Lehrstuhl für Internationale Rechnungslegung und Wirtschaftsprüfung

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Real effects of the german corporate governance code
(2024) Ali, Irfan; Pott, Christiane; Georgiou, Nadine
The "comply or explain" principle is at the core of corporate governance codes worldwide. It provides firms with the flexibility to either comply with the code's provisions or justify deviations. However, the absence of clear guidelines on the content of how managers should provide these explanations has led to low-quality, generic disclosures, as evident in empirical literature. This thesis comprehensively investigates the effectiveness of the comply-or-explain principle, along with firm-specific governance characteristics such as gender diversity. Our findings indicate that the comply-or-explain principle has several firm-level economic consequences, which vary across countries. The review finds consistent and positive impact for accounting choices and investment efficiency. Our empirical findings on governance disclosure quality show that high-quality information may negatively impact the firm performance of German prime listed firms. Further, different chapters of the code impact firm performance differently, with transparency and financial reporting chapters crucial for firms. Additionally, we also explore how gender diversity on German executive boards impacts corporate risk. The results reveal that that gender diversity significantly affects risk-taking behavior in German public firms. Overall, this thesis provides new insights into the interplay between disclosure quality and firm outcomes, and offers valuable implications for policymakers and practitioners.
A shifting regulatory landscape: the impact of corporate social responsibility disclosure and EU regulations on the judgments of investors and non-financial stakeholders
(2024) Chrzan, Sandra; Pott, Christiane; Kreße, Bernhard
This dissertation presents a thorough investigation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosures across four essays, examining its development, present implementations, regulatory shifts, and impacts on diverse stakeholders. Prompted by the European Union's European Green Deal, the growing focus on sustainability and the incorporation of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into corporate strategies have led to an increased demand for transparent disclosure of companies' ESG performance. This analysis highlights a significant increase in sustainability reporting throughout Europe. Nonetheless, a pronounced lack of consensus and standardization in CSR reporting is identified in this examination, particularly in Germany. The investigation progresses to analyze CSR disclosure's effects on both financial and non-financial stakeholders, addressing the challenges of information asymmetry and the evolving regulatory environment in the EU, which seeks to direct investments towards sustainable entities. The impact of CSR disclosures on corporate reputation among non-financial stakeholders is evaluated. Empirical results indicate no significant impact of CSR reporting on corporate reputation within this group, suggesting that CSR reports may not serve as an effective communication tool. In contrast, CSR disclosures via corporate websites are found to significantly influence corporate reputation among non-financial stakeholders. Further, we explore the EU taxonomy's effect on investors’ judgments, revealing that EU taxonomy indicators enhance transparency for professional investors. Notably, EU taxonomy indicators convey positive signals to private investors, even if the taxonomy indicators are below the presented industry average. Drawing upon these findings, the concluding essay discusses the legal implications for fostering green investments. By merging empirical evidence with theoretical discourse, this dissertation aims to contribute to the understanding and development of CSR reporting. It highlights the critical need for precise, standardized reports taking into account the individual requirements of diverse stakeholder groups. This approach is intended to facilitate sustainable decisions and improve corporate reputation, in alignment with the EU's objectives towards a sustainable economy.
Corporate disclosure and investor sentiment
(2023) Beer, Christian; Pott, Christiane; Hoffjan, Andreas
Investor decision-making relies on accurate, timely information, but market efficiency theories and information asymmetry challenge the ability to outperform the market. Disclosure practices, including the emerging importance of ESG information, play a key role in shaping investor sentiment and market dynamics. Digital platforms, especially social media, have transformed how information is disseminated, influencing corporate disclosure practices and investor reactions. Behavioral finance highlights how psychological factors can lead to deviations from fundamental valuations. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the impact of external shocks on investor sentiment, with government interventions playing a critical role in market responses. Auditing, adapting to include non-financial information like ESG, remains essential in reducing information asymmetry, with modern data-analytic tools like Process Mining offering potential to enhance audit efficiency. This dissertation explores the interplay between financial reporting, news dissemination, auditing practices, and their collective impact on the capital market, highlighting the importance of active corporate communication, government response to crises, and the evolving role of auditing in maintaining market trust.
COVID-19 pandemic and capital markets: the role of government responses
(2022-07-07) Beer, Christian; Maniora, Janine; Pott, Christiane
This paper analyzes the moderation effect of government responses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, proxied by the daily growth in COVID-19 cases and deaths, on the capital market, i.e., the S&P 500 firm’s daily returns. Using the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, we monitor 16 daily indicators for government actions across the fields of containment and closure, economic support, and health for 180 countries in the period from January 1, 2020 to March 15, 2021. We find that government responses mitigate the negative stock market impact and that investors’ sentiment is sensitive to a firm’s country-specific revenue exposure to COVID-19. Our findings indicate that the mitigation effect is stronger for firms that are highly exposed to COVID-19 on the sales side. In more detail, containment and closure policies and economic support mitigate negative stock market impacts, while health system policies support further declines. For firms with high revenue exposure to COVID-19, the mitigation effect is stronger for government economic support and health system initiatives. Containment and closure policies do not mitigate stock price declines due to growing COVID-19 case numbers. Our results hold even after estimating the spread of the pandemic with an epidemiological standard model, namely, the susceptible-infectious-recovered model.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Untersuchung der Auswirkungen aktueller Entwicklungen und Berichtgestaltungsmöglichkeiten auf Unternehmen und Stakeholder
(2022) Banke, Marius; Pott, Christiane; Wilkesmann, Maximiliane
Corporate Social Responsibility stellt einen strategischen Ansatz zur Unternehmensausrichtung dar, in dem der ausschließlich wirtschaftliche Blickwinkel auf unternehmerische Entscheidungen um soziale und ökologische Aspekte ergänzt werden soll. Aktuelle epidemische und rechtliche Entwicklungen wirken sich auf CSR-Maßnahmen in Unternehmen aus und eröffnen neue Forschungslücken. Die vorliegende Dissertation zielt darauf ab, einige der neu aufgekommenen und noch offenen Forschungslücken zu schließen, indem die Auswirkungen der aktuellen Entwicklungen auf Unternehmen und Stakeholder identifiziert werden. Neben einer Untersuchung eines Effekts der Corona-Pandemie auf CSR in mittelständischen Unternehmen werden die Auswirkungen des Reformvorschlags der EU Kommission zur Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive sowie die Verabschiedung des nationalen Lieferkettengesetzes auf Unternehmen festgestellt. Darüber hinaus wird in einem quantitativen Forschungsdesign untersucht, ob mit einer gezielten CSR Berichterstattung eine positive Beeinflussung der Stakeholder möglich ist.
ESG ratings in the corporate reporting of DAX40 companies in Germany: effects on market participants
(2022-08-08) Banke, Marius; Lenger, Stephanie; Pott, Christiane
This study identifies to what extent DAX40 companies integrate ESG rating information into their reporting and whether the disclosure of ESG ratings results has a positive impact on professional and non-professional stakeholders, and thus represents a benefit for the reporting company. Our study shows that 82.5% of DAX40 companies report ESG rating results and we find that the disclosure of ESG rating results is a useful method for reporting companies (compared to non-reporters), as it leads to higher stock prices and better reputations. Considering that ESG rating results can differ substantially among different agencies, therefore, even companies with mixed ESG rating results benefit from reporting. In addition, our results support the literature that non-professional stakeholders use low-threshold information offers as an information channel. We show that companies that additionally report their ESG rating results on company websites generate higher reputation scores compared to companies that do not report their rating results on their websites.
Essays on auditors' and financial reporting - The impact of non-financial disclosures on stakeholders' perceptions
(2021) Höfmann, Michelle; Pott, Christiane; Georgiou, Nadine
This dissertation deals with the recent regulatory changes in audit reporting and non-financial reporting by management and the supervisory board. The first three papers of the dissertation focus on the implementation of key audit matters (KAMs) in the auditor’s report, while the fourth paper investigates the effects of a separate going concern emphasis of matter paragraph and responsibilities paragraphs in the auditor’s report. The last paper focuses on the communication of the management and the supervisory board with the financial statements’ addressees. Our results reveal that KAMs impact audit committee members’ decision making by strengthening their financial statement accountability. But in case the directors are stock-compensated, KAMs can serve as disclaimer and legitimize a more self-serving decision. However, though KAMs impact the decision making, they are only rarely mentioned in the report of the supervisory board. Therefore, the disclosure of KAMs does not increase the reporting quality of this report. There exists also room for improvement of the KAM-reporting itself in order to enhance the communicative value of the auditor’s report. Furthermore, we experimentally investigated whether a going concern emphasis of matter paragraph (GC-EOM) or a responsibilities paragraph in the auditor’s report and the strength of the audit committee influence bank directors’ decision making. Our findings show that a GC-EOM impacts bank directors’ decision making due to a source credibility effect, while we do not find significant effects of a responsibilities paragraph or the strength of the audit committee. The results of the last study reveal extensive room of improvement concerning the language of the reporting tools of management and the supervisory board.
Improving communication in auditing and financial reporting
(2020) Heilmann, Melina; Pott, Christiane; Kreße, Bernhard
Considering the interest of standard setters, researchers and practitioners in improving the effectiveness of disclosures in financial reporting, this dissertation is aimed at examining the communication of auditors, managers and members of the supervisory board with stakeholders. While the first three papers of the dissertation investigate the effects of the recent changes of the auditor’s report, the fourth and the fifth paper examine the report of the supervisory board and the CEO letter regarding their communicative value. The first paper provides a literature overview of studies investigating the impact of the new requirement to disclose Key Audit Matters (KAMs) in the auditor’s report. As it reveals the need for further research regarding KAMs, the dissertation includes two experimental studies examining the effect of KAM disclosure on managers’ reporting behavior and on the audit expectation gap. Our findings indicate a limited impact of KAM disclosures on investors’ perceptions but a positive influence on management behavior, as managers are less likely to make an aggressive financial reporting decision when the auditor’s report includes a KAM. Moreover, we investigate whether the supervisory board refers to KAMs in its annual report. As an effective communication also depends on the language used in financial disclosures, we also provide a textual analysis of reports of the supervisory board and CEO letters that reveals potential for improvement. Overall, the dissertation highlights the importance of an effective communication by auditors and board directors with stakeholders.
Gesamturteil des Abschlussprüfers (Wirtschaftsprüfers) nach der Prüfung eines Jahres- oder Konzernabschlusses
(2020) Sträter, Leonard; Pott, Christiane; Kreße, Bernhard
Unter öffentlichen Stakeholdern besteht eine durchaus verbreitete Fehlvorstellung, der Bestätigungsvermerk garantiere eine wirtschaftliche Gesundheit des geprüften Unternehmens, was - jedenfalls de lege lata - mitnichten zutreffend ist. De lege lata ist der Bestätigungsvermerk als zentrales Instrument der externen Unternehmensberichterstattung eher im Sinne eines Formaltestats ausgestaltet, dessen Bedeutungsgehalt sich darin erschöpft, die rechts- und gesetzeskonforme Rechnungslegung im Berichtszeitraum mit der Rechtswirkung einer öffentlichen Urkunde zu bekräftigen. Die Inkongruenz zwischen dem normativen Imperativ und der Erwartungshaltung der öffentlichen Stakeholder wird als Erwartungslücke bezeichnet. Die Erwartungslücke begründet eine Analyse, die der Frage nachgeht, welche grundlegenden Anforderungen der Bestätigungsvermerk angesichts eines weltweit zirkulierenden Kapitals idealiter erfüllen sollte. Wie sollte der Bestätigungsvermerk, de lege ferenda, ausgestaltet sein, um die Erwartungshaltung der öffentlichen Stakeholder und den tatsächlichen Mehrwert des Bestätigungsvermerks in Einklang zu bringen? Was vermag der Bestätigungsvermerk unter dem Gesichtspunkt einer verbesserten Kapitalmarkteffizienz überhaupt zu leisten? Wo liegen die Grenzen der Regulierung? Im Rahmen der Darstellung wird zunächst der grundlegende Wirkungsmechanismus des Bestätigungsvermerks de lege lata erläutert. Auf dieser Basis zieht sie Schlussfolgerungen in Bezug auf die künftige gesetzliche Ausgestaltung des Bestätigungsvermerks und analysiert die öffentliche Erwartungslücke im Hinblick auf die Zielsetzung, abschließend einen im Sinne der Reduzierung der Erwartungslücke weiterentwickelten Bestätigungsvermerk für die wirtschaftliche Praxis zu formulieren. Um ein solches Testat zu erhalten, wurden Expertenbefragungen durchgeführt und ausgewertet, um der Frage nachzugehen, wie der Bestätigungsvermerk unter den Bedingungen von wirtschaftlicher Globalisierung und technologischer Digitalisierung sinnvoll weiterentwickelt werden kann.
Einsatz von Datenanalyse-Tools in der Wirtschaftsprüfung: eine qualitative Analyse
(2020) Islami, Blerina; Pott, Christiane; Strese, Steffen
Das Ziel der Jahresabschlussprüfung liegt in der Abgabe eines hinreichend sicheren Urteils über die Verlässlichkeit und damit die Ordnungsmäßigkeit des Jahresabschlusses unter Beachtung des Grundsatzes der Wirtschaftlichkeit. Infolge des aus der Digitalisierung resultierenden Anstiegs der jährlichen Geschäftsvorfälle sowie der wachsenden Komplexität der IT-Systemlandschaften auf der Mandantenseite sehen sich Abschlussprüfer zunehmend einer enormen Datenflut ausgesetzt und die Erreichung dieses Ziels wird entsprechend schwieriger. Die vorliegende Untersuchung zielt auf die Identifikation von für die Abschlussprüfung relevanten Datenanalyse-Tools sowie des derzeitigen Anwendungsausmaßes dieser ab. Weiterhin werden die wesentlichen Ursachen für eben dieses Anwendungsausmaß aufgezeigt und Handlungsempfehlungen für eine erfolgreiche Integration in den Abschlussprüfungsprozess abgeleitet.
Essays zum Mittelstand – Auswirkungen von Finanzierungsbeschränkungen, IFRS und CSR-RLUG
(2019) Lenger, Stephanie; Pott, Christiane; Georgiou, Nadine
Sample size and error containment judgments in non-statistical audit sampling - the sensivity of auditors to a revision of professional standards
(2019) Baumeister, Daniel; Pott, Christiane; Hoffjan, Andreas
This cumulative dissertation deals with audit sampling theory, the revision of corresponding professional audit sampling standards, and the behavioral impact of the latter on auditors’ decisions over sample size and error containment, as well as the cognitive challenges that auditors are faced with when applying non-statistical sampling procedures. Three conceptual papers review the development of audit sampling techniques and technological demands throughout the profession over the last four decades. The dissertation identifies the audit sampling fundamentals that drive the most disruptive problems in the field and evaluates changes planned in the first revision of audit sampling standards in Germany in the past thirty years. Conceptual analyses show that audit sampling must be considered in any financial statement audit and that the presence of multiple methodological opportunities facilitates its broad-ranging application. However, the actual implementation of these procedures leads to potential flaws. In particular, a uniform utilization of audit sampling, suited to a variety of audit situations, is a goal that cannot be achieved by any of the currently available procedures provided through professional standards, whether national or international. Based on the outcome of a first empirical study, two experiments focus on the possible impact of a revision in professional auditing standards on auditor behavior regarding the desired audit scope and a reasonable treatment of disclosed error causes. Regarding the intended revision, our analysis assumes a positive association between the new guidance and the future performance of sampling procedures. Combined with the empirical results from the latter paper, the expectations involved point to a potential prevention of ongoing flawed auditor behavior by the acquisition of larger sample sizes and the offering of a better sensitization towards arbitrary error containment.
Essays on the effectiveness of KAM disclosure in auditor's reports
(2018) Rematzki, Johanna; Pott, Christiane; Flatten, Tessa
This cumulative dissertation examines the effectiveness of key audit matters (KAMs) in the auditor’s report. The first paper investigates whether KAMs contribute to the audit expectation gap. While standard setters and regulators suggest that the expanded auditor's report will be a lot clearer when KAM disclosure is included, researchers believe that the audit expectation gap is rather an educational gap which exists because financial statement users are not aware of auditor’s responsibilities, even in the presence of KAMs. Our results reveal that KAM disclosure may not serve as a beneficial tool to narrow the audit expectation gap. The second paper examines the effect of linguistic characteristics in KAM disclosure on investors’ behavior in two ways: investors’ tendency to scrutinize managerial decision-making and investors' willingness to invest. While our findings show no significant differences for investors’ tendency to scrutinize managerial judgment making, we find that investors receiving an auditor's report with firm-specific information are less willing to invest in the company than investors who received an auditor’s report with standardized language. The third paper examines whether KAM disclosure influences managerial decision-making. We provide evidence that managers engage less in earnings management activities when the level of transparency in the auditor’s report increases. The fourth paper analyzes expanded auditor’s reports of CDAX listed companies in Germany. Our results show that the auditor identifies a wide variety of accounting matters in KAM disclosure which increases the informational value of the “new” auditor’s report. However, we also find that boilerplate and standardized language still exists. Taken together, the dissertation sheds light on the potential costs and benefits of KAM disclosure in the auditor’s report.
Bilanzanalyse von Krankenhäusern - eine empirische Untersuchung zum Profilvergleich von Jahresabschlüssen nach IDW PS 270
(2018) Brinkmann, Christina; Pott, Christiane; Lachmann, Maik
In dieser Dissertation ist ein Modell entwickelt worden, das die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Bestandsgefährdung eines Krankenhauses berechnet, die vom Wirtschaftsprüfer im Rahmen der Jahresabschlussprüfung zu beurteilen ist. Basis der Untersuchung ist die nach fest definierten Kriterien vorgenommene Auswahl von 430 Jahresabschlüssen deutscher, nicht kapitalmarktorientierter Krankenhäuser, die überwiegend in der Rechtsform einer GmbH geführt werden. Zur Identifizierung und Klassifizierung der bestandsgefährdeten Krankenhäuser dient das Urteil des Wirtschaftsprüfers zur Fortführung der Unternehmenstätigkeit. Jedem dieser Krankenhäuser wird ein nach Jahr, Größe, Träger und Leistungsstruktur vergleichbares, nicht bestandsgefährdetes Krankenhaus gegenübergestellt. Es folgt die Berechnung von 128 Bilanzanalysekennzahlen für den gesamten Datenbestand. In einem mehrschrittigen Verfahren werden die Kennzahlen ausgewählt, die die bestandsgefährdeten und die nicht bestandsgefährdeten Krankenhäuser am besten voneinander trennen. Zur Auswahl der final in das Modell als erklärende Variablen aufzunehmenden Kennzahlen werden zwei verschiedene Ansätze angewendet. Neben der argumentativ-theoretischen Kennzahlenauswahl wird im Wesentlichen die Faktorenanalyse als statistische Methode zur Strukturierung und Zusammenfassung von Kennzahlen eingesetzt. Im Ergebnis sind die ausgewählten Kennzahlen in jeweils einer logistischen Regression zusammengefasst. Sie dienen sowohl zur Ermittlung der Wahrscheinlichkeit der Bestandsgefährdung in dem Jahr, in dem der Wirtschaftsprüfer diese testiert, als auch zur rechtzeitigen Identifizierung bestandsgefährdender Tatsachen in den drei Jahren zuvor. In Abhängigkeit vom Betrachtungszeitpunkt hat jedes Modell seine Stärken. Es ergibt sich keine eindeutige Überlegenheit von einem der beiden Ansätze zur Kennzahlenauswahl. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie belegen, dass die Bestandsgefährdung, wie sie in den Jahresabschlüssen testiert wurde, mit einer hohen Genauigkeit von einer auf Bilanzanalysekennzahlen basierenden Gleichung berechnet werden kann. Es ist möglich, das verbale Urteil des Wirtschaftsprüfers auf Basis objektiv berechenbarer Angaben nachzubilden. Bereits drei Jahre bevor der Wirtschaftsprüfer die Bestandsgefährdung tatsächlich testiert, sind die Profile der zukünftig bestandsgefährdeten von den nicht bestandsgefährdeten Krankenhäusern anhand von Bilanzanalysekennzahlen zu unterscheiden.
Determinanten der Forschungsperformance im Accounting: eine netzwerkbasierte Analyse
(2017) Plietsch, Daniela; Pott, Christiane; Eulerich, Marc
Die Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit Determinanten der Forschungsperformance in der Fachdisziplin Accounting und analysiert in diesem Kontext insbesondere den Einfluss von Netzwerken wissenschaftlicher Zusammenarbeit. Diese werden auf Basis von aktuellen Publikationen aus fünf führenden Nordamerikanischen Journalen der Fachdisziplin Accounting konstruiert und unter Zuhilfenahme von graphentheoretischen Zentralitätskonzepten analysiert. Dieses Vorgehen ermöglicht eine Quantifizierung der strukturellen Einbettung eines Akteurs, welche nach der Sozialkapitaltheorie maßgeblich für den Nutzen ist, der dem Akteur aus seiner Mitgliedschaft im Netzwerk erwächst. Die Ergebnisse belegen, dass eine zentrale Position im Netzwerk einen positiv signifikanten Einfluss auf die zukünftige Forschungsperformance eines Wissenschaftlers bzw. einer Wissenschaftlerin hat.
The impact of financial and non-financial disclosure on corporate reputation among non-professional stakeholders
(2017-07) Axjonow, Anastasia; Pott, Christiane; Posch, Peter N.
This dissertation deals with non-financial disclosure, erroneous financial disclosure, and their impact on corporate reputation among non-professional stakeholders. First, we analyze the organization of corporate social responsibility activities and the disclosure of these activities by German SMEs. We find that SMEs implement many CSR activities. However, they are often faced by certain difficulties and challenges when implementing these activities. Moreover, the findings show that stand-alone CSR reporting is still less common among SMEs than among large companies. Second, the dissertation investigates the quality of forecasts in stand-alone CSR reports. We provide evidence that the quality is insufficient and the published forecasts are hardly able to provide decision-useful information. Hence, we provide important implications for standard setters to offer more detailed forecast reporting requirements for CSR disclosure. Third, the dissertation comprises an analysis of the relation between CSR disclosure and corporate reputation among non-professional stakeholders for German and US firms. We show that the issuance of stand-alone CSR reports has no impact on corporate reputation among non-professional stakeholders. Moreover, we demonstrate that stakeholder type and CSR disclosure source play an important role in influencing reputational perceptions, offering important practical implications for companies when deciding where to publish CSR information, depending on the stakeholder group to be addressed. The last part of the dissertation focuses on the impact of unethical behavior, namely the disclosure of erroneous financial information, on corporate reputation among non-professional stakeholders. We provide evidence of a negative association between accounting misstatements and corporate reputation as perceived by non-professional stakeholders. This result demonstrates that firms’ accounting misstatement activities indeed harm corporate reputation among non-professional stakeholders. To summarize, this thesis provides important insights for standard setters concerning the disclosure of forecast information in CSR reports and for firms, regarding reactions of non-professional stakeholders to ethical behavior in form of CSR disclosure and unethical behavior in form of accounting misstatements. Investigations of non-professional stakeholders are underrepresented in prior accounting research. Hence, this dissertation sheds light on the reputational reactions of these important stakeholder groups to corporate reporting.

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