Do board secretaries influence management earnings forecasts?

Xing, L. , Duan, T. and Hou, W. (2019) Do board secretaries influence management earnings forecasts? Journal of Business Ethics, 154(2), pp. 537-574. (doi: 10.1007/s10551-017-3478-6)

Abstract

The role of board secretaries is a unique institutional feature in China. Individuals in this senior executive role are responsible for coordinating information disclosure. We study the impact of board secretaries on management earnings forecasts and find that their legal expertise, accounting expertise and foreign experience help improve management earnings forecast quality. The quality of forecasts, as indicated by their occurrence, frequency, precision and accuracy, is also positively associated with the role duality (e.g. board director, CFO or other senior executive role) and equity holdings of board secretaries and negatively associated with their political connection. The quality of forecasts is found to increase the compensation of board secretaries. Finally, we show that the equity holding of board secretaries reduces litigation risks and increases corporate philanthropic giving.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Xing, Dr Lu
• Authors: Xing, L., Duan, T., and Hou, W.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Accounting and Finance
• Journal Name: Journal of Business Ethics
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 0167-4544
• ISSN (Online): 1573-0697
• Published Online: 03 March 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Journal of Business Ethics 154(2): 537-574
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license