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CEO power and annual report reading difficulty

Li Sun, Grace Johnson and Wray Bradley

Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, 2022, vol. 18, issue 2

Abstract: We examine the impact of CEO power on reading difficulty of corporate annual reports. We find that CEO power is positively related to reading difficulty, implying that annual reports of corporations with powerful CEOs are difficult to read and understand. More importantly, we find that the relation between CEO power and reading difficulty is moderated by earnings performance or corporate governance. Additional findings suggest that this relation becomes stronger for firms with lower financial reporting quality or for CEOs with shorter tenure. Our study not only joins the debate on the consequences of powerful CEOs but also uncovers several factors that moderate the relation between CEO power and annual report reading difficulty.

Keywords: CEO power; Annual report readability; Reading difficulty; Earnings performance; Corporate governance; Financial reporting quality; CEO tenure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D23 G14 G38 M12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jocaae:v:18:y:2022:i:2:s1815566922000108

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcae.2022.100315

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Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics is currently edited by Agnes C.S. Cheng, P. Clarkson, F.A. Gul, Zoltan Matolcsy, Dan Simunic and Ben Srinidhi

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