Negative Media Reports and Timeliness of Goodwill Impairment: Empirical Research on Governance Effect and Market Pressure Effect

Abstract

Abstract: Recently, the explosion of huge goodwill impairments of listed companies highlights the timeliness problem of goodwill impairments, seriously damaging the stability of capital markets. This paper investigates the effect of negative media reports on the timeliness of goodwill impairments of China's listed companies. That companies generally delay recognize goodwill impairments, and the number of negative media reports is significantly and negatively associated with the timeliness of goodwill impairments the market pressure . Specifically companies with high pressure on short-term performance stronger sensitivity between equity compensation and stock price and stocks can reflect characteristic information are more motivated to delay recogniz goodwill impairments when facing the negative media reports. Moreover, this paper finds that effect is predominated in non-state-owned enterprises and companies reported by the state-controlled media. In conclusion, negative media reports have intensified the opportunistic motives in corporate goodwill impairment decisions, reduced the timeliness of goodwill impairment, and failed to improve the quality of corporate goodwill impairment accounting information.

Key words: Media, Negative Reports, Goodwill Impairments, Market Pressure, Timeliness

摘要： 近些年,上市公司商誉减值“爆雷”频发凸显商誉减值的及时性问题,严重损害资本市场稳定性。本文实证考察了媒体负面报道对上市公司商誉减值及时性的影响。研究发现,上市公司普遍存在商誉减值不及时问题,而媒体负面报道会进一步加剧这一问题。并且,这一影响主要通过资本市场压力机制实现,表现为管理者短期业绩压力越大、股权薪酬与股价间的敏感度越强、个股反映公司特质信息速度越快的企业,在面临媒体负面报道时越有动机延迟商誉减值确认。研究还发现,政策导向媒体的负面报道显著降低了企业商誉减值及时性,且这一负向影响在非国有企业占主导。研究结论表明,媒体负面报道加剧了企业商誉减值决策中的机会主义动机,降低了企业商誉减值及时性。

关键词: 媒体, 负面报道, 商誉减值, 市场压力, 及时性

CLC Number:

F234

ZHANG Junmin, MAO Yue, SONG Jie. Negative Media Reports and Timeliness of Goodwill Impairment: Empirical Research on Governance Effect and Market Pressure Effect[J]. Collected Essays on Finance and Economics, 2022, 38(5): 79-88.

张俊民, 毛玥, 宋婕. 媒体负面报道与商誉减值及时性——基于治理效应与市场压力的实证检验[J]. 财经论丛, 2022, 38(5): 79-88.

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