IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jebusi/v108y2020ics0148619519301833.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CEO characteristics and tone at the top inconsistency

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Pu
  • Nguyen, Hazel T.

Abstract

This paper provides evidence that different corporate disclosures have different roles and that Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO) characteristics influence language choices. We document that relative to the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A), CEO letters to shareholders have more positive tone when describing the same firm performance. While the MD&A provides incremental information to the numerical data in the financial statements, the language in the CEO letter is largely inconsistent with current firm performance and is influenced predominantly by the level of positive words. This inconsistency is attributed to overconfident CEOs, who tend to have an overly positive view of their ability and firm prospects while underestimating firm risk. Further analysis indicates that CEO gender also affects CEO letter language style, with female CEOs using more neutral tone. Taken together, our evidence suggests that CEO letters are an important source of corporate disclosures, which is shaped by CEO characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Pu & Nguyen, Hazel T., 2020. "CEO characteristics and tone at the top inconsistency," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jebusi:v:108:y:2020:i:c:s0148619519301833
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconbus.2019.105887
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148619519301833
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeconbus.2019.105887?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James J. Heckman, 1976. "The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and a Simple Estimator for Such Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 475-492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Niamh M. Brennan & John P. Conroy, 2013. "Executive hubris: the case of a bank CEO," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(2), pages 172-195, February.
    3. Robert Audi & Tim Loughran & Bill McDonald, 2016. "Trust, but Verify: MD&A Language and the Role of Trust in Corporate Culture," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 551-561, December.
    4. Renée B. Adams & Patricia Funk, 2012. "Beyond the Glass Ceiling: Does Gender Matter?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 219-235, February.
    5. Angela K. Davis & Jeremy M. Piger & Lisa M. Sedor, 2012. "Beyond the Numbers: Measuring the Information Content of Earnings Press Release Language," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 845-868, September.
    6. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate, 2005. "CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2661-2700, December.
    7. Doris M. Merkl-Davies & Niamh Brennan, 2007. "Discretionary disclosure strategies in corporate narratives : incremental information or impression management?," Open Access publications 10197/2907, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    8. Kris Boudt & James Thewissen, 2019. "Jockeying for Position in CEO Letters: Impression Management and Sentiment Analytics," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 48(1), pages 77-115, March.
    9. William J. Mayew, 2012. "Disclosure Outlets and Corporate Financial Communication: A Discussion of “Managers’ Use of Language Across Alternative Disclosure Outlets: Earnings Press Releases versus MD&Aâ€," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 838-844, September.
    10. Bodnaruk, Andriy & Loughran, Tim & McDonald, Bill, 2015. "Using 10-K Text to Gauge Financial Constraints," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(4), pages 623-646, August.
    11. Tim Loughran & Bill McDonald & Hayong Yun, 2009. "A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: The Use of Ethics-Related Terms in 10-K Reports," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(1), pages 39-49, May.
    12. D. G. DeBoskey & Yan Luo & Linying Zhou, 2019. "CEO power, board oversight, and earnings announcement tone," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 657-680, February.
    13. David Hirshleifer & Angie Low & Siew Hong Teoh, 2012. "Are Overconfident CEOs Better Innovators?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1457-1498, August.
    14. Suman Banerjee & Mark Humphery-Jenner & Vikram Nanda, 2015. "Restraining Overconfident CEOs through Improved Governance: Evidence from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(10), pages 2812-2858.
    15. Muriel Niederle & Carmit Segal & Lise Vesterlund, 2013. "How Costly Is Diversity? Affirmative Action in Light of Gender Differences in Competitiveness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(1), pages 1-16, May.
    16. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2011. "When Is a Liability Not a Liability? Textual Analysis, Dictionaries, and 10‐Ks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 35-65, February.
    17. Campbell, T. Colin & Gallmeyer, Michael & Johnson, Shane A. & Rutherford, Jessica & Stanley, Brooke W., 2011. "CEO optimism and forced turnover," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 695-712, September.
    18. Marianne Bertrand & Antoinette Schoar, 2003. "Managing with Style: The Effect of Managers on Firm Policies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1169-1208.
    19. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2014. "Measuring Readability in Financial Disclosures," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(4), pages 1643-1671, August.
    20. Laux, Volker & Stocken, Phillip C., 2012. "Managerial reporting, overoptimism, and litigation risk," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 577-591.
    21. Guoli Chen & Craig Crossland & Shuqing Luo, 2015. "Making the same mistake all over again: CEO overconfidence and corporate resistance to corrective feedback," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1513-1535, October.
    22. Doris M. Merkl-Davies & Niamh M. Brennan, 2011. "A conceptual framework of impression management: new insights from psychology, sociology and critical perspectives," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 415-437, December.
    23. Li, Feng, 2008. "Annual report readability, current earnings, and earnings persistence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 221-247, August.
    24. Jegadeesh, Narasimhan & Wu, Di, 2013. "Word power: A new approach for content analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 712-729.
    25. Banerjee, Suman & Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Nanda, Vikram & Tham, Mandy, 2018. "Executive Overconfidence and Securities Class Actions," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(6), pages 2685-2719, December.
    26. Lorenzo Patelli & Matteo Pedrini, 2014. "Is the Optimism in CEO’s Letters to Shareholders Sincere? Impression Management Versus Communicative Action During the Economic Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 19-34, September.
    27. Lise Vesterlund, 2008. "How Costly is Diversity? Affirmative Action in Light of Gender Differences in Competitiveness," Working Paper 342, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, revised Mar 2008.
    28. Feng Li, 2010. "The Information Content of Forward‐Looking Statements in Corporate Filings—A Naïve Bayesian Machine Learning Approach," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 1049-1102, December.
    29. Levi, Maurice & Li, Kai & Zhang, Feng, 2014. "Director gender and mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 185-200.
    30. Arslan-Ayaydin, Özgür & Boudt, Kris & Thewissen, James, 2016. "Managers set the tone: Equity incentives and the tone of earnings press releases," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(S), pages 132-147.
    31. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2016. "Textual Analysis in Accounting and Finance: A Survey," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1187-1230, September.
    32. Frerich Buchholz & Reemda Jaeschke & Kerstin Lopatta & Karen Maas, 2018. "The use of optimistic tone by narcissistic CEOs," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(2), pages 531-562, February.
    33. Kolasinski, Adam C. & Li, Xu, 2013. "Can Strong Boards and Trading Their Own Firm’s Stock Help CEOs Make Better Decisions? Evidence from Acquisitions by Overconfident CEOs," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(4), pages 1173-1206, August.
    34. Kristi Yuthas & Rodney Rogers & Jesse F. Dillard, 2002. "Communicative Action and Corporate Annual Reports," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 141-157, November.
    35. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate & Jon Yan, 2011. "Overconfidence and Early‐Life Experiences: The Effect of Managerial Traits on Corporate Financial Policies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1687-1733, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jennifer Kunz & Lara Sonnenholzner, 2023. "Managerial overconfidence: promoter of or obstacle to organizational resilience?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 67-128, January.
    2. Sri Ningsih & Iman Harymawan & Nurul Fitriani & Brian Lam, 2021. "Pessimistic Tone in Earnings Announcement and CSR Disclosure: Exploring the Interacting Role of CEO Busyness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-19, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ali Ataullah & Andrew Vivian & Bin Xu, 2018. "Optimistic Disclosure Tone and Conservative Debt Policy," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 54(4), pages 445-484, December.
    2. Yan Luo & Linying Zhou, 2020. "Textual tone in corporate financial disclosures: a survey of the literature," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(2), pages 101-110, September.
    3. John Berns & Patty Bick & Ryan Flugum & Reza Houston, 2022. "Do changes in MD&A section tone predict investment behavior?," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 129-153, February.
    4. Andrei Filip & Gerald J. Lobo & Luc Paugam & Hervé Stolowy, 2022. "Disclosures About Key Value Drivers in M&A Announcement Press Releases: An Exploratory Study," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 58(1), pages 62-104, March.
    5. Bassyouny, Hesham & Abdelfattah, Tarek & Tao, Lei, 2022. "Narrative disclosure tone: A review and areas for future research," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    6. Johannes Brunzel, 2021. "Overconfidence and narcissism among the upper echelons: a systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 585-623, July.
    7. Ingrid E. Fisher & Margaret R. Garnsey & Mark E. Hughes, 2016. "Natural Language Processing in Accounting, Auditing and Finance: A Synthesis of the Literature with a Roadmap for Future Research," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(3), pages 157-214, July.
    8. Banerjee, Suman & Dai, Lili & Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Nanda, Vikram, 2020. "Governance, board inattention, and the appointment of overconfident CEOs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    9. Tosun, Onur Kemel & El Kalak, Izidin & Hudson, Robert, 2022. "How female directors help firms to attain optimal cash holdings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    10. Kanagaretnam, Kiridaran & Mawani, Amin & Shi, Guifeng & Zhou, Zejiang, 2020. "Impact of social capital on tone ambiguity in banks’ 10-K filings," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    11. Qian Wang & Duowen Wu & Lina Yan, 2021. "Effect of positive tone in MD&A disclosure on capital structure adjustment speed: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5809-5845, December.
    12. Shuangyan Li & Guangrui Wang & Yongli Luo, 2022. "Tone of language, financial disclosure, and earnings management: a textual analysis of form 20-F," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, December.
    13. Gow, Ian D. & Kaplan, Steven N. & Larcker, David F. & Zakolyukina, Anastasia A., 2016. "CEO Personality and Firm Policies," Research Papers 3444, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    14. Lai, Yi-Hsun & Tai, Vivian W., 2019. "Managerial overconfidence and directors' and officers' liability insurance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    15. Bakarich, Kathleen M. & Hossain, Mahmud & Hossain, Mahmud & Weintrop, Joseph, 2019. "Different time, different tone: Company life cycle," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 69-86.
    16. Yuan, Dongliang & Shang, Duo & Ma, Yufei & Li, Dehui, 2022. "The Spillover Effects of Peer Annual Report Tone for Firm Innovation Investment: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    17. Kothari, Pratik & Chance, Don M. & Ferris, Stephen P., 2021. "Bragging rights: Does corporate boasting imply value creation?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    18. Gilberto Marquez-Illescas & Allan A. Zebedee & Linying Zhou, 2019. "Hear Me Write: Does CEO Narcissism Affect Disclosure?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 401-417, October.
    19. Jie Chen & Woon Sau Leung & Wei Song & Marc Goergen, 2018. "Why female board representation matters: The role of female directors in reducing male CEO overconfidence in corporate decisions," Working Papers 2018-12, Swansea University, School of Management.
    20. Javid Iqbal & Khalid Riaz, 2022. "Predicting future financial performance of banks from management’s tone in the textual disclosures," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2691-2721, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jebusi:v:108:y:2020:i:c:s0148619519301833. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-economics-and-business .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.