Financial Reporting, Reputation, and Earnings Quality

A special issue of International Journal of Financial Studies (ISSN 2227-7072).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 2881

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Accounting and Finance, School of Business and Administration, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USA
Interests: ESG; compensation; analyst forecast; earnings management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With increasing demands from stakeholders in the capital market, the role of financial reporting in shaping firm reputation and ensuring earnings quality has become more critical than ever. This Special Issue of the International Journal of Financial Studies focuses on the relationships among financial disclosures, corporate credibility, and capital market valuation. We invite original contributions that examine how the credibility, integrity, and quality of financial reporting influence firm reputation, investor behavior, valuation, and regulatory responses—particularly in light of advances in information technology. We welcome both theoretical and empirical papers, including interdisciplinary approaches that draw on insights from accounting, finance, corporate governance, and economics. 

The main topics of interest are as follows: 

  • Earnings quality and its implications for firm value and risk;
  • Financial reporting and corporate reputation in capital markets;
  • Analyst forecasts, media coverage, and reputational signaling;
  • Real vs. accrual earnings management and market reactions;
  • Restatements, fraud, and financial misreporting consequences;
  • Audit quality and assurance mechanisms in preserving earnings credibility;
  • Financial disclosure transparency and investor trust;
  • Cross-jurisdictional studies on reporting standards and economic consequences;
  • ESG-related disclosure quality and reputational capital;
  • Computational and AI-based approaches to measuring earnings quality.

Dr. Seong Yeon Cho
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Financial Studies is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • financial reporting
  • earnings quality
  • capital markets
  • earnings management
  • audit quality

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 325 KB  
Article
The Impact of Trade Secrecy Protection on Audit Pricing
by Peng Gao, Karel Hrazdil, Jiyuan Li and Jingjing Xia
Int. J. Financial Stud. 2025, 13(4), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijfs13040203 - 1 Nov 2025
Viewed by 141
Abstract
Because auditors have access to corporate information, a firm’s decision to protect material trade secrets should, in principle, not influence audit effort. We analyze the effects of trade secrecy protection on the audit fees, documenting that firms with redacted information pay significantly higher [...] Read more.
Because auditors have access to corporate information, a firm’s decision to protect material trade secrets should, in principle, not influence audit effort. We analyze the effects of trade secrecy protection on the audit fees, documenting that firms with redacted information pay significantly higher fees than those that do not redact information. In cross-sectional tests, we further document that the relationship between redaction and audit fees is significantly influenced by both auditor and client characteristics. Consistent with the premise that redaction increases the complexity of the audit—particularly if auditors view redacted disclosures as indicators of potential business or litigation risk—the regression results indicate that the main effect is moderated by auditor factors such as specialization, tenure, and quality, as well as client factors like existing relationships, bargaining power, and reporting quality. These insights contribute to ongoing discussions in audit policy by illustrating how confidential disclosure practices affect audit effort and costs. Overall, our results inform policymakers seeking to reconcile firms’ proprietary information protection with public interest in transparent and credible financial reporting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Financial Reporting, Reputation, and Earnings Quality)
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