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Article
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Mai T. Said and Mona A. ElBannan

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of firm environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating scores on market perception and stock behavior from 2017 to 2021 while…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of firm environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating scores on market perception and stock behavior from 2017 to 2021 while controlling for COVID-19 severity score.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used panel regression models with robust standard errors based on cross-country and cross-industry sample of 1,324 ESG firms from 25 emerging countries across four regions. Four separate regression analyses are used. Hausman test is used to determine whether fixed-effect (FE) or random-effect approaches should be used in regression models. Lagrange multiplier test is used to test for time FEs, and F-test for individual effects to choose between pooled ordinary least squares model and FE. Two-unit root tests are conducted to check stationarity. Heteroskedasticity and serial correlation were controlled through a robust covariance matrix estimation.

Findings

The authors provide evidence that the stakeholder theory persists in emerging countries. Overall, the results suggest that firms’ stock behavior is positively associated with the level of environmental and social performance in the region. However, the results do not provide empirical evidence to support the link between ESG performance and stock market perception proxied by the price-to-sales ratio. The results suggest that Refinitiv and Bloomberg ESG rating scores have a positive impact on stock performance in emerging markets, albeit the Bloomberg rating score is insignificant.

Practical implications

Favorable impact of environmental and social performance on stock performance suggests that policymakers should take initiatives to raise awareness toward investments in ESG projects. Evidence shows that ESG stock performance in emerging markets does not insulate firms from the COVID-19 severity. Furthermore, this study highlights the inconsistency in calculating the ESG ratings, therefore, a more standardized approach is recommended to support investors seeking sustainable investments.

Social implications

The findings have social implications for investors with proenvironmental preferences and nonpecuniary motives for ethical investments. Asset fund managers should develop ESG investment strategies to promote investor preferences that are linked to the proenvironmental and prosocial attitudes by increasing their investments in stocks of firms that behave ethically and support the environment. Furthermore, the findings show that investors pay a price for ethical and socially responsible investments as they are evaluating the environmental and social activities, hence, the firm ESG profile influences equity valuation and risk assessment.

Originality/value

The study extends the literature and provides evidence from the unique setting of emerging markets by analyzing the relationship between ESG rating scores and the COVID-19 severity scores on one hand, and stock behavior and market perception on the other.

Details

Review of Accounting and Finance, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1475-7702

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 October 2022

Xinmin Tian, Zhiqiang Zhang, Cheng Zhang and Mingyu Gao

Considering the role of analysts in disseminating information, the paper explains the idiosyncratic volatility puzzle of China's stock market. As the largest developing country…

Abstract

Purpose

Considering the role of analysts in disseminating information, the paper explains the idiosyncratic volatility puzzle of China's stock market. As the largest developing country, China's research can provide meaningful reference for the research of financial markets in other new countries.

Design/methodology/approach

From the perspective of behavior, establishing a direct link between individual investor attention and stock price overvaluation.

Findings

The authors find that there is a significant idiosyncratic volatility puzzle in China's stock market. Due to the role of mispricing, individual investor attention significantly enhances the idiosyncratic volatility effect, that is, as individual investor attention increases, the greater the idiosyncratic volatility, the lower the expected return. Attention can explain the idiosyncratic volatility puzzle in China's stock market. In addition, due to the role of information production and dissemination, securities analysts can reduce the degree of market information asymmetry and enhance the transparency of market information.

Originality/value

China is the second largest economy in the world, and few scholars analyze it from the perspective of investors' attention. The authors believe this paper has the potential in contributing to the academia.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 July 2023

Muskan Sachdeva and Ritu Lehal

Stock markets are considered as the largest and most important units for the development and growth of the economy. The present study attempts to provide a comprehensive view of…

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Abstract

Purpose

Stock markets are considered as the largest and most important units for the development and growth of the economy. The present study attempts to provide a comprehensive view of factors influencing investment decision making process of stock market investors. A multi group analysis of gender is also carried out on the proposed model.

Design/methodology/approach

The data of 402 valid responses are collected through structured questionnaires from individual investors of North India. SPSS 23 is used to do the descriptive analysis and AMOS 22 is used to establish the validity of the constructs and for hypotheses testing. For performing multi group analysis, several invariance tests have also been conducted to check the robustness of the model.

Findings

The results reveal that all the factors such as firm image, accounting information, neutral information, advocate recommendation and personal financial needs significantly influence investment decision making concluding image of the firm being the most influential factor and advocate recommendation being the least influential factor for investment decisions. No significant differences between males and females were found.

Research limitations/implications

The current study suffers from the limitation of restricted geographical area of North India. Moreover, there is also a scope to incorporate more demographic factors for predicting investment decisions.

Originality/value

This study incorporates a range of factors which covers all the aspects of investment decision making. This study also highlights the notion of signaling theory, thus contributing to the limited literature in Indian context.

Details

PSU Research Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 December 2022

Naiding Yang and Ye Chen

Corporate donation behavior sends two financial-related signals, i.e. sufficient cash flow and self-confidence in future earnings. This paper aims to investigate whether these…

Abstract

Purpose

Corporate donation behavior sends two financial-related signals, i.e. sufficient cash flow and self-confidence in future earnings. This paper aims to investigate whether these financial-related signals released by corporate donation drive investors to make more optimistic forecasts about the firm’s future earnings per share (EPS) and whether this effect varies across different historical earnings trends.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a controlled online experiment with 553 MBA students.

Findings

The results demonstrate that a financial signaling mechanism works, but it is moderated by historical earnings trends. When the earnings trend is always increasing, the more the number of financial signals received, the higher the investors’ EPS forecast; when the earnings trend is fluctuating (down then up or up then down), investors’ EPS forecast is higher when they receive financial signal(s) than when they do not, but no additive effect occurs from receiving one signal to two signals; when the earnings trend is always decreasing, investors’ EPS forecast is irrelevant to the number of financial signals received.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to experimentally investigate a possible mechanism to explain investors’ positive response to corporate social responsibility (CSR) (specifically, corporate donation) disclosures – the financial signaling mechanism. This study also extends the research on the impact of financial information on investors’ use of nonfinancial information by investigating the moderating role of historical earnings trends on the financial signaling mechanism of the CSR effect.

Details

Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-2517

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 February 2024

Shihui Fan and Yan Zhou

This study aims to investigate the impact of earnings predictability and truthfulness on nonprofessional investors’ investment willingness.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the impact of earnings predictability and truthfulness on nonprofessional investors’ investment willingness.

Design/methodology/approach

Earnings predictability is captured by quarterly earnings autocorrelation, and earnings truthfulness is indicated by real earnings management (REM). The average of investment attractiveness and willingness measures investment willingness. The authors use experiments to isolate the impact of quarterly earnings autocorrelation and REM on investors’ investment behaviors.

Findings

From the 2 × 2 design, the authors observe that investors weight more on earnings predictability than earnings truthfulness.

Research limitations/implications

The generalization of the findings may be constrained for the following reasons. First, the authors use only one proxy, REM, to measure earnings truthfulness. In addition, the authors provide the participants, Amazon Mechanical Turk, with earnings predictability. Results may no longer hold if each participant has different understanding and analysis of earnings predictability.

Practical implications

In periods of unprecedented and severe financial uncertainty (i.e. the COVID-19 pandemic), investors rely more on earnings predictability than on earnings truthfulness. The study assists managers to strategically emphasize the predictability of earnings to attract investors, especially when firms face financial challenges or uncertainty.

Social implications

This study contributes to understanding investor behavior and the critical role of earnings predictability and truthfulness in shaping investment decisions.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature of earnings properties in financial reporting, particularly by shedding light on the nuanced interplay between earnings predictability and earnings truthfulness. The research also demonstrates that elevated earnings autocorrelation indirectly stimulates investment willingness by enhancing the investors’ perception of earnings persistence of targeted firms.

Details

Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-2517

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 January 2024

Qiang Bu and Jeffrey Forrest

The authors compare sentiment level with sentiment shock from different angles to determine which measure better captures the relationship between sentiment and stock returns.

Abstract

Purpose

The authors compare sentiment level with sentiment shock from different angles to determine which measure better captures the relationship between sentiment and stock returns.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines the relationship between investor sentiment and contemporaneous stock returns. It also proposes a model of systems science to explain the empirical findings.

Findings

The authors find that sentiment shock has a higher explanatory power on stock returns than sentiment itself, and sentiment shock beta exhibits a much higher statistical significance than sentiment beta. Compared with sentiment level, sentiment shock has a more robust linkage to the market factors and the sentiment shock is more responsive to stock returns.

Originality/value

This is the first study to compare sentiment level and sentiment shock. It concludes that sentiment shock is a better indicator of the relationship between investor sentiment and contemporary stock returns.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2024

Pedro L. Angosto-Fernández and Victoria Ferrández-Serrano

The objective of this research is to identify the economic, demographic, sanitary and even cultural factors which explain the variability in the cross-section of returns in…

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this research is to identify the economic, demographic, sanitary and even cultural factors which explain the variability in the cross-section of returns in different markets globally during the first weeks after the outbreak of COVID-19.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on the event study methodology and using seemingly unrelated equations, the authors created several indicators on the impact of the pandemic in 75 different markets. Then, and using cross-sectional regressions robust to heteroscedasticity and using an algorithm to select independent variables from more than 30 factors, the authors determine which factors were behind the different stock market reactions to the pandemic.

Findings

Higher currency depreciation, inflation, interest rate or government deficit led to higher returns, while higher life expectancy, ageing population, GDP per capita or health spending led to the opposite effect. However, the positive effect of competitiveness and the negative effect of income inequality stand out for their statistical and economic significance.

Originality/value

This research provides a global view of investors' reaction to an extreme and unique event. Using a sample of 75 capital markets and testing the relevance of more than 30 variables from all categories, it is, to the authors' knowledge, the largest and most ambitious study of its kind.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 December 2023

Syed Marwan, Suhaiza Ismail, Engku Rabiah Adawiah Engku Ali and Mohamed Aslam Mohamed Haneef

The purpose of the paper is twofold. Firstly, this study aims to investigate the factors influencing stakeholders’ intention to invest in Shariah-compliant social impact bonds (SC…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is twofold. Firstly, this study aims to investigate the factors influencing stakeholders’ intention to invest in Shariah-compliant social impact bonds (SC SIBs) in Malaysia. Secondly, this study compares the differences in the perception of different stakeholders on the importance of the factors.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the extended theory of planned behaviour, the study undertakes a questionnaire survey on licensed capital market investors and individuals involved in the development of the financial market (developers). A total of 260 complete and valid responses were obtained from the survey. Multiple regression and Mann–Whitney tests were carried out to achieve the two objectives, respectively.

Findings

The results reveal that attitude (β = 0.447, p < 0.01), subjective norm (SN) (β = 0.255, p < 0.01) and moral norm (MN) (β = 0.163, p < 0.01) are significantly positive predictors of intention to invest in SC SIBs. In terms of the differences in the perceptions of the two parties, the results show that the factors have more effect towards developers than investors.

Originality/value

The empirical evidence from this study on the factors that influence stakeholders’ participation in SC SIBs is useful to the policymakers and interested parties in taking the next steps to develop, implement and promote SC SIBs to stakeholders in Malaysia. Fund managers can use the study’s insights to promote positive attitudes, SNs and MNs towards SC SIBs, especially targeting developers who are more influenced by these factors. More importantly, the results indicate a need for different strategies to influence the stakeholder investment behaviour of SC SIB in Malaysia to ensure that it is sustainable and viable in the long run.

Details

Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0817

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2023

Te-Kuan Lee and Askar Koshoev

The primary objective of this research is to provide evidence that there are two distinct layers of investor sentiments that can affect asset valuation models. The first is…

Abstract

Purpose

The primary objective of this research is to provide evidence that there are two distinct layers of investor sentiments that can affect asset valuation models. The first is general market-wide sentiments, while the second is biased approaches toward specific assets.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve the goal, the authors conducted a multi-step analysis of stock returns and constructed complex sentiment indices that reflect the optimism or pessimism of stock market participants. The authors used panel regression with fixed effects and a sample of the US stock market to improve the explanatory power of the three-factor models.

Findings

The analysis showed that both market-level and stock-level sentiments have significant contributions, although they are not equal. The impact of stock-level sentiments is more profound than market-level sentiments, suggesting that neglecting the stock-level sentiment proxies in asset valuation models may lead to severe deficiencies.

Originality/value

In contrast to previous studies, the authors propose that investor sentiments should be measured using a multi-level factor approach rather than a single-factor approach. The authors identified two distinct levels of investor sentiment: general market-wide sentiments and individual stock-specific sentiments.

Details

Review of Behavioral Finance, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1940-5979

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2023

Lingxue Yi, Yichi Jiang and Heng Liu

This study aims to investigate whether and how public air environmental concern (PAEC) affects corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in emerging markets.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate whether and how public air environmental concern (PAEC) affects corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in emerging markets.

Design/methodology/approach

This study measured PAEC using the Baidu index search keyword “雾霾 (PM2.5)” and assessed its impact on corporate ESG among Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2020 through regression analysis.

Findings

The empirical results indicate a positive relationship between PAEC and corporate ESG. Moreover, PAEC facilitates enhanced corporate ESG performance by mediating through corporate reputation and government environmental regulations. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the promotion effect of PAEC on ESG is more pronounced in the subgroups of companies with an excellent green image, low perceived uncertainty, strong management political connections, low short-termism, high industry technological levels and low pollution levels.

Practical implications

The practical implications of this study underscore the importance for policymakers, investors and companies to prioritize PAEC and its influence on corporate ESG performance.

Originality/value

This study contributes to ESG literature by highlighting the positive impact of external oversight, such as PAEC.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

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