High Media Coverage Research Articles

Media priming and immigration attitudes: Moderating effects of political ideology

ABSTRACT The present study investigates whether the amount of media coverage about immigration influences individuals’ attitudes toward this topic. It was expected that such media priming effects would be dependent on preexisting partisan attitudes. Accordingly, it was hypothesized that media priming effects might be observable exclusively in individuals who identify with either the right or left of the political spectrum. The hypothesis is based on the assumption that these individuals associate specific ideas with the topic of immigration, which they recall from memory when confronted directly or indirectly with related media content. Conversely, no priming effect was expected for individuals who identify as centrists. The empirical analysis utilized survey data, contextualizing statistical country data, and data from content analyses of national newspapers collected in six Western European countries between 2002 and 2018. Contrary to expectations, the results showed that higher media coverage is generally associated with positive immigration attitudes across all political orientations. However, this relationship is notably weaker for those on the political right and just slightly stronger for those on the political left. These findings show patterns that are consistent with media priming theory, which posits that media can activate preexisting beliefs.

Unregulated contaminants in drinking water: Evidence from PFAS and housing prices

Our understanding of individuals’ response to information about unregulated contaminants is limited. We leverage the highly publicized social discovery of unregulated PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination in public drinking water to study the impact of information about unregulated contaminants on housing prices. Using residential property transaction data, we employ a difference-in-differences research design and show that high profile media coverage about PFAS contamination significantly decreased property values of affected homes. We also find suggestive evidence of residential sorting that may have worsened environmental inequality.

Do state-owned enterprises prefer capital from private enterprises with better ESG performance? Evidence from China's mixed ownership reforms

This study investigates whether ESG performance is a criterion for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to introduce capital from private enterprises in mixed ownership reforms. Using a sample of A-share private listed companies in China and manually collecting the data of the Chinese private listed companies with ownership participation in SOEs during 2010–2020, we find that private enterprises’ ESG performance is positively associated with the possibility and number of their ownership participation in SOEs, which remains consistent after conducting several robustness tests. Moreover, the relationship between private enterprises’ ESG performance and their ownership participation in SOEs is more pronounced for firms with high media coverage and firms without political connections.

Investor–firm interactions and corporate investment efficiency: Evidence from China

Using a sample of A-listed companies from 2010 to 2020, this paper investigates how investor–firm interactions on Easy Interaction and E-interaction affect corporate investment efficiency measured as investment-to-Tobin's Q sensitivity. The empirical results show that investor–firm interactions are positively correlated with corporate investment efficiency. Possible economic channels include information asymmetry and corporate governance channels. Moreover, investor–firm interactions have a greater impact on firms with fewer financial constraints, higher stock price efficiency, higher media coverage, and higher analyst coverage. When interaction sentiment is more positive, interaction quality is higher, and the topic pertains to technology research and development, the impact of investor–firm interactions is also more pronounced. The main conclusion still holds after adopting a series of endogeneity tests and robustness tests.

Foreign institutional ownership and Cross-Listing

Although foreign institutional ownership (FIO) is generally considered an important outcome of international cross-listings, most studies ignore the iterative nature of FIO—that is, FIO can also serve as a key determinant of cross-listings. Using a comprehensive dataset of international cross-listings of firms from 58 countries between 2001 and 2021, we examine the effect of FIO on firms’ cross-listing decision. Our results show that firms with a higher level of FIO before their cross-listing decision tend to have a significantly higher propensity to cross-list on foreign stock exchanges than firms with a lower level of FIO. Further analyses show that the positive association between FIO and cross-listings is weaker for firms with a better information environment, as evidenced by high analyst following, high media coverage, having a Big 4 auditor, and issuing management earnings forecasts. Additional evidence shows that FIO from countries with more developed institutions has a stronger effect on firms’ decision to cross-list. Taken together, our results are consistent with the argument that the presence of foreign institutional investors in firms signals their low information asymmetry and/or good corporate governance, thereby facilitating these firms’ international cross-listing decision.

Insects as food - Changes in consumers’ acceptance of entomophagy in Hungary between 2016 and 2021

Public interest in entomophagy (consumption of insects) has developed significantly over the past several years. Possible nutritional benefits are perceived by consumers according to several recent studies, as well as sustainability and food security. However, most European communities, including the Hungarian, do not embrace entomophagy, despite the widespread practice elsewhere globally. This study aims to evaluate the changes in the perception of entomophagy among the Hungarian population between 2016 and 2021, together with the factors differentiating between acceptive and dismissive consumers. The results of the two representative quantitative surveys indicate that more than 70% of Hungarian consumers are not willing to try entomophagy, which had not changed significantly in the observed period, despite the high media coverage of this topic in recent years. Some groups open to insect consumption can still be identified. According to the socioeconomic segmentation of the data collected in 2021, consumers who accept insect-based foods can be found in high numbers among men between 18 and 39 years old (49.3%). Positive attitudes are less likely to be observed among females; however, 27.6% of highly educated women between 18 and 59 years demonstrated a certain level of interest. Those consumers willing to consume insects are driven mainly by curiosity, and also value high protein content and sustainability, and perceive insect-based food as nutritious. Consumers who prefer local and national food tend to refuse to eat insects in a higher ratio.

Buddhist influence and the executive-employee pay gap: An institutional contingency framework

Although the connection between religion and ethical corporate behavior has been extensively studied, it is unclear whether the influence of Buddhism, an important normative institution, affects executive-employee pay gap. Drawing on institutional theory, this study examines how three institutional pillars (legal development, media coverage, and CEO overseas experience) moderate the relationship between Buddhist influence and executive-employee pay gap. Using a sample of 14,761 firm-year observations covering 2,193 listed firms in China, we found that the influence of Buddhism is negatively associated with the executive-employee pay gap. In addition, the negative effect is stronger when firms operate in regions with better legal development and when they have high media coverage but becomes weaker when executives have overseas experience. These findings confirm the mitigating effect of Buddhist influence on inter-class pay inequity and highlight the contingent role of institutions.

The power of the business media: Evidence from firm‐level productivity

AbstractWe examine the impact of media coverage on firm‐level productivity and find that firms with higher media coverage are associated with higher productivity. Using the launch of Barron's Online as a quasi‐shock to media coverage, we document that this relationship is causal. Further exploration shows that the positive media–productivity relationship is stronger for firms with weaker governance mechanisms and for those with higher levels of information asymmetry. We also identify an increase in reputational and career concerns and a reduction in managerial shirking as channels through which media coverage affects firm‐level productivity. The results are robust to alternative explanations and endogeneity concerns. Overall, our findings suggest that media coverage reduces managerial opportunism, and thus enhances resource deployment decisions.

Can Short Selling Improve the Quality of Information Disclosure in Clarification Announcements by Firms Faced with Market Rumors?

ABSTRACT Using a sample of clarification announcements by Chinese listed companies and a difference-in-differences approach, this paper discusses the impact of short selling on corporate clarifications. The results show that short selling pressure disciplines managers’ clarification behaviors. Pilot firms are more likely than non-pilot firms to release timely, detailed, and technical clarification announcements, indicating that the ex-ante pressure of short selling improves the quality of information disclosure in clarifications. The results are robust to the use of a propensity score matching sample, the exclusion of extraordinary sample periods, controlling for the category of rumors, and the adoption of the double selection approach. The disciplinary effect of short selling on the quality of information disclosure in clarifications is more significant for companies with higher CEO equity-based incentive ratios, higher stock liquidity, and higher media coverage than for other companies. More intensive short selling activities, implying an increased ex-post threat of short selling, also lead to improvement in the disclosure of clarifications. Additional research shows that the improved disclosure increases stock price informativeness, and short selling enhances this effect.

The Information in Industry-Neutral Self-Financed Trades

AbstractWe identify Industry-Neutral Self-Financed Informed Trading (INSFIT) as stock trades financed by offsetting, equivalent dollar-denominated stock trades in the same industry. Approximately 37% of short-term mutual fund trading profits can be attributed to these trade pairs. Consistent with informed trading, INSFIT precedes unusually high media coverage for the underlying stocks. The trades underlying INSFIT are also larger as the release of stock-level news becomes more imminent. Both relative valuation and the hedging of industry exposure motivate INSFIT’s industry neutrality. While INSFIT positively impacts fund performance, active fund managers who execute INSFIT more aggressively obtain smaller trading profits per execution.

Características de los Varones Filicidas de Menores de Edad: una Revisión Sistemática

The incidence and severity of filicides, along with the high social upheaval and media coverage that they produce, demand research that ease the prevention of these crimes. The objective of this systematic review was to analyze the existence or not of common characteristics among filicidal males of underage children, considering several personal and contextual factors, such as degree of kinship, mental disorders, or commission of suicide afterwards. Through an exhaustive search in Web of Science, Pubmed, Scopus, and ProQuest, 8,698 results were obtained, and 23 studies were included after applying the inclusion and quality criteria. The results suggest that filicides share certain behavioral and contextual features, although some of these characteristics depend on the degree of kinship with the victim. However, more studies that analyze common or differential indicators of filicidal males are required to design specific prevention strategies.

The power of minority shareholders: evidence from voting on the related party transaction proposals in China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of minority shareholders’ attendance at shareholders meetings on related party transaction (RPT) proposals.Design/methodology/approachThis paper empirically examines the impact of minority shareholders’ attendance in shareholders’ meetings on the voting results of RPT proposals based on the hand-collected voting data of Chinese listed companies.FindingsThe empirical result shows a significant positive relationship between the attendance of minority shareholders and the nonagreeable vote rate of RPT proposals. Moreover, this positive relationship is strengthened when the corporate governance is poor, the negative media coverage is high, and the on-site attendance of minority shareholders is high. Conversely, good corporate governance and high positive media coverage can weaken this positive correlation. The additional analysis reveals that the number of RPTs and better market performance in the future can be significantly reduced when minority shareholders express their nonagreeable voice actively.Originality/valueThis paper analytically and empirically examines the impact of minority shareholders’ attendance in shareholders’ meetings on the voting results of RPT proposals based on the hand-collected voting data of Chinese listed companies. It provides direct and convincing evidence for the impact of minority shareholders’ attendance and exercise of voting rights in shareholders’ meetings on the outcome of RPT proposals. It complements the literature on the governance effects of minority shareholders’ attendance in shareholders’ meetings to exercise their voting rights in emerging capital markets. This study has practical value by guiding minority investors to participate actively in corporate governance.

Image Transfer in Sports Creative Sponsorship and Participation Sponsorship: What’s the Difference?

Participation sponsorship and creative sponsorship of sports events can have strategic communication effects. In this study of the car brand “Peugeot” in Tunisia, the impact of participation sponsorship on image transfer was compared with that of creative support, considering the moderating effect of the involvement of spectators on the image transfer process. Structural equation modeling analysis was used to validate the measurement of images and structural models of image transfer. The results largely favored sports-related creative sponsorship. Furthermore, when moving from “low involvement” to “high involvement” groups, observers of the creative backing were perceived as more intense, indicating that participation sponsorship has a decreasing impact. Research results have shown that it can be a more effective communication tool than multi-sponsoring. We conclude that creative support presents a real image transfer opportunity for sponsors that is less costly but more persuasive than participation. This assumption deserves to be verified for the indirect sports audience and in other cases of events with high and low media coverage.

Information demand density matters: Evidence from the post-earnings announcement drift

We show that information demand density (IDD), proxied by abnormal online search volume divided by the magnitude of information asymmetry, has material impacts on price efficiency. First, IDD reduces the post-earnings announcement drift (PEAD) by improving the informational efficiency. Second, IDD is higher for nonlocal investors, which could also reduce the magnitude of PEAD. Third, the impact of IDD is more pronounced for the non-SOEs firms, firms with stronger information environment, higher media coverage, and headquartered in big cities. These results are robust to alternative measurements of IDD and regression windows.

Does a Nearby Murder Affect Housing Prices and Rents? The Case of Sydney

We measure the impact of murders on prices and rents of homes in Sydney. We find that housing prices fall by 3.9% for homes within 0.2 miles of the murder, in the year following the murder, and weaker results in the second year after a murder. We do not find any effects of murders on rents. Higher media coverage and being located closer to the murder (within 0.1 mile) have no additional effect on prices. Taken together, our findings suggest that proximity to a murder affects nearby property prices, particularly in the first year after the incident.

Radicalism and Violent Extremism in Bosnia – „Circle of Lack of Knowledge and Islamofobia“

The concept of radicalization is very actual and presents an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the contemporary terrorism. Our knowledge of the factors that lead to radicalization and shape the mind of the prospective terrorists is an important analytical tool for practical policy in terms of proactive work and development of strategies for terrorism prevention. The problem arises in the attempt of its conceptual determination of the radicalization and violent extremism. The concept of radicalization is focused on the individual and, to a certain extent, on ideology and the group, while structural factors and efforts to address the causes of the phenomenon remain outside the epistemological range. In this paper author(s) use case study method as an empirical study of the social phenomenon of radicalism, extremism and violent extremism leading to terrorism and its impact on the subcultural behaviors of radical communities, the security situation where the boundary between the real phenomenon and the real life context are explored. In this paper, case study resewargh method will brighten radical and extremist movements that are deeply rooted in Bosnian society, their connection with the countries of the region and the processing of empirical data on various forms of discrimination and Islamophobia will be discussed. The problem of this research is the impact of radicalism and extremism on the security situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the current security position of Bosnia and Herzegovina vis-à-vis its neighbors with social focus and the importance of the restructuring a conceptualization of radicalism, extremism and violent extremism leading to terrorism, destruction, human casualties and high media coverage of such acts. Period of terrosim implicatication on Bosnia covering 2010-2020. Results will precise essential weakness of the concept(s) of prevention in fight against violent etremism in addition to other methodological uncertainties addressed in this paper. The paper seeks to examine the leading positions in scientifc literature and critically review the epistemological and practical value of the concept of radicalization that leads to terrorism. From theoretical perspective this concept lacks solid grounding base and should be subject of critical rethinking. The establishment of effective mechanisms for deradicalization is one of the vital programs that Bosnia and Herzegovina will have to recognize and implement, especially through work with young people, which will involve various social actors, all in order to spread tolerance and equality in order to achieve greater degree in the creation of a free democratic society.

Media Platforms and Stock Performance

Media-aware stock performance has been well recognized in recent studies. Previous research, however, focused on the content influence of the media, ignoring the manner in which the media is delivered. Based on the trust theory, this study argues that the media platforms, as media distribution vehicles and trust endorsement for news, are themselves influential on the stock market. This paper collected news data from seven Chinese mainstream media platforms and classified them into official, professional, and mass media platforms to investigate the impact of different platforms. The authors find that high official and professional media coverage predict increased abnormal returns, while high mass media coverage predicts the opposite. In addition, this paper systematically explores the mechanism of media platforms on stock performance from the perspectives of platform content, audience, and publication timeliness. The findings include that investors' attention to media platforms has a moderating effect on the stock performance, and such an effect is more salient in bear markets.

Foreign exchange exposure and analysts’ earnings forecasts

This study examines how movements in a firm’s exposure to foreign exchange (forex) rates affect the properties of analysts’ earnings forecasts. Our results suggest that analysts’ forecast errors and dispersion increase with an increase in forex exposure within firms. These findings are robust to a wide range of robustness tests, including a quasi-experimental setting based on the sudden unpegging of the U.S. Dollar against the Chinese Yuan. Additional tests reveal that analysts spend more effort forecasting when firms experience an increase in forex exposure. Consistent with an increase in uncertainty of firm outcomes representing the primary channel through which forex exposure affects analysts’ forecasts, we find that the effect of forex exposure is heightened in the presence of greater volatility in the U.S. Dollar. However, we also find that more readable annual reports and higher media coverage can help improve the quality of analysts’ forecast properties for firms with increasing forex exposure. We also present evidence of some benefits analysts can realize from coverage of high forex exposure firms through generating greater stock trading and securing positions in more prestigious brokerage firms.

Effects of air pollution on accounting conservatism

We examine the impact of air pollution on a firm's accounting policy conservatism. We hypothesize that, in response to risks associated with increased air pollution, firms apply more conservative accounting practices and utilize more conservative estimates in their reporting. Using a sample of Chinese firms, accounting conservatism measures, and a satellite-based air pollution metric, we confirm the validity of our hypothesis. Additional analysis suggests that the impact of air pollution on accounting policy conservatism is more salient for firms in high-pollution industries, firms under severe financial constraint, firms with higher environmental risk, and firms that receive high media coverage. Further, we document that air pollution does not significantly affect a firm's return on assets, year-on-year sales growth, or Tobin's Q measure. Hence, it is management's risk perception, not objective performance concern, that is driving accounting conservatism. Finally, specifically investigating accounting conservatism, we discover that, for firms with higher pollution levels, selling general and administrative expenses, liabilities provision, accrued expenses, and asset impairment loss are significantly higher.

Executive Attention Breadth and Rival Competitive Action: A Rivalrous View of Executive Attention

Drawing on the attention-based view and the awareness-motivation-capability framework in competitive dynamics, this study provides a theoretical framework linking a focal firm’s public display of wide executive attention breadth to a rival’s subsequent volume of competitive actions. We argue that a wide executive attention breadth at the focal firm may motivate the rival into more aggressive attacks. We also argue that the focal firm’s level of managerial discretion will moderate the impact of its executive attention breadth on a rival’s competitive actions. Based on a unique sample of competitor dyads from duopoly industries composed of S&P 1,500 firms, we found a positive association between a focal firm’s executive attention breadth and a rival’s subsequent volume of competitive actions. We also found that when the focal firm had high media coverage, an indicator of reduced managerial discretion, the impact of its executive attention breadth on the rival’s action volume became stronger; whereas, when the focal firm had high market dominance, an indicator of increased managerial discretion, the impact of its executive attention breadth on the rival’s action volume became weaker.