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The impact of equity incentive plans (EIPs) on accounting conservatism in listed Chinese firms

The impact of equity incentive plans (EIPs) on accounting conservatism in listed Chinese firms This study investigates whether listed firms using equity incentive plans (EIPs) adopt more conservative accounting in China's unique corporate setting.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of 2,243 listed firms and 9,950 firm-year observations for the period of 2008–2017, this study employs piecewise cross-sectional regression models with year and industry fixed effects to examine the associations proposed in the research hypotheses.FindingsThis study finds a positive relationship between the adoption of EIPs and accounting conservatism in listed Chinese firms. Further analyses reveal that this positive relationship is more pronounced when listed Chinese firms use restricted stock units (RSUs), instead of stock options, in their EIPs.Research limitations/implicationsUnlike many early studies, this paper empirically investigates the impacts of two different types of equity incentives – stock options and RSUs – and thus contributes to accounting and corporate governance literature by providing a better understanding of the impacts of different types of equity incentives on financial reporting quality. However, this study does not consider other alternative equity incentive measurements because of the limited data regarding Chinese firm's executive compensation.Practical implicationsThis study offers investors and policymakers in China some insight into how accounting conservatism in listed firms might be shaped by equity incentives used in their managerial compensation schemes.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few that examines the effects of using equity incentives in a large emerging market. It offers support for the view that the recent introduction of policies on EIPs by the Chinese government has an overall positive impact on listed firm's financial reporting quality, as reflected by greater degrees of accounting conservatism. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Applied Accounting Research Emerald Publishing

The impact of equity incentive plans (EIPs) on accounting conservatism in listed Chinese firms

Liu, Sun; Zhang, Jie
Journal of Applied Accounting Research , Volume 22 (1): 22 – Jan 25, 2021
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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
0967-5426
DOI
10.1108/jaar-01-2020-0013
Publisher site
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Abstract

This study investigates whether listed firms using equity incentive plans (EIPs) adopt more conservative accounting in China's unique corporate setting.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of 2,243 listed firms and 9,950 firm-year observations for the period of 2008–2017, this study employs piecewise cross-sectional regression models with year and industry fixed effects to examine the associations proposed in the research hypotheses.FindingsThis study finds a positive relationship between the adoption of EIPs and accounting conservatism in listed Chinese firms. Further analyses reveal that this positive relationship is more pronounced when listed Chinese firms use restricted stock units (RSUs), instead of stock options, in their EIPs.Research limitations/implicationsUnlike many early studies, this paper empirically investigates the impacts of two different types of equity incentives – stock options and RSUs – and thus contributes to accounting and corporate governance literature by providing a better understanding of the impacts of different types of equity incentives on financial reporting quality. However, this study does not consider other alternative equity incentive measurements because of the limited data regarding Chinese firm's executive compensation.Practical implicationsThis study offers investors and policymakers in China some insight into how accounting conservatism in listed firms might be shaped by equity incentives used in their managerial compensation schemes.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few that examines the effects of using equity incentives in a large emerging market. It offers support for the view that the recent introduction of policies on EIPs by the Chinese government has an overall positive impact on listed firm's financial reporting quality, as reflected by greater degrees of accounting conservatism.

Journal

Journal of Applied Accounting Research – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jan 25, 2021

Keywords: Accounting conservatism; Equity incentives; Information asymmetry; Interest alignment effect; Managerial power effect; China

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