CEO educational backgrounds and non-GAAP earnings disclosures

Abstract

Non-GAAP earnings have received attention recently. Existing literature suggests CEOs’ educational backgrounds affect the financial reporting quality. Thus, the paper analyzes whether the educational background of CEOs affects the disclosure of non-GAAP earnings. Using logit regression to examine the probability of non-GAAP earnings disclosures, this study finds the coefficient value of MBA is 0.4171, which suggests that CEOs with an MBA degree are more likely to disclose non-GAAP earnings than other CEOs. In addition, the moderating effect of audit committee quality on the association between CEO educational backgrounds and non-GAAP earnings disclosures is investigated. The coefficient value of MBA×ACC_QUA is –2.809, which suggests that audit committee quality negatively moderates a positive association between MBA-holding CEOs and non-GAAP earnings disclosures. By focusing on a company’s non-GAAP earnings, this study contributes to the financial reporting literature. The results provide evidence that CEO education backgrounds and audit committee quality influence firms’ non-GAAP earnings disclosures. AcknowledgmentThe author acknowledges the financial support of the National Science and Technology Council, R.O.C. (Award number MOST 111-2410-H-035-048-).