IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v79y2022icp428-447.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pricing like things alike: The role of financial statement comparability in bond pricing

Author

Listed:
  • Cao, Shijiao
  • Wang, Jianqiong
  • Zhou, Jianan

Abstract

Using a modified financial statement comparability measure and data from the Chinese corporate bond market, this paper investigates the role of firm-pair financial statement comparability in bond pricing. Following the notion that financial statement comparability should be an ideal clue to screen benchmarks, we predict that, in the book-building stage, institutional investors tend to benchmark the bond in question to bonds issued by informationally comparable firms to make their quotes of interest rates. The empirical results show that the issue spread of a new bond is convergent to the yield spread of the bonds issued by comparable firms. This phenomenon is more pronounced when the issuing firm has no listed bond to act as a reference and when the comparable firm is covered by more analysts. Further analysis in the secondary market shows that the spreads of two bonds issued by two accounting comparable firms are not only convergent but also highly correlated. Our study provides a better understanding of how a corporate bond is priced and highlights the value of financial statement comparability to bond investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Cao, Shijiao & Wang, Jianqiong & Zhou, Jianan, 2022. "Pricing like things alike: The role of financial statement comparability in bond pricing," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 428-447.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:79:y:2022:i:c:p:428-447
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2022.02.059
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105905602200079X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2022.02.059?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. Gus De Franco & S.P. Kothari & Rodrigo S. Verdi, 2011. "The Benefits of Financial Statement Comparability," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 895-931, September.
    2. Graham, John R. & Li, Si & Qiu, Jiaping, 2008. "Corporate misreporting and bank loan contracting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 44-61, July.
    3. Francis A. Longstaff & Sanjay Mithal & Eric Neis, 2005. "Corporate Yield Spreads: Default Risk or Liquidity? New Evidence from the Credit Default Swap Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(5), pages 2213-2253, October.
    4. Li, Kevin K. & You, Haifeng, 2015. "What is the value of sell-side analysts? Evidence from coverage initiations and terminations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 141-160.
    5. Sanjeev Bhojraj & Charles M. C. Lee, 2002. "Who Is My Peer? A Valuation‐Based Approach to the Selection of Comparable Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 407-439, May.
    6. Ge, Wenxia & Kim, Jeong-Bon, 2014. "Real earnings management and the cost of new corporate bonds," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 641-647.
    7. Rebecca Files & Umit G. Gurun, 2018. "Lenders’ Response to Peer and Customer Restatements," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(1), pages 464-493, March.
    8. Alford, Aw, 1992. "The Effect Of The Set Of Comparable Firms On The Accuracy Of The Price Earnings Valuation Method," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 94-108.
    9. Stefano Paleari & Andrea Signori & Silvio Vismara, 2014. "How Do Underwriters Select Peers When Valuing IPOs?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 43(4), pages 731-755, December.
    10. Kwon, Dohyoung, 2020. "Risk Shocks and Credit Spreads," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Hertzel, Michael G. & Officer, Micah S., 2012. "Industry contagion in loan spreads," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(3), pages 493-506.
    12. Richard Lambert & Christian Leuz & Robert E. Verrecchia, 2007. "Accounting Information, Disclosure, and the Cost of Capital," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 385-420, May.
    13. Li, Ying & Lu, Miao & Lo, Y. Ling, 2019. "The impact of analyst coverage on partial acquisitions: Evidence from M&A premium and firm performance in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 37-60.
    14. Samuel B. Bonsall & Brian P. Miller, 2017. "The impact of narrative disclosure readability on bond ratings and the cost of debt," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 608-643, June.
    15. Jacob K. Thomas, 2007. "Discussion of “How Do Underwriters Value Initial Public Offerings? An Empirical Analysis of the French IPO Market†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 1245-1254, December.
    16. Pierre Collin-Dufresn & Robert S. Goldstein & J. Spencer Martin, 2001. "The Determinants of Credit Spread Changes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(6), pages 2177-2207, December.
    17. Ellul, Andrew & Panayides, Marios, 2018. "Do Financial Analysts Restrain Insiders’ Informational Advantage?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(1), pages 203-241, February.
    18. Francis, Jennifer & LaFond, Ryan & Olsson, Per & Schipper, Katherine, 2005. "The market pricing of accruals quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 295-327, June.
    19. David A. Ziebart & Sara A. Reiter, 1992. "Bond ratings, bond yields and financial information," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(1), pages 252-282, September.
    20. Brad A. Badertscher & Dan Givoly & Sharon P. Katz & Hanna Lee, 2019. "Private Ownership and the Cost of Public Debt: Evidence from the Bond Market," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(1), pages 301-326, January.
    21. Flannery, Mark J. & Nikolova, Stanislava (Stas) & Öztekin, Özde, 2012. "Leverage Expectations and Bond Credit Spreads," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(4), pages 689-714, August.
    22. Kim, Jeong-Bon & Li, Leye & Lu, Louise Yi & Yu, Yangxin, 2016. "Financial statement comparability and expected crash risk," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 294-312.
    23. Leuz, Christian & Nanda, Dhananjay & Wysocki, Peter D., 2003. "Earnings management and investor protection: an international comparison," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 505-527, September.
    24. Jing-Zhi Huang & Ming Huang, 2012. "How Much of the Corporate-Treasury Yield Spread Is Due to Credit Risk?," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 2(2), pages 153-202.
    25. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2008. "All That Glitters: The Effect of Attention and News on the Buying Behavior of Individual and Institutional Investors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 785-818, April.
    26. Lu, Chia-Wu & Chen, Tsung-Kang & Liao, Hsien-Hsing, 2010. "Information uncertainty, information asymmetry and corporate bond yield spreads," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 2265-2279, September.
    27. Ghouma, Hatem & Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Yan, Ruiqian, 2018. "Corporate governance and cost of debt financing: Empirical evidence from Canada," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 138-148.
    28. Peter Roosenboom, 2007. "How Do Underwriters Value Initial Public Offerings? An Empirical Analysis of the French IPO Market," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 1217-1243, December.
    29. Ciao‐Wei Chen & Daniel W. Collins & Todd D. Kravet & Richard D. Mergenthaler, 2018. "Financial Statement Comparability and the Efficiency of Acquisition Decisions," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(1), pages 164-202, March.
    30. Roberts, Gordon S & Viscione, Jerry A, 1984. "The Impact of Seniority and Security Covenants on Bond Yields: A Note," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(5), pages 1597-1602, December.
    31. Livingston, Miles & Poon, Winnie P.H. & Zhou, Lei, 2018. "Are Chinese credit ratings relevant? A study of the Chinese bond market and credit rating industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 216-232.
    32. Eisenthal-Berkovitz, Yael & Feldhütter, Peter & Vig, Vikrant, 2020. "Leveraged buyouts and bond credit spreads," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(3), pages 577-601.
    33. Lee, Charles M.C. & So, Eric C., 2017. "Uncovering expected returns: Information in analyst coverage proxies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 331-348.
    34. Yu, Fan, 2005. "Accounting transparency and the term structure of credit spreads," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 53-84, January.
    35. Gross, Christian & Perotti, Pietro, 2017. "Output-based measurement of accounting comparability: A survey of empirical proxies," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-22.
    36. Jeong‐Bon Kim & Leye Li & Louise Yi Lu & Yangxin Yu, 2021. "Financial statement comparability and managers’ use of corporate resources," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1697-1742, April.
    37. Jong‐Hag Choi & Sunhwa Choi & Linda A. Myers & David Ziebart, 2019. "Financial Statement Comparability and the Informativeness of Stock Prices About Future Earnings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 389-417, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Shijiao Cao & Jianqiong Wang, 2023. "Longitudinal accounting comparability and bond credit spreads: Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 1953-1981, June.
    2. Pervaiz Alam & Xiaoling Pu & Barry Hettler & Hai Lin, 2020. "The pricing of accruals quality in credit default swap spreads," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(3), pages 1943-1977, September.
    3. Wil Martens & Prem W. S. Yapa & Maryam Safari, 2020. "The Impact of Financial Statement Comparability on Earnings Management: Evidence from Frontier Markets," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-25, November.
    4. Liem Thanh Nguyen & Khuong Vinh Nguyen, 2021. "Accounting Comparability and Cash Holdings in Vietnam," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-14, May.
    5. Rjiba, Hatem & Saadi, Samir & Boubaker, Sabri & Ding, Xiaoya (Sara), 2021. "Annual report readability and the cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    6. Majeed, Muhammad Ansar & Yan, Chao, 2021. "Financial statement comparability, state ownership, and the cost of debt: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    7. Asiri, Mohammed & Al-Hadi, Ahmed & Taylor, Grantley & Duong, Lien, 2020. "Is corporate tax avoidance associated with investment efficiency?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    8. Kim, Junwoo & Kim, Robert & Kim, Sangwan, 2020. "Does financial statement comparability mitigate delayed trading volume before earnings announcements?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 62-75.
    9. Huang, Guan-Ying & Huang, Henry H. & Lee, Chun I, 2019. "Is CEO pay disparity relevant to seasoned bondholders?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 271-289.
    10. Huang, Yong & Yan, Chao, 2020. "Global accounting standards, financial statement comparability, and the cost of capital," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 301-318.
    11. Jaskowski, Marcin & Rettl, Daniel A., 2023. "Information acquisition costs and credit spreads," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    12. repec:mth:ijafr8:v:8:y:2018:i:3:p:174-211 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Wei Hao & Andrew Prevost & Udomsak Wongchoti, 2018. "Are Low Equity R2 Firms More or Less Transparent? Evidence from the Corporate Bond Market," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 47(4), pages 865-909, December.
    14. Wenjun Kuang, 2023. "Accounting comparability and the accuracy of management earnings forecasts in Japan," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 23-07, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    15. Chen, Tsung-Kang & Liao, Hsien-Hsing & Tsai, Pei-Ling, 2011. "Internal liquidity risk in corporate bond yield spreads," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 978-987, April.
    16. Chen, Tsung-Kang & Tseng, Yijie & Hung, Yu-Shun & Huang, Mei-Ling, 2023. "Management efficiency uncertainty and its implications for bondholders," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 73-92.
    17. Lee, Bryan Byung-Hee & Lee, Jay Junghun, 2024. "Financial statement comparability and analysts’ optimism for accruals," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    18. Jinghui Sun & Liuchuang Li & Baolei Qi, 2022. "Financial statement comparability and audit pricing," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(5), pages 4631-4661, December.
    19. Goldstein, Michael A. & Namin, Elmira Shekari, 2023. "Corporate bond liquidity and yield spreads: A review," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Cameron Truong & Thu Ha Nguyen & Thanh Huynh, 2021. "Customer satisfaction and the cost of capital," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 293-342, March.
    21. David DeBoskey & Peter Gillett, 2013. "The impact of multi-dimensional corporate transparency on us firms’ credit ratings and cost of capital," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 101-134, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial statement comparability; Corporate bond pricing; Bond spread; Issue price; Comparable bond;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:reveco:v:79:y:2022:i:c:p:428-447. 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: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620165 .

    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.