Search results
1 – 10 of 141
This study aims to explore how earnings management techniques are affected by corporate financial debt risk (FDR), internal control (IC) effectiveness and CEO education.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how earnings management techniques are affected by corporate financial debt risk (FDR), internal control (IC) effectiveness and CEO education.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a sample from listed firms in China from 2010 to 2017, comprising different industries, including agriculture, forestry, livestock farming and fishing; mining; manufacturing; electric power, gas and water production and supply; construction; transport and storage; information technology; the real estate industry; social services; and communication and cultural. The regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. The two-stage least squares technique is used to check for endogeneity issues.
Findings
The study finds that firms are less likely to manage real earnings when they have more robust IC and FDR. Likewise, companies with weak ICs are more likely to manipulate real earnings. Besides, the study finds an influence of CEO education on the relationship between IC, FDR and real earnings management (REM). These results can be applied to the sectors in the sample covered by the research, and the authors do not overlook the energy industry sector for the importance of its role in the economy.
Research limitations/implications
There are some limitations for the researcher when performing any research, and this study is no exception. Researchers are urged to take these circumstances into consideration when generalizing or comparing the results because the methods used to calculate the measurement variables in each study may differ somewhat from those used in other research. In addition, expanding the current research design to incorporate additional nations may be an area of interest for future research and could aid in evaluating the effects of nation-specific elements (such as inflation, culture, legal systems and political considerations) on the usefulness of IC and decreasing FDR. Second, the current study focuses on the impact of IC and FDR on REM; this paper does not dissect the “black box” of IC and consider how each element affects earnings management. Future research may need to focus specifically on how effective IC would affect earnings management and precisely what IC mechanisms would discourage the management of earnings.
Practical implications
Helping companies listed in China to make decisions and improve investors’ vision of the results of real companies’ businesses, as well as helping management to avoid falling into debt risk and the consequent effects and manipulation of earnings.
Originality/value
By highlighting the significance of IC and debt risk in enhancing information quality in China, the results contribute to the body of work examining the relationship between IC, FDR and REM. In addition, this study uses a CEO’s education to moderate this link.
Details
Keywords
Gurmeet Singh Bhabra and Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between CEOs' inside debt holdings (pension benefits and deferred compensation) and the operating leverage of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between CEOs' inside debt holdings (pension benefits and deferred compensation) and the operating leverage of the firms they manage, with the aim to examine whether CEO incentives play a role in corporate risk-taking.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors investigate the relation between CEO inside debt holdings (CIDH) (pension benefits and deferred compensation) and the operating leverage (DOL) of the firms they manage. Using a sample of 11,145 US firm-year observations over the period 2006–2017, the authors find a strong negative association between CIDH and DOL. Additional analyses reveal that the relationship between CIDH and DOL is more pronounced in firms with heightened agency issues, powerful CEOs and for CEOs with stronger professional networks. The results are robust to various sensitivity and endogeneity tests.
Findings
The authors find strong evidence confirming the expected negative association between CEO inside debt and DOL suggesting that firms with higher inside debt tend to maintain lower levels of operating leverage. These findings continue to hold with the alternative measure for the inside debt and operating leverage, and across a range of tests designed to rule out the possibility that the primary findings are in any way driven by potential endogeneity. In addition, the findings demonstrate that the presence of manager-shareholder agency conflicts can strengthen the inside debt–DOL relationship suggesting the strong role of inside debt in reducing firm risk.
Research limitations/implications
Findings in this paper have implications for design of compensation structures so that corporate boards can establish incentives as a tool for risk management. A limitation of this study is that it is focused on one market, i.e. US listed companies, so the findings may not be applicable on a global scale.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that links firm-level management of operating leverage through design of CEO inside debt incentives (two obvious choices for risk-reduction at the CEOs’ disposal include reducing financial risk through reduction of firm leverage and reducing operating risk through reduction of operating leverage). While use of firm leverage as an instrument of choice has been explored in the past, use of operating leverage to achieve risk reduction when CEO possess high inside holding, has received very little attention.
Details
Keywords
Eley Suzana Kasim, Noor Rohin Awalludin, Nurazilah Zainal, Allezawati Ismail and Nurul Huda Ahmad Shukri
This study aims to investigate the effects of financial literacy, financial behaviour and financial stress on awareness of investment scams among retirees.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effects of financial literacy, financial behaviour and financial stress on awareness of investment scams among retirees.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a questionnaire survey, data was distributed to 200 retirees. A total of 53 responses were obtained. The data was subsequently analysed using PLS-SEM version 3 software.
Findings
Findings indicated that while financial literacy has a significant influence on awareness, there is no conclusive evidence to support the relationship between financial behaviour and financial stress on awareness. These results highlighted the critical need to strengthen financial literacy among retirees as a prevention mechanism for them to avoid from being scammed.
Research limitations/implications
The finding from this study is relevant to regulators and law enforcement agencies to aid potential and actual retirees by educating them on the danger of investment scams.
Originality/value
As there are relatively few studies conducted on investment scams specifically among retirees, this study extends the investment scam literature by examining the underlying factors that affect their awareness towards the fraudulent activities.
Details
Keywords
Mahsa Abedini, Bert Schreurs, I.M. Jawahar and Melvyn R.W. Hamstra
This research sought to examine the potential association between workers’ financial worry and counterproductive work behavior. Based on the basic psychological need theory, we…
Abstract
Purpose
This research sought to examine the potential association between workers’ financial worry and counterproductive work behavior. Based on the basic psychological need theory, we propose that psychological need satisfaction explains this relationship and we position this volitional pathway as an alternative to a cognitive capacity pathway based on the cognitive load theory.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted a two-week interval-lagged survey study with three measurement points among 180 US workers. The mediation models were tested using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results support the conclusion that, while cognitive capacity could have an impact on counterproductive work behavior, its mediating effect is less strong than that of need satisfaction.
Practical implications
Based on the results, we recommend that organizations design their compensation and benefits system to shield employees from financial worries. At the same time, we advise offering the employees who do experience financial worries assistance in managing their budgets and offering other forms of financial coaching.
Originality/value
This study is innovative because we show that the negative effects of financial worry extend much further than initially thought and affect not only employees' cognition but also their motivation.
Details
Keywords
Anamika Saharan, Akash Saharan, Krishan Kumar Pandey and T. Joji Rao
The low level of financial literacy among young adults is a pressing concern at both individual and country levels. Therefore, there is a dire need to understand the best-worst…
Abstract
Purpose
The low level of financial literacy among young adults is a pressing concern at both individual and country levels. Therefore, there is a dire need to understand the best-worst antecedents of financial literacy and how they influence each other.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-phased multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) technique consisting of best-worst method and interpretive structural modeling (BWM-ISM) was employed for pair-wise comparison, assigning weights, ranking and establishing the relationship among antecedents of financial literacy.
Findings
Results suggest that use of Internet (SF1), role of financial advisors (SF3) and education level of individuals (DS7) are top ranked antecedents, whereas masculinity/feminity, language and power distance in society are the least ranked antecedents of financial literacy. Findings will help both academicians and practitioners focus on the key factors and make efforts to increase financial literacy by minimizing resource usage.
Originality/value
The current study provides clarity among antecedents of financial literacy by following BWM-ISM approach for the first time in the financial literacy context.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-11-2022-0746
Details
Keywords
Osman M. Karatepe, Ülker Çolakoğlu, Gülseren Yurcu and Şule Kaya
This paper aims to explore financial anxiety and generalized anxiety as the serial mediators linking perceived organizational support (POS) to career commitment.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore financial anxiety and generalized anxiety as the serial mediators linking perceived organizational support (POS) to career commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 388 managerial and nonmanagerial employees in diverse service areas, such as restaurants, airlines and hotels in Turkey. The direct and mediating effects were tested via the PROCESS macro.
Findings
Financial anxiety partly mediates the impact of POS on career commitment. The findings further reveal that financial anxiety and generalized anxiety serially mediate the effect of POS on career commitment.
Practical implications
Management should work with mentors to provide employees with psychosocial support during the COVID-19 pandemic. When employees perceive that the firm really cares about them and values their contribution during these challenging days, they display lower anxiety and higher career commitment. Management should also retain employees who are high on career commitment because such employees possess a sense of calling and are unlikely to quit. These implications may not be considered new. However, management would need such employees concerning the firm’s performance recovery after COVID-19.
Originality/value
Workers in the service industries suffer from financial and generalized anxieties and display reduced career commitment during COVID-19. However, little is known about the antecedents and outcomes of financial anxiety among hospitality and tourism workers. More importantly, no empirical piece has tested these anxiety variables as the mediators linking POS to career commitment in the pertinent literature so far.
Details
Keywords
Nikhil Rastogi and Satish Kumar
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of bankruptcy reform in the year 2016 on the relation between leverage and firm performance for Indian firms, separately for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of bankruptcy reform in the year 2016 on the relation between leverage and firm performance for Indian firms, separately for business group and standalone firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Fixed effects panel regression is used to understand the role of bankruptcy reform on firm-level data to examine the relationship between leverage and firm performance after controlling for size, growth, age, liquidity and promoter shareholding. The authors also apply the generalized method of moments (GMM) to control for the endogeneity concerns.
Findings
The authors show that the introduction of the insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) positively moderates the relation between leverage and firm performance such that the extent of negative relation between leverage and firm performance is less in the post-IBC period. The positive impact of IBC on the relation between leverage and firm performance holds only for firms not affiliated to business groups and for firms with higher debt in their capital structure.
Practical implications
The study’s findings will help the regulators appreciate the effectiveness of bankruptcy reforms resulting from IBC implementation in terms of sound bankruptcy process and leading to safeguard the interests of minority shareholders.
Originality/value
The authors provide the only study to examine the role of bankruptcy law in moderating the relation between leverage and firm performance across a sample of business group and standalone firms.
Details
Keywords
Hafiz Muhammad Muien, Sabariah Nordin and Bazeet Olayemi Badru
As the benefit of gender diversity continues to receive significant attention, a holistic investigation of its effect on corporate financial distress (CFD) is lacking. Therefore…
Abstract
Purpose
As the benefit of gender diversity continues to receive significant attention, a holistic investigation of its effect on corporate financial distress (CFD) is lacking. Therefore, this study examines the effects of board gender diversity, measured in different forms, such as the presence and proportion of female directors, family-affiliated female directors and the chief executive officer (CEO) gender, on CFD in Pakistan. The study also investigates the interacting effects of family-controlled (20 and 50% family-owned) companies on the association between board gender diversity and CFD.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applied the pooled cross-sectional logistic regression model to examine the effect of board gender diversity (presence and proportion of female directors, family-affiliated female directors and CEO gender) on CFD through a sample of 285 non-financial companies in Pakistan over the period of 2006–2017.
Findings
The results reveal that gender diversity on boards is significantly and negatively associated with CFD in Pakistan. In addition, when family ownership is 50% or more, the interacting effect of family control is found to be significant, while gender effects remain negative. The results suggest that female directors contribute to the long-term viability of companies, especially family-owned companies. Female directors are also found to be more prevalent in family-owned companies compared to their non-family counterparts.
Research limitations/implications
The findings imply that female directors may efficiently manage and control all functions necessary to guarantee the company's long-term prosperity. Similarly, gender effects can outweigh the detrimental impact of family control when female directors are in reasonable numbers and of high quality in the boardroom.
Practical implications
The practical relevance of the findings is that female directors play a significant role on the corporate board. Thus, it is a wakeup call for Pakistani companies to recognize the critical role and uniqueness of women on the corporate ladder. Family companies can also galvanize on the uniqueness of women to improve their governance structure.
Originality/value
This study adds to the literature on the benefits of gender diversity in family and non-family-owned companies. Specifically, this study applied multiple measures of gender diversity and family control in a single study. In addition, the study was conducted in a country that is ranked as the second worst country in the Global Gender Gap Index 2022, implying that investigating this type of research would go a long way towards changing the minds of corporate executives and regulators about the critical role that women can play in the economy.
Details
Keywords
Systemic risk is of concern for economic welfare as it can lower the credit supply to all the sectors within an economy. This study examines for the first time the complete…
Abstract
Purpose
Systemic risk is of concern for economic welfare as it can lower the credit supply to all the sectors within an economy. This study examines for the first time the complete hierarchy of variables that drive systemic risk during normal and crisis periods in Pakistan, a developing economy.
Design/methodology/approach
Secondary data of the bank, sector and country variables are used for the purpose of the analysis spanning from 2000 to 2020. Systemic risk is computed using marginal expected shortfall (MES). One-step and two-step system GMM is performed to estimate the impact of firm, sector and country-level variables on systemic risk.
Findings
The findings of the study highlight that sector-level variables are also highly significant in explaining the systemic risk dynamics along with bank and country-level variables. In addition, economic sensitivity influences the significance level of variables across crisis and post-crisis periods and modifies the direction of relationships in some instances.
Research limitations/implications
The study examines the systemic risk of a developing economy, and findings may not be generalizable to developed economies.
Practical implications
The outcome of the study provides a comprehensive framework for the central bank and other regulatory authorities that can be translated into timely policies to avoid systemic financial crisis.
Social implications
The negative externalities generated by systemic risk also affect the general public. The study results can be used to avoid the systemic financial crisis and resultantly save the loss of the general public's hard-earned holdings.
Originality/value
The firm, sector and country-level variables are modeled for the first time to estimate systemic risk across different economic conditions in a developing economy, Pakistan. The study can also act as a reference for researchers in developed economies as well regarding the role of sector-level variables in explaining systemic risk.
Details
Keywords
Sakshi Khurana and Meena Sharma
This study aims to examine the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on default risk in Indian companies listed on the National Stock Exchange.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on default risk in Indian companies listed on the National Stock Exchange.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applies panel data regression analysis to derive a relationship between IC and default risk for the sample period 2013–2022. The value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) of Pulic (2000) has been applied to measure IC performance, and default risk is estimated using the revised Z-score model of Altman (2000).
Findings
The results revealed a positive association between Z-score and VAIC. It implies that a higher value of VAIC improves financial stability and leads to a lower likelihood of default. The findings further suggest that new default forecasting models can be experimented with IC indicators for better default prediction.
Practical implications
The findings can have implications for investors and banks. This paper provides evidence of IC performance in improving the financial solvency of firms. Investors and financial institutions should invest their resources in a healthy firm that effectively manages and invests in their IC. It will eventually award investors and creditors high returns through efficient value-creation processes.
Originality/value
This study provides evidence of IC performance in improving the financial solvency of Indian high-defaulting firms, which lacks sufficient evidence in this domain of research. Numerous studies exist examining the relationship between firm performance and IC value, but this area is inadequately focused and underresearched. This study, therefore, fills the research gap from an Indian perspective.
Details