演讲题目： 实验研究方法在财务会计研究中的应用：财务报告可读性对投资者的影响
演 讲 者： 周波
教授
上海财经大学
演讲时间： 2016年12月30日（周五）下午 14:30 - 16:00
演讲地点：嘉庚二205室
主 持 人：陈亚盛 教授
参 加 者：对会计、财务研究有兴趣的师生
讲座简介：We conduct two experiments to investigate how readability (high versus low) and benchmark performance consistency (consistent versus inconsistent) influence investors’judgments. Using prior management guidance and year-ago quarter performance as two benchmarks against which to assess actual earnings performance, we manipulate whether the valence of guidance performance (positive or negative) and the valence of trend performance (positive or negative) are consistent with each other. We also manipulate the readability of trend performance in our main experiment. Our results show that when benchmark performance is inconsistent, higher as opposed to lower readability of positive (negative) trend performance leads to more (less) favorable investors’performance judgments. This effect of readability is smaller when benchmark performance is consistent. We also show that higher readability in the inconsistent benchmark performance condition improves investors’ understanding of the firm’s current-quarter performance, which in turn influences their judgments on the firm’s future performance. In a supplementary experiment, we manipulate the readability of guidance performance in an inconsistent benchmark performance setting, and replicate the key finding that higher readability of positive guidance performance leads to more positive judgment on the firm’s future performance.