讲座题目：Political cost and non-GAAP disclosure: Evidence from sin firms

主 讲 人：澳大利亚国立大学 陈莉 副教授

讲座时间：2024年3月22日（周五）10：00

讲座地点：商学院江湾楼 336 晨星厅

主办单位：中南大学商学院会计与财务系、会计研究中心

主 持 人：中南大学商学院 修宗峰 副教授

摘  要：Political cost, reflected through measures like excess profit taxes or regulatory actions, translates to wealth shifts from private to public sectors. While prior studies focus on how firms manage GAAP earnings to lower their political profile, this paper explores corporate non-GAAP disclosures in the context of political costs, particularly focusing on sin firms involved in sectors (alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and firearms) that deviate from established social norms. Sin firms often face stringent regulatory scrutiny, market interventions, and negative media coverage due to their controversial product offerings, which may compel them to adapt their disclosure behaviors to minimize political cost exposure. We provide evidence that managers of sin firms are less likely to provide non-GAAP earnings disclosure compared to matched non-sin counterparts. Our cross-sectional analyses reveal that the negative effect of sin firm status on non-GAAP disclosure is less pronounced in sin firms with political connections and in those with CEOs who have a higher risk-taking tolerance. We also find that managers of sin firms are more likely to disclose non-GAAP earnings that are less profitable than their GAAP counterparts and incur fewer persistent expenses in calculating non-GAAP earnings. In addition, the non-GAAP earnings disclosed by sin firms possess higher quality and are less opportunistic. Our results are robust to alternative explanations, different model specifications, and an exogenous shock experiment. Overall, this paper concludes that political cost considerations shape the corporate non-GAAP disclosure decision.

主讲人简介:

陈莉，澳大利亚国立大学商学院副教授。奥克兰大学会计博士。研究领域为财务报告和披露、财务分析师、公司治理、ESG、综合报告和机器学习等。研究成果发表于The Accounting Review, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Journal of Banking & Finance, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Journal of Management Accounting Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Accounting and Finance等国际期刊，担任Pacific Accounting Review编辑、Accounting and Finance和 Meditari Accountancy Research编辑委员会成员。