董事会非正式层级如何影响管理层年报语调操纵?OA北大核心CHSSCDCSSCICSTPCD

Board informal hierarchy(BIH)is an important implicit feature of the board's role in monitoring and governance.However,there is still a scarcity of research investigating its impact on management's disclosure of textual information.Based on the principal-agent theory,this paper specifically examines the impact of BIH on management's manipulation of annual report tone and analyzes the underlying mechanisms.Subsequently,this paper conducts a series of empirical tests on the collected and organized empirical data of A-share non-financial listed companies in China from 2010 to 2021.The findings are as follows. Firstly,clearer BIH helps boards to efficiently fulfill their governance and supervisory roles,thus inhibiting management's manipulation of annual report tone.This conclusion still holds after a series of endogeneity and robustness tests. Secondly,in terms of the influence mechanism,the above inhibitory effect can play a role through the following ways:coordinating the agency relationship,such as strengthening communication and coordination,overcoming managers'myopia,and reducing agency costs;enhancing the willingness to disclose information timely and releasing earnings preannouncement;and expanding the control of resources,such as allocating financial resources and alleviating financing constraints. Finally,the cross-sectional tests show that the above inhibitory effect varies due to a series of factors at the board trait level and the firm trait level.Specifically,at the board trait level,the inhibitory effect is more pronounced in sample groups where the chairperson is at the top of BIH,the general manager is not at the top of BIH,the chairperson does not concurrently serve as the general manager,there is a higher frequency of board interactions,or the board exhibits greater stability.At the firm trait level,the inhibitory effect is more significant in sample groups comprising non-state-owned enterprises and those with annual reports audited by non-Big 4 firms,higher levels of strategic diversification,or lower levels of uncertainty in the industrial environment. In summary,this paper clarifies the reasons for the formation of BIH through relevant theories and further expands the research on BIH's positive role in governing corporate textual information disclosure methods.At the same time,it also provides an incremental perspective from a board's governance standpoint on how to regulate the appropriate utilization of tone and wording by management when preparing and disclosing non-digitalized and standardized textual information.