Knowledge that Transforms

ABSTRACT We examine how the Big 4 responded to evolving partner qualification requirements in China. By 2017, at least 80 percent of the Big 4 partners were required to hold CICPA qualifications, a requirement that did not apply to local firms. Using data from a 14-year window around the reform, we document that the Big 4 expanded their partnership and primarily complied through internal promotion of locally licensed auditors, often into junior signing roles and serving new clients. Our analyses of audit outcomes yield mixed and time-varying evidence: although we observe relative increases in restatements in selected periods, the triangulated evidence does not suggest a pervasive deterioration in audit quality. However, we find a decline in the Big 4’s market share and audit fee premium. Overall, our findings shed light on how regulatory interventions targeting auditor qualifications reshape audit firms and market competition. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: M4; M40; M41; M42; M49.

ABSTRACT This study advances our understanding of firms’ incentives to disclose aggregate information. In standard product and supply market settings, firms prefer to either provide detailed information or make no disclosure at all. However, this paper shows that the confluence of product market competition and supply market investments creates a distinct ex ante preference for aggregate disclosures. Firm disclosures encourage supply market investments. Supply market decisions are made at the firm level rather than at the product level, implying that aggregate disclosures are sufficient for the supplier’s decisions while simultaneously obfuscating information from rivals. The results highlight how the divergent informational needs of external parties shape firms’ disclosure decisions. Specifically, our analysis shows that when supplier investments are critical and information is industry-specific, firms prefer aggregate disclosures. This preference persists even in industries characterized by private communication between firms and suppliers: aggregation emerges in both public disclosures and private communications. JEL Classifications: D43; D82; L13; M41.

ABSTRACT I examine how mandatory ESG disclosure regulations transmit to unregulated firms through ESG rating agencies’ peer benchmarking. Using the United Kingdom’s 2017 gender pay gap (GPG) disclosure mandate with its expected positive rating consequences for regulated U.K. firms, I show that unregulated firms with similar Refinitiv ESG ratings are significantly more likely to voluntarily disclose GPG information after the mandate. The effect is more pronounced when peers are defined by ESG rating similarity rather than market capitalization and is not driven by industry affiliation alone. Consistent with ESG ratings creating competitive pressures, spillovers are strongest when U.K. peers were initially lower ranked and when unregulated firms can report relatively better GPG performance. Further analyses show that these spillovers extend to other social disclosures and generalize to the European Union’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive. Overall, the paper highlights how ESG rating structures extend the reach of disclosure regulations beyond their formal scope. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: M14; M48; D70.

ABSTRACT I examine the association between data visualizations in earnings conference call presentations and contemporaneous disclosure processing outcomes. I find that the use of data visualizations in this setting is associated with decreases in abnormal information asymmetry and increases in abnormal market liquidity. In addition, I find that data visualizations help investors process information when investors face greater acquisition and integration costs. Finally, I find that data visualizations are associated with increased trading activity and trade profitability for less-sophisticated investors. Overall, my results suggest that the use of data visualizations in earnings conference calls can reduce investors’ processing costs and improve market outcomes. Data Availability: Data are available from sources identified in the text. JEL Classifications: D83; G14; M41.

ABSTRACT Using data from a large telecom service provider in China between 2014 and 2019, we examine the impact of being passed over for promotion on subsequent performance for middle managers. Specifically, we find that there is a negative association between high promotion probability and post-pass over performance changes. Such negative association is less pronounced when bonus incentives are stronger and when promotions are more predictable. Our research highlights a hidden cost of promotion incentives and strategies organizations can use to mitigate this unintended negative effect for promotion pass over on high performers. Data Availability: The data used in this study are proprietary. Access to the data may be granted upon request, subject to the approval of the data providers and compliance with confidentiality agreements. JEL Classifications: M41.

ABSTRACT The recent influx of deals between accounting and private equity (PE) firms has raised concerns regarding potential implications for the attest profession. We interview 20 attest partners from PE-backed accounting firms, along with four experienced professionals, to examine how these partnerships affect the attest practice. Using Freidson’s (2001) theory of professional autonomy as a theoretical lens, we find that despite independence requirements mandating PE-backed firms separate from their attest function, firms largely retain a one-firm mentality. Moreover, although attest firms retain responsibility for audit execution, PE firms influence attests’ strategic priorities through ROI targets, increased strategic acquisitions, evolved compensation structures, and reevaluated client portfolios. These dynamics underscore a PE-driven shift toward commercialism, potentially eroding—although not eliminating—the attest profession’s professional ideals of public service. This stifling of professionalism raises ethical concerns about PE-driven commercialism amid the growing uncertainty raised by respondents around the future of PE-backed firms. Data Availability: Available upon request. JEL Classifications: M4; M40.

ABSTRACT We examine the consequences of the 2020 amendment to Exchange Act Rule 12b-2, which exempted low-revenue issuers from the ICFR audit requirement and reignited the debate among regulators, issuers, auditors, and academics about the costs and benefits of ICFR audits. We find that exempt issuers rarely obtain ICFR audits voluntarily, indicating they generally do not view such audits as cost beneficial. We also find that exempt issuers report fewer MWs than nonexempt issuers, although this effect is driven by a recent increase in MWs for nonexempt issuers rather than a decline in MW for exempt issuers. We find no evidence that exempt issuers misstate more frequently or that they have less informative control effectiveness disclosures. Overall, our findings suggest that the exemption was welcomed by affected issuers and did not materially impair reporting quality, informing the literature and ongoing policy discussions regarding the appropriate scope of ICFR audit requirements. Data Availability: Data are publicly available from the sources identified in the text. JEL Classifications: M42; M48.

ABSTRACT Financial reporting standard-setting bodies are expected to include academic research in their decision-making processes. However, little is known about whether, why, and how they engage with research. We interview staff from two major accounting standard-setting bodies and, using the information seeking and communication model as a theoretical lens, identify factors shaping their research engagement. These factors include perceptions of academic research, search difficulties, and challenges with assessing the credibility and utility of academic research. Our findings reveal an unstructured, idiosyncratic approach to information seeking, a reliance on academic papers over direct researcher interaction, a significant lack of two-way communication, and concerns relating to incentive differences between academics and standard setters. These structural issues limit the extent to which academic research can inform standard setting. We provide insights on improving the inclusion of academic research in the standard-setting decision-making process and contribute to broader discussions on research relevance. JEL Classifications: M41; M48.

ABSTRACT Facing pressure to meet short-term earnings expectations, corporate managers often take actions that are perceived as value-destroying. Our study provides empirical evidence supporting an alternative view: earnings pressure can discipline managers to undertake value-enhancing actions by refocusing on the firm’s core products. Consistent with this product refocus hypothesis, we find that firms under earnings pressure reduce investment in non-core products, leading to the subsequent underperformance of these non-core products, whereas the performance of core products remains unaffected. As predicted, product refocus is stronger when managers exhibit ex ante high-level agency problems. To strengthen identification, we exploit shocks arising from analyst brokerage mergers and closures. Our study suggests a bright side of earnings pressure—it helps reduce agency-motivated product diversification. JEL Classifications: G10; M11; M41.

ABSTRACT We conduct two experiments to investigate the effects of giving subordinates the possibility to return budget surplus on capital budgeting processes. We predict and find that when subordinates face low uncertainty when submitting their budget request, the possibility to return budget surplus increases budget requests compared to not having this possibility but that this effect is mitigated under high uncertainty. We also predict and find that subordinates return more budget surplus under high than low uncertainty. Together, these results imply that the possibility to return budget surplus can be particularly beneficial for firms operating under high uncertainty. We contribute to the literature by integrating an important feature of budgeting practice into research, i.e., subordinates’ possibility to return budget surplus and by showing that the effects of implementing such an option may strongly depend on the level of uncertainty a subordinate faces. Data Availability: The data and research instrument are available from the authors upon request. JEL Classifications: D91; M10; M40.