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Investor response to financial news in the digital transformation era: the impact of accounting disclosures and herding behavior as indirect effect

Shatha Mustafa Hussain (Department of Finance and Accounting, City University Ajman, Ajman, United Arab Emirates and Faculty of Business, British University in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
Amer Alaya (Faculty of Business, British University in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting

ISSN: 1985-2517

Article publication date: 14 November 2023

Issue publication date: 29 April 2024

126

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine investors' reactions to bad financial news (IRBFN) based on complex financial accounting disclosures (CFAD) as well as how investors' herding behavior influences investor reactions in United Arab Emirates (UAE) project-based organizations (PBOs).

Design/methodology/approach

The primary data collection was furnished via online questionnaires, and 310 completed questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM), moderation analysis, multiple regression simulations and path analysis.

Findings

The study shows that four out of the five CFAD dimensions observed – investors’ relations (IR), board and management structure, transparency disclosure and other disclosure channels – have a direct influence on investor's reactions to bad financial news, with the exception of “external auditing and audit service”. In addition, investor herding has a moderation impact on the relationship between CFAD and IRBFN.

Research limitations/implications

There is a possibility that the broad view of the results may be limited by the size of the research sample. The paper's findings should therefore be authenticated at an intercontinental level with the same conceptual framework in other nations.

Practical implications

The purpose of modeling stakeholders' decision-making process is to improve their decisions and to control their reactions that may negatively affect PBOs in the UAE.

Originality/value

This research contributes to planned behavior theory and agency theory in the UAE context, both of which are empirically tested.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This paper is a slightly revised version of Chapters 2, 8 and 9 of the PhD thesis entitled: “The Impact of Financial Accounting Disclosures on Project-based Organizations’ Investors’ Reactions toward Financial News: The Moderating Role of Investors’ Sentiments” submitted by the first author to The British University in Dubai, March 2022) in fulfilment of the requirements for the PhD degree.

Citation

Hussain, S.M. and Alaya, A. (2024), "Investor response to financial news in the digital transformation era: the impact of accounting disclosures and herding behavior as indirect effect", Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 254-273. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRA-05-2023-0287

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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