Carbon emission trading scheme and earnings smoothness
Carbon emission trading scheme and earnings smoothness
Purpose: the objective of this study is to investigate how the implementation of an Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) influences an ETS-regulated firm’s level of earnings smoothness.
Design/methodology/approach: using a staggered difference-in-differences model based on China’s ETS pilots commencing in 2013, this study investigates how the implementation of ETS pilots affects regulated firms’ earnings smoothing relative to non-regulated firms. The sample period spans from 2008 to 2019. This model incorporates time-invariant firm-specific heterogeneity, time-specific heterogeneity, and a series of firm characteristics to establish causality. Robustness tests justify findings.
Findings: the results show that after implementing an ETS pilot, regulated firms increase their earnings smoothness relative to non-regulated firms. Regulated firms strategically smooth their earnings to obtain additional financial resources and meet compliance costs arising from an ETS. Further analysis reveals that regulated firms’ earnings smoothing activity is a function of environmental regulations, managerial integrity, and capital market incentives.
Originality/value: this study deviates from past research focusing on the environmental consequences of ETS by indicating that an ETS affects regulated firms’ financial reporting decisions. Specifically, regulated firms resort to earnings smoothing as a short-term exit strategy from financing concerns arising from environmental regulations. This finding expands prior literature primarily focusing on the effect of tax and financial reporting regulations on earnings smoothness. This study also indicates that firms utilize earning smoothing to lower their short-term cost of capital, which enables them to access additional financing at a lower cost and reconfigure their operations to meet stakeholder environmental demands.
Cao, June
af0d62ff-d54c-412f-a152-cc04c63c7290
Huang, Zijie
84a55e25-1e03-456a-a1f8-715e79dbfabb
Kristanto, Ari Budi
1315c81d-9d62-49fb-bf3e-ff3f38f72d0a
Liew, Millie
0f3d2629-9f86-43ad-b8a1-bd5a9f338313
Cao, June
af0d62ff-d54c-412f-a152-cc04c63c7290
Huang, Zijie
84a55e25-1e03-456a-a1f8-715e79dbfabb
Kristanto, Ari Budi
1315c81d-9d62-49fb-bf3e-ff3f38f72d0a
Liew, Millie
0f3d2629-9f86-43ad-b8a1-bd5a9f338313
Cao, June, Huang, Zijie, Kristanto, Ari Budi and Liew, Millie
(2024)
Carbon emission trading scheme and earnings smoothness.
Journal of Accounting Literature.
(doi:10.1108/JAL-05-2024-0088).
Abstract
Purpose: the objective of this study is to investigate how the implementation of an Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) influences an ETS-regulated firm’s level of earnings smoothness.
Design/methodology/approach: using a staggered difference-in-differences model based on China’s ETS pilots commencing in 2013, this study investigates how the implementation of ETS pilots affects regulated firms’ earnings smoothing relative to non-regulated firms. The sample period spans from 2008 to 2019. This model incorporates time-invariant firm-specific heterogeneity, time-specific heterogeneity, and a series of firm characteristics to establish causality. Robustness tests justify findings.
Findings: the results show that after implementing an ETS pilot, regulated firms increase their earnings smoothness relative to non-regulated firms. Regulated firms strategically smooth their earnings to obtain additional financial resources and meet compliance costs arising from an ETS. Further analysis reveals that regulated firms’ earnings smoothing activity is a function of environmental regulations, managerial integrity, and capital market incentives.
Originality/value: this study deviates from past research focusing on the environmental consequences of ETS by indicating that an ETS affects regulated firms’ financial reporting decisions. Specifically, regulated firms resort to earnings smoothing as a short-term exit strategy from financing concerns arising from environmental regulations. This finding expands prior literature primarily focusing on the effect of tax and financial reporting regulations on earnings smoothness. This study also indicates that firms utilize earning smoothing to lower their short-term cost of capital, which enables them to access additional financing at a lower cost and reconfigure their operations to meet stakeholder environmental demands.
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25 Carbon Emission Trading Scheme and Earnings Smoothness
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Accepted/In Press date: 20 July 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 August 2024
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 501358
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/501358
ISSN: 0737-4607
PURE UUID: 0c831c89-c0b9-42dd-8967-f63661b341fd
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Date deposited: 29 May 2025 16:53
Last modified: 28 Jun 2025 04:25
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Contributors
Author:
June Cao
Author:
Zijie Huang
Author:
Ari Budi Kristanto
Author:
Millie Liew
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