Employment protection and non-GAAP disclosure (Accounting)

Project Member(s): Bedford, A., Shan, Y.

Funding or Partner Organisation: Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ 2003/4 Research Fund)
Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (Accounting & Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand - Research Grants)

Start year: 2020

Summary: The aim of this project is to examine whether changes in unemployment risk impacts on non-GAAP disclosure practices. The project extends the emerging literature on how unemployment risk impact on financial reporting decisions, such as, the manipulation of financial ratios and earnings (Dou et al. 2016; Serfling 2016; Chen et al. 2018; Woods et al. 2019). These studies suggest that when employees are concerned about unemployment risk, they place greater scrutiny over their employee's (i.e. the firm) financial performance. The project takes advantage of the staggered introduction of the state-level unemployment insurance programs (UIPs) in the US, as an exogenous shock to unemployment risk.

FOR Codes: Macro Labour Market Issues, Economic Theory, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability, Business and Management