SPEAKER：Professor Helen HU, University of Melbourne

TIME/DATE：2025.6.19  10:00-11:30

CLASSROOM：A505

ABSTRACT：

This study sheds light on how publicly listed firms in China might use earnings conferences for the purpose of anticipatory impression management (AIM) to proactively build a positive image before the disclosure of negative events. Study the specific event timeline—after committing financial misconduct but prior to regulators’ misconduct announcement—we predict that firms aim to use earnings conferences as an AIM tactic. Besides, the number of earnings conferences will increase with the severity of the misconduct. Moreover, considering the significant impact of qualitative information delivered through earnings conference on investor perceptions, we highlight the casting (i.e., the attendance of independent directors) of such AIM conference, which hinges on the independent directors’ AIM value for the focal firm and their monitoring capabilities in detecting financial misconduct. Lastly, we also posit that AIM conferences will positively influence investors’ perceptions, thus buffering market reactions to misconduct announcements. Based on data from all Chinese-listed firms that committed financial misconduct from 2016 to 2020, we identified 122 AIM conferences, providing strong evidence to support our hypotheses.

GUEST BIO：

Helen Hu is Professor of Strategic Management in the Department of Management and Marketing, the University of Melbourne. She is the Director of the Centre for Asian Business and Economics. Helen’s research interests are corporate governance with focuses on board of directors, ownership structure, CSR, strategic leadership, and internationalization of Asian firms. Her research has been published in top-tier management journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, and Strategic Management Journal. Internationally, her work has been nominated and awarded at leading conferences including the Academy of Management (AOM), Asia Academy of Management (AAOM), Academy of International Business (AIB), Australia and New Zealand International Business Academy (ANZIBA), and Strategic Management Society (SMS). In addition, her publications have been awarded by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (China) and the Asia Pacific Journal of Management.