本文精选了会计学国际顶刊《Journal of Accounting Research》近期发表的论文，提供会计学领域最新的学术动态。

Family Matters: Exploring the Link Between Parental and Executive Financial Misconduct

原刊和作者：

Journal of Accounting Research, Volume 64, Issue2

JENNI KALLUNKI （University of Oulu）

JUHA-PEKKA KALLUNKI （University of Oulu）

WAYNE LANDSMAN （University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill）

EMMA-RIIKKA MYLLYMÄKI （Audencia Business School）

LASSE NIEMI （Aalto University School of Business）

Abstract

Using a novel data set of misconduct records for Finnish CEOs and directors and their parents, we explore whether corporate executives’ financial misconduct is associated with similar behavior by their parents. Controlling for various other factors of executive financial misconduct, we find that executives are significantly more likely to engage in financial misconduct, including accounting, tax, and other financial offenses, if their parents have a history of financial misconduct. This intergenerational association is stronger when the parental misconduct is more severe. Additional findings reveal that growing up in high-misconduct municipalities and cohabiting with spouses who engage in financial misconduct are also associated with a higher likelihood of executive misconduct, indicating that such behaviors may be shaped by broader socialization processes that extend beyond the immediate family. Although our analyses do not establish causal relationships, the collective evidence presented in this study offers insights into why some corporate executives engage in misconduct while others do not.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.70028

Profit Persistence in the U.S. Audit Market

原刊和作者：

Journal of Accounting Research, Volume 64, Issue2

WILLIAM A. CICONTE III （University of Kansas）

ANDREW R. KITTO （University of Massachusetts Amherst）

Abstract

This study investigates the relation between audit competition, audit quality, and auditor labor hours. Using proprietary data on auditor realization rates, we construct new measures of competition based on theory predicting that abnormal profits will quickly disappear when competition is high but persist over multiple periods when competition is low. We find consistent evidence of persistent abnormal profits among U.S. Big 4 engagements and that individual offices earn persistent abnormal returns, suggesting that the market is not perfectly competitive. Examining the consequences of lower competition, we find that profit persistence is negatively related to audit hours and positively related to audit quality. Although we are cautious about inferring causality, our findings suggest that lower competition is associated with more efficient and effective audits.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.70029

Interactivity and Illusions of Ability: How Using Generative AI Affects Investor Judgments

原刊和作者：

Journal of Accounting Research, Volume 64, Issue2

Joe Croom （Indiana University）

Abstract

I use the setting of generative AI (GenAI) to examine how processing tool interactivity affects investors’ self-assessments of ability and willingness to invest. Although GenAI can help investors process financial information, I theorize that the interactive nature of GenAI blurs the boundaries between investors’ own abilities and those of GenAI, prompting investors to discount their reliance on GenAI and misattribute its abilities to themselves. I rely on the advantages of a laboratory setting to disentangle the interactive element of GenAI from the mere presence of GenAI assistance. Across three experiments, I find that the interactivity underpinning GenAI heightens investors’ self-assessments of their own abilities and increases their willingness to invest, despite this interactivity not improving, and in fact hindering, their actual processing of information provided by GenAI. My study thus highlights one potential cost of using GenAI and other highly interactive processing tools.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.70017

Macroeconomic Information Acquisition Around Earnings Clusters

原刊和作者：

Journal of Accounting Research, Volume 64, Issue2

ELIA FERRACUTI （Duke University）

GARY LIND （University of Pittsburgh）

Abstract

Research shows that investors acquire and process less firm-specific information on days when many firms announce earnings (hereafter earnings clusters). We show that investors gather more macroeconomic information during earnings clusters, that this behavior is amplified during negative economic shocks and concurrent macroeconomic announcements, and that these information acquisition patterns have implications for equity valuations. Our findings are consistent with the benefit of extracting macroeconomic information from earnings announcements increasing during earnings clusters, which we confirm empirically. Thus, our results help explain why investors focus less on individual firm news during earnings clusters: They rationally redirect their attention to the most beneficial information.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.70020

Corporate Litigation, Governance, and the Role of Law Firms

Journal of Accounting Research, Volume 64, Issue2

FRANK ALLEN FERRELL （Harvard Law School）

ALBERTO MANCONI （Bocconi University）

EKATERINA NERETINA （Bocconi University）

WILLIAM POWLEY （Cake Shop Capital）

LUC RENNEBOOG （Tilburg University and ECGI）

Abstract

We study plaintiff law firms in corporate litigation, focusing on “star” firms that dominate settlement outcomes. Stars are associated with larger settlements; however, much of this effect is predicted by the defendant's litigation insurance coverage, suggesting assortative matching of stars with lawsuits that have ex ante larger expected payoffs. Moreover, stars charge higher fees for a given settlement size. Additional tests suggest that visibility and information asymmetry vis-à-vis less sophisticated plaintiffs help sustain the stars’ market share. These findings advance our understanding of corporate litigation and the agency relationship between plaintiff law firms and their clients.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.70021