Publications
Publications
- 2016
- HBS Working Paper Series
Managers' Cultural Background and Disclosure Attributes
By: Francois Brochet, Gregory S. Miller, Patricia Naranjo and Gwen Yu
Abstract
We examine how a manager’s ethnic cultural background affects managers’ communication with investors. Using a sample of earnings conference calls transcripts with 26,430 executives from 42 countries, we find that managers from ethnic groups that have a more individualistic culture (i) use a more optimistic tone, (ii) exhibit greater self-reference, and (iii) make fewer apologies in their disclosure narratives. Managers’ ethnic culture has a lasting effect on their narratives—the effects persist even for executives who are later exposed to different ethnic cultures through work experience. The effect of ethnic heritage is observed in dialogues that reflect real time interactions (i.e., Q&As) and less pronounced in the scripted, less spontaneous portion of the calls (i.e., management discussion). The capital market responds positively to optimistic tone yet does not distinguish between the optimism in tone of managers from different ethnic backgrounds. The findings suggest that managers’ ethnic backgrounds have a significant effect on how they communicate with the capital markets and how the markets respond to the disclosure event.
Keywords
Disclosure Tone; Individualism; Conference Calls; Ethnic Group; Management Style; Communication Intention and Meaning; Ethnicity; Corporate Disclosure; Financial Reporting
Citation
Brochet, Francois, Gregory S. Miller, Patricia Naranjo, and Gwen Yu. "Managers' Cultural Background and Disclosure Attributes." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-027, October 2016.