This repository contains the publicly available materials of our open online course on Corporate Transparency that we offered at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in the summer term of 2021. From the Syllabus:
This course is open for everybody who is interested in research on corporate transparency. It has been designed for Master and first year PhD students to get familiar with current research in this field and to take their first steps towards doing independent research on this topic. After completing the course, they will understand its main findings and have reviewed them critically. Also, they will be able to develop research projects that add to this fascinating and relevant field.
More information on the course can be found in the Syllabus.
We were extremely lucky to have a extremely engaging set of discussion sessions with exciting guests:
| Date | Topic | Guest |
|---|---|---|
| April 19 | Charting the Corporate Transparency Research Landscape | Christian Leuz (Chicago) |
| May 3 | Disclosure Theory | Alfred Wagenhofer (Graz) |
| May 17 | Voluntary versus Regulated Disclosure | Anne Beyer (Stanford) |
| May 31 | Transparency and Market Efficiency | David Veenman (Amsterdam) |
| June 14 | Disclosure Channels | Elisabeth Blankespoor (Washington) |
| June 28 | Tax Transparency | Martin Jacob (WHU) |
| July 12 | Non-Financial Reporting | Giovanna Michelon (Bristol) |
Thank you to everybody that contributed to making this course a success! If you missed the opportunity to attend, you can still watch the videos below.
These are the slides and the videos linked to each unit.
| Unit | Element title | Slides | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charting the Corporate Transparency Research Landscape | Course Organization | Slides | Video |
| How to Find and Read Research | Slides | Video | |
| Principles of Open Science | Slides | Video | |
| The Corporate Reporting Framework | Slides | Video | |
| Discussion Session with Christian Leuz | Slides (Moodle) | Video | |
| Disclosure Theory | Why Theory? | Slides | Video |
| Unraveling | Slides | Video | |
| Cheap Talk | Slides | Video | |
| Signaling | Slides | Video | |
| Discussion Session with Alfred Wagenhofer | Slides | Video | |
| Voluntary versus Regulated Disclosure | Rationales for Regulation | Slides | Video |
| Optimal Accounting Standards | Slides | Video | |
| Biased Reporting | Slides | Video | |
| Discussion Session with Anne Beyer | Slides | Video | |
| Transparency and Market Efficiency | Market Efficiency | Slides | Video |
| On The Impossibility of Informationally Efficient Markets | Slides | Video | |
| Information Asymmetry | Slides | Video | |
| Discussion Session with David Veenman | Slides | Video | |
| Disclosure Channels | Disclosure Processing Costs | Slides | Video |
| Financial Reporting and Data Aggregators | Slides | Video | |
| Financial Analysts | Slides | Video | |
| The Media as an Information Intermediary | Slides | Video | |
| Discussion Session with Elizabeth Blankespoor | Slides (Moodle) | Video | |
| Tax Transparency | Tax Transparency - Institutions | Slides | Video |
| Tax Transparency - Incentives | Slides | Video | |
| Tax Transparency - Effects | Slides | Video | |
| Discussion Session with Martin Jacob | Slides | Video | |
| Non-Financial Reporting | Non-Financial Reporting - Institutions | Slides | Video |
| Non-Financial Reporting - Topics and Methods | Slides | Video | |
| Non-Financial Reporting - Findings | Slides | Video | |
| Discussion Session with Giovanna Michelon | Slides (Moodle) | Video |
YouTube playlist for binge watching.
| Unit | Reference |
|---|---|
| Charting the Corporate Transparency Research Landscape | Christian Leuz and Peter Wysocki (2016): The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research, Journal of Accounting Research 54:2, 525--622, https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.12115, Sections 1 and 2. |
| Disclosure Theory | Anne Beyer, Daniel Cohen, Thomas Lys, and Beverly Walther (2010):The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 50: 2–3, 296--343, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2010.10.003, Section 3.1. |
| Stefan Schantl and Alfred Wagenhofer (2021): Economic Effects of Increasing Litigation Risk on Corporate Disclosure, Working Paper, Introduction and skim. | |
| Voluntary versus Regulated Disclosure | Anne Beyer, Daniel Cohen, Thomas Lys, and Beverly Walther (2010):The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 50: 2–3, 296--343, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2010.10.003, Section 4.1. |
| Anne Beyer and Kevin C. Smith (2021): Learning about Risk-Factor Exposures from Earnings: Implications for Asset Pricing and Manipulation, JAE forthcoming, Introduction and skim. | |
| Transparency and Market Efficiency | Maureen O'Hara (2003): Presidential Address: Liquidity and Price Discovery, Journal of Finance, 58:4, 1335--1354, https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6261.00569. |
| Karthik Balakrishnan, Mary Billings, Brian Kelly, and Alexander Ljungqvist (2014): Shaping Liquidity: On the Causal Effects of Voluntary Disclosure, Journal of Finance, 69:5, 2237--2278, https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.12180, Introduction and skim. | |
| Edith Leung and David Veenman (2019): Non-GAAP Earnings Disclosure in Loss Firms, Journal of Accounting Research, 56:4, 1083--1137, https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.12216, Introduction and skim. | |
| Disclosure Channels | Elizabeth Blankespoor, Ed deHaan, Ivan Marinovic (2020): Disclosure processing costs, investors’ information choice, and equity market outcomes: A review, Journal of Accounting Economics, 70:2-3, 1--46, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2020.101344, Sections 1, 2 and 5. |
| Elizabeth Blankespoor, Bradley Hendricks and Gregory Miller (2021): The Pitch: Managers’ Disclosure Choice During IPO Roadshows, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3545716, Introduction and skim. | |
| Tax Transparency | Raphael Müller, Christoph Spengel and Heiko Vay (2020): On the Determinants and Effects of Corporate Tax Transparency: Review of an Emerging Literature, SSRN Working Paper, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3736747, Sections 1 to 3. |
| Bart Dierynck, Martin Jacob, Max Müller, Christian Peters and Victor van Pelt (2021): Public Tax Disclosures and Investor Perceptions, SSRN Working Paper, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3729938, Introduction and skim. | |
| Non-Financial Reporting | Anthony Hopwood (2009): Accounting and the environment, Accounting, Organizations and Society, 34: 3–4, 433--439 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2009.03.002. |
| Giovanna Michelon, Michelle Rodrigue, and Elisabetta Trevisan (2020): The marketization of a social movement: Activists, shareholders and CSR disclosure, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Volume 80: 101074, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2019.101074, Introduction and skim. | |
| Giovanna Michelon, Dennis Patten, and Andrea Romi (2019): Creating Legitimacy for Sustainability Assurance Practices: Evidence from Sustainability Restatements, European Accounting Review, 28:2, 395--422, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09638180.2018.1469424, Introduction and skim. |
| Assignment | Title | Link | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reproduce and Extend Our 'Analysis' | PDF File | May, 10th |
| 2 | Build on Theory | PDF File | May, 24th |
| 3 | Cross-sectional Variation in ERCs | PDF File | June 28th |
| 4 | Determinants of Analyst Following | PDF File | July 19th |
| 5 | CSR Performance and Firm Profitability | PDF File | July 12th |
Open an issue. Thanks!