Linguistic Information Quality in Customers' Forward-Looking Disclosures and Suppliers' Investment Decisions

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Chen, Can; Kim, Jeong-Bon; Wei, Minghai; Zhang, Hao
• 署名单位: University of Macau; City University of Hong Kong; Sun Yat Sen University
• 刊物名称: CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0823-9150
• DOI: 10.1111/1911-3846.12471
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 1751-1783
• 关键词: earnings management; forecasts; accruals; environment; READABILITY; statements; returns; finance; FIRMS; cost

摘要

This study examines whether and how linguistic information quality (measured by readability) of customer firms' management earnings forecast reports (MEFRs) affects supplier firms' investment quality (measured by investment efficiency). Our analyses reveal that supplier investment efficiency is positively associated with the average linguistic information quality of customers' prior MEFRs, and the positive association between supplier investment efficiency and customer MEFRs' numerical information quality is stronger in supplier firms with more readable customer MEFRs. Our analyses also reveal that higher linguistic information quality of customer MEFRs improves the monitoring of supplier firms by their outside stakeholders, such as institutional investors and financial analysts, and ameliorates the negative impact of suppliers' customer-dependence on their investment efficiency. Our results suggest that greater linguistic information quality of a customer firm's forward-looking disclosures is associated with higher-quality investments made by its suppliers along the supply chain.