52nd Seminar on Finance and Accounting

Topic:    MD&A Disclosures, Management Reporting Credibility and Investment Decisions

 

PresenterBernard Wong-On-Wing, ProfessorDepartment of Accounting Washington State University

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Time:  October 26, 2007(Friday)300430 PM    

 

Venue:   Room 513, Jiageng Bld 2

 

Chair:   Yujun Wu, assistant professor in finance, IFAS

 

Abstract:

 

Prior research provides limited and inconsistent evidence regarding the usefulness of the MD&A. This study proposes and tests a model of investors’ use of information contained in the MD&A. The results suggest that the clarity of MD&A disclosures and the use of safe harbor statements jointly influence non-professional investors’ perception of management’s reporting credibility. In particular, in the absence of safe harbor statements, non-professional investors infer that management has higher reporting credibility when MD&A disclosures are clear than when they are unclear. However, when management uses safe harbor statements, non-professional investors infer relatively high reporting credibility regardless of the clarity of the MD&A disclosures. The results also suggest that non-professional investors’ perceived reporting credibility moderates the effect of management’s forecast on investment decisions. Specifically, the favorable effect of a positive management forecast in the MD&A is observed only when management’s reporting credibility is perceived to be high, but not when it is perceived to be low. Implications are discussed.

 

Presenter Introduction:vita

 

Download: paper