Event Details

"Product Innovation, Voluntary Disclosure and Firm Performance"

http://www.cam.ac.uk/people/jenny-chu

Abstract:The paper investigates the disclosure of product innovation in new productannouncements. Using textural analysis to construct a new measure of innovationtone, we find that new product announcements with higher innovative tone arepriced positively by the market and are associated with better futureaccounting and stock market performance. We also find that some firms haveincentives to bias innovation tone optimistically when they face internal andexternal pressure to deliver performance. Our empirical results suggest thatsuch bias weakens the positive association between innovation tone and futureperformance. Overall, our study contributes to the understanding ofnon-financial disclosure of innovation information as well as managers’ strategicbehavior in voluntary disclosure.

Short bio:

Dr JennyChu is a University Lecturer in Accounting at the Judge Business School,University of Cambridge. Her main research interests include earnings quality,capital market reactions to accounting information, as well as managementincentives and compensation. Her research has been published in leadingacademic journals such as Management Science and has been featured in majornews outlets such as the Economist, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

Jennycombines teaching and research with a background in investment banking andportfolio management. She has worked on initial public offerings, and mergersand acquisition transactions for technology companies at Credit Suisse inSilicon Valley. She later transitioned into a portfolio management role at thehedge fund division of Barclays Global Investors (now Blackrock).

Jennygraduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She alsoholds MBA and Ph.D. degrees from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley,where she won the CJ White scholarship and the Crawford research assistantfellowship.

Jenny haswon the Cambridge Judge Business School Teaching Award in 2013.