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Contemporary Accounting Research Vol. 33 No. 3 2016

Corporate Governance and the Information Content of Earnings Announcements: A Cross‐Country Analysis

Sie Ting Lau1; Keshab Shrestha2; Jing Yu3

1 Nanyang Technological University · 2 Monash University Malaysia · 3 University of Western Australia

Abstract

Using firm‐level data from 23 developed markets, we document a positive association between overall firm‐level governance quality and the informativeness of earnings announcements measured by abnormal stock return variance. This finding is robust after controlling for the potential endogeneity of firm‐level corporate governance. Further analyses reveal that firms with strong governance show little evidence of earnings management, appoint Big 4 auditing firms, and attract analyst following, implying a positive link between strong corporate governance and the information quality of earnings announcements. Finally, there is some evidence that the relation between firm‐level governance and market reactions around the announcements exists only in countries characterized by a transparent information environment and strong legal investor protection.

DOI
10.1111/1911-3846.12211
Volume
33
Issue
3
Pages
1238-1266
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib crossref openalex

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