RESEARCH ARTICLE
Executive individualism and the tone of firms' annual reports
Wei Jiang,
Chuyue Shi,
Yu Li,
Sujuan Xie,
Wei Jiang
Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorChuyue Shi
Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Yu Li
Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Correspondence
Yu Li, Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Email: [email protected]
Sujuan Xie, Management College, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao 226100, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Sujuan Xie
Management College, China Business Working Capital Management Research Center, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
Correspondence
Yu Li, Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Email: [email protected]
Sujuan Xie, Management College, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao 226100, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorWei Jiang,
Chuyue Shi,
Yu Li,
Sujuan Xie,
Wei Jiang
Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorChuyue Shi
Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Yu Li
Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Correspondence
Yu Li, Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Email: [email protected]
Sujuan Xie, Management College, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao 226100, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Sujuan Xie
Management College, China Business Working Capital Management Research Center, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
Correspondence
Yu Li, Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Email: [email protected]
Sujuan Xie, Management College, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao 226100, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Based on the literature on cross-cultural psychology, this study examines the effect of executive individualism on the tone of the management discussion and analysis (MD&A) sections of firms' annual reports within one country. By employing an executive's place of origin in northern (southern) China to measure executive individualism (collectivism), we find that executive individualism increases the positive tone of the MD&A sections of firms' annual reports. Further analyses show that the positive relationship between executive individualism and MD&A tone is more pronounced when the executive has a longer tenure or is a local (vs. a non-local). Finally, we find that executive individualism reduces the informativeness of MD&A in predicting firms' future accounting performance. In sum, the findings of this study suggest that executives' personal traits have important implications for the tone and informativeness of corporate non-financial reporting.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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