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Investors' Reactions to Management Earnings Guidance: The Joint Effect of Investment Position, News Valence, and Guidance Form

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  • JUN HAN
  • HUN‐TONG TAN

Abstract

We report the results of an experiment that shows that investors' earnings‐ and investment‐related judgments are jointly influenced by their investment position (long versus short), the news valence of guidance issued by management, and the amount of ambiguity in the guidance. Prior research indicates that guidance form (point versus range) has no effect on investors' earnings estimates made in reaction to management guidance. We extend this research by showing that guidance form matters, conditional on investment position and news valence. Similarly, prior research indicates that investors who hold long (short) positions in a stock are more optimistic (pessimistic) about the company's prospects. We extend this research by showing that the effect of investment position documented in prior studies is conditional on news valence and guidance form. We contribute to prior literature on the effects of investment position and guidance form by delineating boundary conditions for each of these effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Jun Han & Hun‐Tong Tan, 2010. "Investors' Reactions to Management Earnings Guidance: The Joint Effect of Investment Position, News Valence, and Guidance Form," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 81-104, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:joares:v:48:y:2010:i:1:p:81-104
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-679X.2009.00350.x
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    Cited by:

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    3. Jeffrey Hales & Xi (Jason) Kuang & Shankar Venkataraman, 2011. "Who Believes the Hype? An Experimental Examination of How Language Affects Investor Judgments," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 223-255, March.
    4. Satoshi Taguchi & Yoshio Kamijo, 2018. "Intentions behind disclosure to promote trust under short-termism: An experimental study," Working Papers SDES-2018-8, Kochi University of Technology, School of Economics and Management, revised Oct 2018.
    5. Andres Guiral & Doocheol Moon & Hun‐Tong Tan & Yao Yu, 2020. "What Drives Investor Response to CSR Performance Reports?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(1), pages 101-130, March.
    6. Hales, Jeffrey, 2015. "Discussion of “The effects of forecast type and performance-based incentives on the quality of management forecasts”," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 19-22.
    7. Martin, Rachel, 2019. "Examination and implications of experimental research on investor perceptions," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 145-169.
    8. Han, Jun, 2013. "A literature synthesis of experimental studies on management earnings guidance," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 49-70.
    9. Thorsten Knauer & Christian Ledwig & Andreas Wömpener, 2012. "Zur Wertrelevanz freiwilliger Managementprognosen in Deutschland," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 166-204, March.
    10. Barker, Richard & Hendry, John & Roberts, John & Sanderson, Paul, 2012. "Can company-fund manager meetings convey informational benefits? Exploring the rationalisation of equity investment decision making by UK fund managers," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 207-222.
    11. Chen, Wei & Han, Jun & Tan, Hun-Tong, 2016. "Investor reactions to management earnings guidance attributions: The effects of news valence, attribution locus, and outcome controllability," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 83-95.

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