UIBE Business School University of International Business and Economics Syllabus (Tentative) – Fall 2024 (03166002) Writing for Accounting Research – English Lecture Instructor: Dr. Jiayin Li Office: Room 214, Gaoyuan Building Email: 03096@uibe.edu.cn Class – Time: Tuesday. 1:30 pm to 3: 00 pm Class – Venue: Ningyuan building, Room 531 Office hours: Tuesday 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm by appointment I. Course objectives The purpose of this course is to provide students with working knowledge of writing an empirical accounting (corporate finance) paper. To achieve the goal, students will learn how to come up with a research question, link the research topic to the related literature, develop the hypothesis, and set a research design to test the hypothesis. This will be accomplished by lectures and presentations of published top accounting papers. At the end of the semester, students are required to write their research proposal (or a complete research paper). II. Course materials You will be required to present and discuss an accounting paper in a seminar setting. There is no required textbook in the course. You should feel free to select published papers in top accounting (finance) journals (i.e., The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Review of Accounting Studies, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Quantitative Analysis, and Management Science). There is a reading list that accompanies this syllabus. You can select papers that fit your interest. III. Grading policy The course requires various methods for evaluation such as homework, group presentations, and individual project. Your overall grade will be calculated as 1 Homework (35%) Group presentation (15%) Individual proposal (35%) Attendance, class participation, etc. (15%) Homework I believe that the best way to improve your writing is to practice every day. I do not require you to write one page per day. I recommend you to write at least one or two sentences every day. The important thing is to keep the writing habit every day. The homework is a summary of the paper(s) related to your research topic. You are asked to turn in four homework assignments during this semester. This assignment should be submitted to our TA via email before the beginning of class. You should present your name, student ID number, and submission date on the attached file. Delayed homework will automatically receive half credit (at most). Group presentation Students will make a group presentation. Students choose one paper in the reading list in this syllabus or one published paper in top accounting(finance) journals for the presentation. If you select a paper not included in the reading list, consult it with the instructor in advance. Each group will make a presentation, and a discussion will follow each presentation. Students are asked to explain the research question, contribution, hypothesis, and identification strategy when presenting the paper. Students will be assigned to groups of up to two people. Each member of the group will receive the same grade on the presentation. I believe that the group members work cooperatively and help each other attain the goal. Individual proposal The last part of the course focuses on writing a research proposal. Each student is individually responsible for writing the research proposal. You need to come up with an interesting question, place your question in the relevant literature, and design an identification strategy for answering the question. I also recommend searching and identifying the source of necessary datasets for the proposal. I will have individual meetings for developing your idea and giving feedback on the progress. Students are encouraged to ask questions at the individual meetings, such as citing references and tools for the data analyses. 2 IV. Course outline (Changes to the course schedule may be made, if necessary) 1. Orientation 2. Journal submission process and referee report: pick up your interesting research area 3. Structure of empirical accounting paper: Read and Discuss 4. Research motivation and Research question: Read and Discuss 5. Literature review and Hypothesis development 6. Individual meeting – Selecting topics on the individual proposal 7. Student presentation -Papers in top journals 8. Student presentation -Papers in top journals 9. Student presentation -Papers in top journals 10. Student presentation -Papers in top journals 11. Student presentation -Papers in top journals 12. Student presentation -Papers in top journals 13. Student presentation -Papers in top journals 14. Individual meeting - Feedback on the individual proposal 15. Individual meeting - Feedback on the individual proposal 16. Individual meeting - Feedback on the individual proposal 3 V. Reading list Disclosure Bao, D., Kim, Y., Mian, G. M., & Su, L. (2019). Do managers disclose or withhold bad news? Evidence from short interest. The Accounting Review, 94, 1-26. Amir, E., Levi, S., & Livne, T. (2018). Do firms underreport information on cyber-attacks? Evidence from capital markets. Review of Accounting Studies, 23, 1177-1206. Kim, J. B., Li, Y., & Zhang, L. (2011). Corporate tax avoidance and stock price crash risk: Firm-level analysis. Journal of Financial Economics, 100, 639-662. Callen, J. L., & Fang, X. (2015). Religion and stock price crash risk. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 50, 169-195. Chen, Q., & Vashishtha, R. (2017). The effects of bank mergers on corporate information disclosure. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 64, 56-77. Investment efficiency Cheng, M., Dhaliwal, D., & Zhang, Y. (2013). Does investment efficiency improve after the disclosure of material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting? Journal of Accounting and Economics, 56, 1-18. Balakrishnan, K., Core, J. E., & Verdi, R. S. (2014). The relation between reporting quality and financing and investment: Evidence from changes in financing capacity. Journal of Accounting Research, 52, 1-36. Biddle, G. C., Hilary, G., & Verdi, R. S. (2009). How does financial reporting quality relate to investment efficiency? Journal of Accounting and Economics, 48, 112-131. Demerjian, P., Lev, B., McVay S. (2012). Quantifying Managerial Ability: A New Measure and Validity Tests. Management Science 58, 1229-1248. Cheng, Q., Goh, B., Kim J., (2018). Internal Control and Operational Efficiency, Contemporary Accounting Research 35, 1102-1139. Loan contracting Kim, J. B., Song, B. Y., & Zhang, L. (2011). Internal control weakness and bank loan contracting: Evidence from SOX Section 404 disclosures. The Accounting Review, 86, 1157-1188. Houston, J. F., Jiang, L., Lin, C., & Ma, Y. (2014). Political connections and the cost of bank loans. Journal of Accounting Research, 52, 193-243. Kim, J. B., Song, B. Y., & Stratopoulos, T. C. (2018). Does information technology reputation affect bank loan terms? The Accounting Review, 93, 185-211. Adam, T. R., Burg, V., Scheinert, T., & Streitz, D. (2020). Managerial biases and debt contract design: The case of syndicated loans. Management Science 66, 352-375. Earnings management Hribar, P., Jenkins, N. T., & Johnson, W. B. (2006). Stock repurchases as an earnings management device. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 41, 3-27. 4 Bhojraj, S., Hribar, P., Picconi, M., & McInnis, J. (2009). Making sense of cents: An examination of firms that marginally miss or beat analyst forecasts. The Journal of Finance, 64, 2361-2388. Liu, Z., Shen, H., Welker, M., Zhang, N., & Zhao, Y. (2021). Gone with the wind: An externality of earnings pressure. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 72, 101403. Restatement Graham, J. R., Li, S., & Qiu, J. (2008). Corporate misreporting and bank loan contracting. Journal of Financial Economics, 89(1), 44-61. Chava, S., Huang, K., & Johnson, S. A. (2018). The dynamics of borrower reputation following financial misreporting. Management Science 64, 4775-4797. Chakravarthy, J., DeHaan, E., & Rajgopal, S. (2014). Reputation repair after a serious restatement. The Accounting Review, 89, 1329-1363. Tax avoidance Hoi, C. K., Wu, Q., & Zhang, H. (2013). Is corporate social responsibility (CSR) associated with tax avoidance? Evidence from irresponsible CSR activities. The Accounting Review, 88, 2025-2059. Chen, S., Chen, X., Cheng, Q., & Shevlin, T. (2010). Are family firms more tax aggressive than nonfamily firms? Journal of Financial Economics, 95(1), 41-61. Hasan, I., HOI, C. K., Wu, Q., & Zhang, H. (2017). Does social capital matter in corporate decisions? Evidence from corporate tax avoidance. Journal of Accounting Research, 55, 629-668. Gallemore, J., Gipper, B., Maydew E. (2019). Banks as Tax Planning Intermediaries. Journal of Accounting Research 57, 169-209. Bradshaw, M., Liao, G., & Ma, M. S. (2019). Agency costs and tax planning when the government is a major shareholder. Journal of Accounting and Economics 67, 255-277. Auditing Jha, A., & Chen, Y. (2015). Audit fees and social capital. The Accounting Review, 90, 611-639. He, X., Kothari, S. P., Xiao, T., & Zuo, L. (2022). Industry-specific knowledge transfer in audit firms: Evidence from audit firm mergers in China. The Accounting Review 97, 249-277. He, X., Pittman, J. A., Rui, O. M., & Wu, D. (2017). Do social ties between external auditors and audit committee members affect audit quality? The Accounting Review 92, 61-87. Corporate risk taking Ljungqvist, A., Zhang, L., & Zuo, L. (2017). Sharing risk with the government: How taxes affect corporate risk taking. Journal of Accounting Research, 55, 669-707. Yost, B. P. (2018). Locked-in: The effect of CEOs' capital gains taxes on corporate risk-taking. The Accounting Review, 93, 325-358. Armstrong, C. S., Glaeser, S., Huang, S., & Taylor, D. J. (2019). The economics of managerial taxes and corporate risk-taking. The Accounting Review, 94, 1-24. Dessaint O., Matray A. (2017). Do managers overreact to salient risks? Evidence from hurricane strikes. Journal of Financial Economics 126, 97–121. 5 Corporate Social Responsibility Edmans, A. (2011). Does the stock market fully value intangibles? Employee satisfaction and equity prices. Journal of Financial Economics 101, 621–640. Deng, X., Kang, J.-K., Low, B.S. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: evidence from mergers. Journal of Financial Economics 110, 87–109. Masulis, R.W., Reza, S.W. (2015). Agency problems of corporate philanthropy. Review of Financial Studies 28, 592–636. Liang, H., Renneboog, L. (2017). On the foundations of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Finance 72, 853–910. Lins, K.V., Servaes, H., Tamayo, A. (2017). Social capital, trust, and firm performance: the value of corporate social responsibility during the financial crisis. Journal of Finance 72, 1785–1824. Dyck, A., Lins, K.V., Roth, L., Wagner, H.F. (2019). Do institutional investors drive corporate social responsibility? International evidence. Journal of Financial Economics 131, 693–714. Chen, T., Dong, H., Lin, C. (2020). Institutional shareholders and corporate social responsibility. Journal of Financial Economics 135, 483–504. Flammer, C. (2021). Corporate green bonds. Journal of Financial Economics 142, 499-516. Houston, J. F., & Shan, H. (2022). Corporate ESG profiles and banking relationships. The Review of Financial Studies 35, 3373-3417. Chen, Y. C., Hung, M., & Wang, L. L. (2023). Do depositors respond to banks' social performance? The Accounting Review 98, 89–114. ESG disclosure Chen, Y. C., Hung, M., & Wang, Y. (2018). The effect of mandatory CSR disclosure on firm profitability and social externalities: Evidence from China. Journal of Accounting and Economics 65, 169-190. Darendeli, A., Fiechter, P., Hitz, J. M., & Lehmann, N. (2022). The role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information in supply-chain contracting: Evidence from the expansion of CSR rating coverage. Journal of Accounting and Economics 74, 101525. Wang, L. L. (2023). Transmission effects of ESG disclosure regulations through bank lending networks. Journal of Accounting Research 61, 935-978. Other topics Cadman, B., & Sunder, J. (2014). Investor horizon and CEO horizon incentives. The Accounting Review, 89, 1299-1328. Griffin, P. A., Hong, H. A., & Ryou, J. W. (2022). Proprietary costs: Why do R&D-active firms choose single-lender financing? The Accounting Review, 97(6), 263-296. Li, K., Mai, F., Shen, R., & Yan, X. (2021). Measuring corporate culture using machine learning. The Review of Financial Studies, 34, 3265-3315. 6