0000000001040106
AUTHOR
Ahmed Tahoun
Do Cross-Country Differences in Accounting Conservatism Explain Variations in the Degree of Investor Diversification?
We show that the level of conditional accounting conservatism of foreign markets is significantly and positively associated with decisions to diversify portfolios internationally. This positive association could be either because conditional conservatism per se is attractive to international investors, or because the un-modelled factors that attract foreign investors to a country also cause these countries to adopt conditionally conservative accounting practices. However, if conditional conservatism serves to alleviate foreign investors’ concerns related to insiders having asymmetric access to information then one would also expect the chosen mode of entry into a foreign market (as foreign …
The influence of conditional conservatism on ownership dispersion: An international analysis
ABSTRACTWe study the influence of conditional accounting conservatism on domestic investor diversification decisions. We argue that a conservative accounting system that promotes the dissemination of bad news and which constrains managers from engaging in opportunistic activities reduces the need for investors to concentrate their ownership, and consequently helps investors to diversify their investments. Through a country-level analysis we show that increased domestic conditional conservatism and higher domestic diversification opportunities lead to higher levels of domestic ownership diversification. Our results are robust to alternative estimates of conditional conservatism, and indicate…