The impact of equity incentive plans (EIPs) on accounting conservatism in listed Chinese firms

Purpose This study investigates whether listed firms using equity incentive plans (EIPs) adopt more conservative accounting in China's unique corporate setting. Design/methodology/approach Based on a sample of 2,243 listed firms and 9,950 firm-year observations for the period of 2008-2017, this study employs piecewise cross-sectional regression models with year and industry fixed effects to examine the associations proposed in the research hypotheses. Findings This study finds a positive relationship between the adoption of EIPs and accounting conservatism in listed Chinese firms. Further analyses reveal that this positive relationship is more pronounced when listed Chinese firms use restricted stock units (RSUs), instead of stock options, in their EIPs. Research limitations/implications Unlike many early studies, this paper empirically investigates the impacts of two different types of equity incentives - stock options and RSUs - and thus contributes to accounting and corporate governance literature by providing a better understanding of the impacts of different types of equity incentives on financial reporting quality. However, this study does not consider other alternative equity incentive measurements because of the limited data regarding Chinese firm's executive compensation. Practical implications This study offers investors and policymakers in China some insight into how accounting conservatism in listed firms might be shaped by equity incentives used in their managerial compensation schemes. Originality/value This study is one of the few that examines the effects of using equity incentives in a large emerging market. It offers support for the view that the recent introduction of policies on EIPs by the Chinese government has an overall positive impact on listed firm's financial reporting quality, as reflected by greater degrees of accounting conservatism.