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The authors study whether CEO beauty influences management guidance.

The authors calculate an attractiveness score based on facial symmetry and perform regression analyses to examine the relation between CEO beauty and management guidance.

The authors find that attractive CEOs are more likely to issue voluntary management earnings guidance. After controlling for this appearance-based self-selection, the authors document that management forecasts provided by attractive CEOs are more optimistic yet less precise. Consistent with this result, the authors find that analysts' consensus forecast error following management forecasts made by attractive CEOs is larger than such error following management forecasts made by unattractive CEOs. The authors further find that the perceived credibility of management forecasts by attractive CEOs is not different from that by unattractive CEOs.

These findings suggest that attractive CEOs are more active but less skillful in issuing management forecasts. This adds to the emerging accounting literature on the relation between facial appearance and information delivery.

Based on the previously observed link between greater facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) and interpersonal aggression in men (see Haselhuhn et al., 2015), the purpose of this paper is to test whether fWHR could differentiate among male offenders as a function of the relative aggressiveness of the crime for which they had been convicted.

fWHR measurements (n=550) were computed based on a large subset of male offenders available on a public domain database. Each offender’s index offense and possible confounding variables such as age, ethnicity, and body mass index were also recorded.

Multiple analyses yielded no evidence of a relationship between male fWHR and the comparative level of violence of their conviction offense.

Establishing an empirical basis for probable parameters of an unknown offender’s facial structure could have a considerable practical value for criminal profiling purposes. fWHR – at least as it has been most frequently assessed – does not appear to be a facial parameter that is useful for this purpose, however.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs’) masculinity, CEO characteristics (accounting background, turnover and ethnicity/race) and earnings management (EM) in Malaysia. It also examined the moderating effect of the CEOs’ ethnicity/race (Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera) on the relationship between CEO masculinity and EM.

The analyses were based on a panel data set of 260 corporates listed on the Bursa Malaysia from 2009 to 2019. Python/code was used to calculate the facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR), while testosterone (TESTN) was calculated based on CEO age and fWHR. To estimate the results, panel data analysis with a fixed effect model was used.

The result shows that fWHR and TESTN have a significant positive effect on EM. CEO race has a significant impact on EM, implying that non-Bumiputera CEOs are more likely to be associated with EM. There was no statistically significant evidence that race moderates the relationship between CEO masculinity and EM.

The research contributes to the growing evidence in the field of neuroscience that it is possible to infer aspects of an individual’s behavior based on their facial structure and their TESTN levels. The findings provide new evidence supporting Malaysian Government policies in reducing masculinity on boards of directors and senior executive positions, which will positively affect the integrity of financial reports.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first research to explain whether the ethnicity/race of CEOs is related to EM and whether it has a significant moderate effect on the relationship between masculinity and EM.

The authors analyzed the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) facial masculinity and the level of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD).

The authors conducted research for 2011–2019, covering companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange. This study used an ordinary least squares regression, the coarsened exact matching (CEM) and propensity score matching (PSM) procedure in testing the hypothesis.

Based on the results of analysis, it is known that CEO facial masculinity is negatively related to corporate CSR disclosure levels. However, this negative relationship can be mitigated through governance mechanisms: the audit committee.

This paper provides implications in the field of research, especially regarding the biological attributes of CEOs in relation to CSR.

As many previous studies focused on the managerial aspect of the CEO, this study focused on the biological aspect of CEO. To the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to attempt to investigate this issue in an emerging market.

Pulchronomics studies the economics of beauty. The purpose of this paper is to research CEO pulchronomics by examining whether a beauty premium exists in CEO compensation and whether this beauty premium is justified by differences in CEO performance.

The authors calculate a facial attractiveness scores (FAS) based on facial symmetry, facial structure and the golden ratio. The authors then perform OLS regressions to examine the effect of CEO beauty on CEO compensation and firm performances.

The authors find that base salaries for attractive CEOs are higher than those for unattractive CEOs, but incentive pays for attractive CEOs are not different from those for unattractive CEOs. The latter is likely due to the fact that attractive CEOs do not outperform unattractive CEOs in operations, innovation, corporate social responsibility and financial reporting quality.

Since the CEO beauty premium is not supported by the superior performance of attractive CEOs, this paper provides new evidence of appearance discrimination in CEO compensation.

This research aims to examine whether the facial appearances and expressions of Airbnb host photos influence guest star ratings.

This research analyzed the profile photos of over 20,000 Airbnb hosts and the guest star ratings of over 30,000 Airbnb listings in New York City, using machine learning techniques.

First, hosts who provided profile photos received higher guest ratings than those who did not provide photos. When facial features of profile photos were recognizable, guest ratings were higher than when they were not recognizable (e.g. faces too small, faces looking backward or faces blocked by some objects). Second, a happy facial expression, blond hair and brown hair positively affected guest ratings, whereas heads tilted back negatively affected guest ratings.

This research is the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to analyze the facial appearances and expressions of profile photos using machine learning techniques and examine the influence of Airbnb host photos on guest star ratings.

This study aims to examine the influence of a visual alteration in print advertising on viewers’ responses according to the different textual and pictorial information contained in the ad.

Through an experimental design, the presence or not of a human face and the kind of verbal claims (self-centered vs product-centered) were manipulated, as well as visual fluency manipulated by varying the clarity of the ads.

As expected, the presence of a human face, as opposed to just a product picture, has led to stronger negative effects on attitudes and purchase intention when the ad was visually altered. In addition, ad’s claim directed toward the self yielded lower purchase intentions compared to arguments directed toward product characteristics. Findings supported our main expectations, but also demonstrated contrasted effect, plausibly due to a bias correction.

To comfort these findings, further research should be realized on other advertising varying the kind of human face stimuli (e.g. woman/man; smiling/neutral; beautiful/average).

In terms of practical implications, it highlights the significance of considering the medium of communication used for print ads with caution. The pictorial use of a human face can be particularly harmful in the persuasive process if there is a risk that the ad could be visually altered.

Currently, little is known about how sub-optimal visual exposition changes attitudes and behaviors depending on the content of an ad. The present study expands research on processing fluency effects and the use of models in advertisements.

This paper aims to review the use of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in accounting research over the period 1995-2015.

The author combines electronic and manual searches to identify relevant studies using key words like “national culture” or “Hofstede’s cultural dimensions” and “accounting” or “auditing” or “taxation”. The search yields a total number of 35 published studies. For each reviewed stream of research, the author presents its theoretical underpinning and summarises its main results.

The paper identifies four main accounting research topics being reporting policy, auditing, taxation and miscellaneous accounting. These studies use three main methodologies including empirical, experiment and meta-analysis. The review reveals that individualism is positively related to corporate reporting policy, while it is associated with low levels of tax evasion. High levels of masculinity are generally associated with low disclosure environments and aggressive accounting manipulations. Finally, long-term orientation has been examined with respect to social environmental disclosure, and findings are supportive of a positive association between both variables.

This literature review represents a historical record, an introduction and a guidance for researchers who aim to examine whether Hofstede’s cultural dimensions may be useful in explaining other accounting phenomena. It also presents the main criticisms addressed to Hofstede’s framework. Finally, it conducts a critical analysis for reviewed studies and highlights their reductionist approach in explaining accounting phenomena and methodological weaknesses.