional method of books and written materials. This paper presents a project that involves student-generated videos to learn internal control in an undergraduate accounting information systems course. We believe that this video learning approach is an engaging way for students to be self-directed learners in learning internal control and complements the written materials in the textbook. The survey results show that most of the respondents viewed the learning experience of the video project positively. The results also indicate that the video project helps …

Rationale Behind State Aid Control Over Tax Incentives, Diheng Xu

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

EU State aid draws international attention recent years due to its application to fiscal measures granted by Member States to multinational enterprises. It has triggered discussions on the reasonableness of applying State aid law to tax measures. This article aims to explore the fundamental rationale behind EU State aid and its application to tax incentives. By going back to basics, this article contributes to a clearer picture on reasons for the State aid control over tax incentives. Governments tend to use fiscal State aid measures to achieve policy goals and tax incentives could realize the goals since they do bring …

Debt Heterogeneity And Covenants, Yun Lou, Clemens A. Otto

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Coordination failure among owners of heterogeneous debt types increases distress costs. Covenants reduce expected distress costs by lowering the probability of liquidity shortages, increasing liquidation values, and incentivizing creditor monitoring. We predict and find that new debt contracts include more covenants when borrowers' existing debt structures are more heterogeneous. Our findings suggest that covenants are not only used to address creditor-shareholder conflicts but also to reduce the expected costs of coordination failure among creditors. Further, our results indicate a dynamic component missing from static debt structure models: Debt heterogeneity entails additional covenants (i.e., constraints) when raising future debt.

Effects Of Team-Skills Guidance On Accounting Students With Lone Wolf Tendencies, Jean Lin Seow, Premila Gowri-Shankar

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We investigate whether short-term in-class team-skills guidance impacts the perceptions of accounting students with lone wolf tendencies on team work, and peer evaluation systems adopted in team work. We find that students with greater lone wolf tendencies see fewer benefits from engaging in team work, believing this to result in a poorer learning experience and poorer team performance outcomes. They are also less flexible in thought and feel more incompetent working in teams, preferring to rely on self and to work on their own. Unlike students with lesser lone wolf tendencies, they are also less comfortable with peer evaluation systems, …

Are Disclosed Auditor Materiality Thresholds Informative Of Firms’ Earnings Quality? – Evidence From The Revised Isa 700 Audit Report, Beng Wee Goh, Kiat Bee Jimmy Lee, Na Li, Dan Li

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Under the Financial ReportingCouncil’s presumption that mandating new disclosure requirement in the auditreport would provide information useful to investors, we examine whether theauditor disclosed materiality threshold is associated with the firm’s earningsquality. We document that a lower threshold of materiality level is associatedwith a higher earnings quality, as measured by lower discretionary accruals,higher accruals quality, and less earnings smoothing. We also find someevidence that the negative association between auditor disclosed materialitythreshold and earnings quality is more pronounced when the auditor is moreindependent, when management’s incentive to manage earnings is higher, and whenthere is lower information uncertainty. Overall, our results are …

How Does Tax Avoidance Affect Transparency?, Congcong Li, Mark Ma, Tom Omer, Kunpeng Sun

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study examines how tax avoidance affects corporate transparency. Using a large sample ofU.S. firms from 1995 to 2016, we find a significant non-linear effect of tax avoidance ontransparency. That is, when a firm’s tax avoidance is low, an increase in tax avoidance improvestransparency; however, when a firm’s tax avoidance is high, an increase in tax avoidance decreasestransparency. These results are robust to using alternative measures of transparency and taxavoidance and in several additional tests. Overall, the findings suggest that the effect of taxavoidance on transparency depends on the aggressiveness of firms’ tax avoidance behavior. Ourstudy contributes to the literature …

What Types Of Publicly Listed Firms Evade Taxes? Evidence From China, Travis K. Chow, Bin Ke, Hongqi Yuan, Yao Zhang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using the mandatory disclosure of detected corporate tax evasion cases in China, we examine the types of publicly listed firms that evade taxes. We use a bivariate probit model to account for the partial observability of tax evasion. Our regression results are different from those using the reduced form probit model that ignores the partial observability of tax evasion. Our results are also different from those of prior research on the determinants of corporate tax avoidance using the effective tax rate (ETR) as a proxy for tax avoidance, suggesting that ETR may not be a good proxy for aggressive tax …

Examining Fifteen Years Of Ethics Research In The Journal Of Accountancy: 2002 To 2016, Clarence Goh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

In the past fifteen years, ethics has come under the spotlight in the accounting profession. In this study, I examine ethics research in accounting by looking at publications in the Journal of Accountancy, a leading professional journal in accounting, over the period from 2002 to 2016. I found that 32 out of 4,851 (0.66%) articles published in the journal were ethics-focused. Further, I observed spikes in the percentage of ethics-focused articles in the years 2003 and 2009/2010, following key events such as the passing of SOX and the global financial crisis. I also perform content analysis of the ethics-focused articles …

Excel And Simulation For Accountants, Clarence Goh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Simulation is an extremely useful decision‐making tool for accountants. While many companies have invested heavily in developing sophisticated software to help them run simulations, simulations can also be run on tools such as Excel. In this article, I will use a simple example to demonstrate how an accountant could use Excel to run simulations.

Keeping Investors Onboard: A Corporate Social Responsibility Crisis Response Framework, Clarence Goh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

There is evidence to suggest that managers use CSR reporting as a means to manage their firms’ CSR reputations. In this study, I jointly examine CSR reputation and CSR crisis response in the context of CSR crises, and how they can influence investor judgments and decision making. In particular, in the context of CSR crises, I build on situational crisis communication theory to develop a CSR crisis response framework which managers can use to examine and understand how specific types of CSR crises can influence their firm’s CSR reputations, which can in turn influence investor judgments and decision making. Following …

Financial Reporting Changes And Internal Information Environment: Evidence From Sfas 142, Qiang Cheng, Young Jun Cho, Holly I. Yang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using the adoption of SFAS 142 as an exogenous shock, we examine the effect of changes in financial reporting on firms’ internal information environment. SFAS 142 removed goodwill amortization and required firms to perform a two-step impairment test. We argue that complying with SFAS 142 induces managers to acquire new information and, therefore, improves managers’ information sets. Interviews with executives and auditors confirm this argument. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find that firms affected by SFAS 142 (i.e., treatment firms) experience an improvement in management forecast accuracy in the post-SFAS 142 period compared with those not affected. The increase is …

Trade Secrets Law And Corporate Disclosure: Causal Evidence On The Proprietary Cost Hypothesis, Yinghua Li, Yupeng Lin, Liandong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study exploits the staggered adoption of the inevitable disclosure doctrine (IDD) by U.S. state courts as an exogenous shock that generates variations in the proprietary costs of disclosure. We find that firms respond to IDD adoption by reducing the level of disclosure regarding their customers’ identities, supporting the proprietary cost hypothesis. Our results are stronger for firms in industries with a higher degree of entry threats, for firms in more volatile industries, and for firms with a lower degree of external financing dependence. Overall, this study represents one of the first efforts in identifying the causal effect of proprietary …

Internal Control And Operational Efficiency, Qiang Cheng, Beng Wee Goh, Jae Bum Kim

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine whether effective internal control over financial reporting has implications beyond that of financial reporting to firm operational efficiency. We predict and find that operational efficiency, derived from frontier analysis, is significantly lower among firms disclosing material weaknesses in internal control relative to firms with effective control. This result exists even in the years leading up to the disclosure of material weaknesses, but disappears after remediation of the internal control problems, suggesting that the remediation of material weaknesses improves operational efficiency. Overall, our study extends the literature on the reporting effects of strong versus weak internal control, and helps …

Return Predictability And The Real Option Value Of Segments, Pingui Rao, Heng Yue, Xin Zhou

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Theory suggests that firm value should include the value of real options; that is, firms have the option to expand more profitable businesses and liquidate less profitable businesses. In a diversified firm, each segment has its own real options. Applying real options theory to a diversified firm at the firm level neglects the value of segment-level options. If investors overlook segment-level options, mispricing will occur. Using data from 1981 to 2013, we find that a hedge portfolio buying diversified firms in the highest decile of the estimated real option value of segments (RVS) and selling those in the lowest RVS …

How Data Analytics May Turn Smes Into Smart Enterprises, Gary Pan, Poh Sun Seow

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

No abstract provided.

Research Note: Investor Perceptions Of Comparable-To-Industry Versus Higher-Than-Industry Pay Ratio Disclosures, Khim Kelly, Jean Lin Seow

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The usefulness of the CEO-to-employee pay ratio disclosure to investors is subject to significant debate. Our experiment examines participant responses to higher-than-industry and comparable-to-industry pay ratio disclosures in a company. A prior experiment by Kelly and Seow (2016) (hereafter KS) found that incrementally disclosing a higher-than-industry pay ratio on top of higher-than-industry CEO pay had indirect negative effects on the company’s perceived investment potential, via negative perceptions about the fairness of the CEO pay and workplace climate. We find that the negative indirect effects of pay ratio disclosures on perceived investment potential in KS are replicable in our study, and …

Using Data Analytics To Raise Productivity And Profitability: 4 Key Steps For Smes, Gary Pan, Poh Sun Seow

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

It is widely believed that effective data analysis may create newbusiness opportunities as technological advancement may offercompanies greater ability to predict what their customers want.

Bridging Academic And Practice: Benefits, Challenges And Lessons Learnt From Establishing A University Wide Experiential Learning Initiative, Gary Pan, Poh Sun Seow, Grace Koh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The scale and complexity of challenges facing the world today are unprecedented. It is paramount that universities identify and equip students with relevant skills to meet the needs of the changing economy. Recognizing this need, Singapore Management University launched a new initiative, SMUX. In this paper we will describe SMU-X which is a paradigm shift focusing on experiential learning as opposed to teaching, characterized by 4 principles: (i) inter-disciplinary content and activities, (ii) project-based learning via an actual problem/issue faced by an organization, (iii) active student mentoring by faculty and industry, and (iv) creating a tripartite learning loop between faculty, …

Reframing The Board Diversity Issue: Set 25 By 25 Target, Themin Suwardy, Surianarayanan Gopalakrishnan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Studies have shown there is clear association between aboard's gender diversity and company performance. Yet Singapore has been softerthan usual in pushing the agenda. In this commentary, the authors discussed theimportance of setting an explicit hard target with a fixed deadline to reframeboard diversity in Singapore.

Reframing The Board Diversity Issue: Set 25 By 25 Target, Themin Suwardy, Surianarayanan Surianarayanan Gopalakrishnan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Studies have shown there is clear association between aboard's gender diversity and company performance. Yet Singapore has been softerthan usual in pushing the agenda. In this commentary, the authors discussed theimportance of setting an explicit hard target with a fixed deadline to reframeboard diversity in Singapore.

Voluntary Disclosure With Multiple Channels And Investor Sophistication, Richard M. Crowley

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

An analytical model of voluntary disclosure in which a manager can disclose through two channels with different ease of processing, and with two types of investors. The model shows that in the presence of a second channel, managers have an incentive to decrease disclosures that will be quickly processed by unsophisticated investors and to increase the disclosures that will be quickly processed by sophisticated investors. The model has implications for post Reg-FD market efficiency, as well as the efficiency of firms having multiple disclosure venues.

Local Tax Incentives And Behavior Of Foreign Enterprises: Evidence From A Large Developing Country, Jing Xing, Wei Cui, Xi Qi

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We analyze how profit reporting and investment behavior of foreign enterprises respond to local tax incentives in China, a large developing country. Using firm-level data between 2000 and 2013 from China’s industrial enterprise survey, we first provide strong evidence for tax competition among Chinese cities (especially cities within the same province) over the average effective income tax rate. We then find that, despite stringent capital controls, both reported pre-tax profits and investment of foreign firms respond strongly to local tax incentives, suggesting that subnational tax competition in China is oriented towards both mobile profits and real resources.

Short Sellers And Corporate Disclosure, Xia Chen, Qiang Cheng, T. Luo, Heng Yue

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine how short sellers affect corporate disclosures using a natural experiment. From May2005 to July 2007, the SEC implemented a pilot program by randomly selecting one third ofRussell 3000 stocks and removing the short sale price tests for these stocks (referred to as pilotfirms), leading to lower short-selling constraint, without changing the requirement for other firms(referred to as control firms). We compare the change in corporate disclosures between the pilotfirms and the control firms during this period. We find that compared to the control firms, thepilot firms are more likely to issue good news management forecasts without changing theissuance …

The Effect Of Ssap 101 On Loss Provisioning By Property-Casualty Insurers, Jiang Cheng, Travis K. Chow, Tzu-Ting Lin, Tee Yong Jeffrey Ng

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper examines whether the adoption of the Statement of Statutory AccountingPrinciples (SSAP) 101, a new accounting standard that significantly limits management’sdiscretion in both the recognition and measurement of tax contingencies, affects the lossprovisions of property-casualty (PC) insurers. We find that PC insurers significantly reducetheir loss provisions after SSAP 101 adoption, particularly those with greater ex anteexposure to SSAP 101, consistent with reduced incentives to establish loss reserves for taxpurposes. Additionally, PC insurers with greater exposure to SSAP 101 show increasedearnings persistence and decreased returns on asset volatility, suggesting improved insurertransparency and an improved overall risk profile via tax avoidance …

Corporate In-House Human Capital Investment In Tax Planning, Xia Chen, Qiang Cheng, Travis K. Chow, Yanju Liu

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

In-house human capital tax investment is a significant input to a firm’s tax decisions. Yet,due to the lack of data, there is little empirical evidence on how corporate in-house taxdepartments are associated with tax planning and compliance outcomes. Using handcollected data on corporate tax employees in S&P1500 firms over the period 2009-2014, wefind that in-house tax planning investments lead to greater tax avoidance, in-house taxcompliance investments lead to lower tax risk, while general tax investments achieve bothgoals. We obtain the same inferences when controlling for endogeneity or using changespecifications. We also find that the effects of in-house tax investments are …

Advertising And Disclosure: Do Firms Time Advertising During Disclosure Periods?, Yin Wang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using a large sample of monthly advertising data, I examine whether U.S. firms use advertisingstrategically during disclosure periods. I find that firms schedule some advertising to appeararound their SEC 10-K, 10-Q filings and around their earnings announcements, consistent withadvertising being used to increase visibility and attract investor attention during disclosureperiods. This effect is stronger for firms reporting good news, for firms with high individualinvestor ownership, for firms in the retail industry, and for young firms. In addition, firmsincrease their advertising through media with broad target audiences and through business-toconsumer media around their disclosures (i.e. SEC 10-K, 10-Q filings and earningsannouncements). …

The Globalisation Of Tax Good Governance, Christiana Panayi

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This is a unique era where the international tax community, most vocally represented by developed countries mainly through the OECD/G20 is engaged in a global fight against tax evasion/avoidance. It is thought that lack of tax cooperation increases the risk of cross-border tax evasion and avoidance. Apart from the traditional notions of cooperation/assistance and exchange of information commonly viewed as instrumental in the fight against tax evasion/avoidance, another concept has emerged – that of good tax governance or tax good governance or fiscal good governance.

Notwithstanding the uncertainties surrounding tax good governance, it is acquiring increasing importance and institutional backing, …

China's "Mercantilist" Government Subsidies, The Cost Of Debt And Firm Performance, Chu Yeong Lim, Jiwei Wang, Cheng (Colin) Zeng

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

China has been adopting a “mercantilist” policy by lavishing massive government subsidies on Chinese firms. Using hand-collected subsidy data on Chinese listed companies, we find that firms receiving more subsidies tend to have a lower cost of debt. However, such firms fail to have superior financial performance. Instead, firms with more subsidies tend to be overstaffed, which demonstrates higher social performance. These results are mainly driven by non-tax-based subsidies rather than tax-based subsidies. Overall, our results suggest that the Chinese government uses non-tax-based subsidies to achieve its social policy objectives at the expense of firms’ profitability.