The informativeness of consolidated and parent-only earnings to investors: Evidence from India
Sudhakar V. Balachandran | Sudershan Kuntluru | Hariom Manchiraju | Sumeet Rajput | Contemporary Accounting Research | November 2025
Abstract
We examine whether earnings from parent-only financial statements are incrementally informative to those from consolidated financial statements. We use a unique mandate in India that requires firms to provide both consolidated and parent-level financial statements, since currently neither US GAAP nor IFRS mandates this level of disaggregation. While disaggregation provides additional information, it also imposes costs, raising the empirical question of whether its benefits outweigh the costs. Our analyses reveal that disaggregated quarterly earnings components inform investors, with investors placing more weight on parent-level unexpected earnings than on subsidiaries’ unexpected earnings. We do not find evidence of mispricing associated with disaggregation; rather, the higher weight on the parent’s earnings reflects higher persistence, consistent with semi-strong market efficiency. Moreover, parent earnings provide incremental informativeness, especially in the context of poor earnings quality and high mergers and acquisitions intensity. Our results endure when we examine annual parent- and subsidiary-level earnings, where available, in 98 countries around the world. Our results contribute to the literature on disaggregation in accounting and earnings informativeness in equity markets, offering insights that may influence regulatory considerations on the usefulness of financial statement disaggregation.
Praharshita Krishna | Adrija Majumdar | Indranil Bose | Production and Operations Management | December 2025
Abstract
A developer’s popularity plays a crucial role in their success within open source software (OSS) communities and their access to sponsorship opportunities. This study seeks to answer the question: which signals have the most predictive power for popularity and sponsorship volume on social coding platforms? Using algorithm-supported abductive theory generation supplemented by qualitative insights from observations and interviews, we arrive at a theory of peer evaluation in OSS communities. We examine a large number of signals and categorize them. The two categories are signaling via self-disclosure through profile signals and signaling via contribution quantity and quality through behavioral signals. The large amount of data available to us allows us to use machine learning techniques to arrive at top-ranking predictors within each category. We generate our theory by finding robust patterns and test our theory using a hold-out sample. Our findings indicate that easily observable credibility-enhancing and approachability-related developer profile signals hold greater predictive importance in shaping popularity. However, harder to observe and more complex behavioral signals show greater predictive importance for sponsorship volume. These results signify that OSS social coding platforms are not meritocratic, as developer self-disclosure significantly influences popularity. In contrast, sponsorship decisions, due to their high cost and irreversibility, depend on within-platform contribution-related signals. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of popularity and sponsorship within peer-to-peer followership networks in OSS communities. Through our research, platforms are better informed about the predictors of popularity and sponsorship and can introduce measures to enhance the meritocratic nature of these communities. Developers who seek influence and sponsorship on the platform can be more strategic about information disclosure and their contributions.
Preventing Defaults in Response to Deteriorating BankHealth: The Prompt Corrective Action Approach
Nishant Kashyap | Sriniwas Mahapatro | Prasanna Tantri | Contemporary Accounting Research | February 2026
Abstract
Prior research shows that borrowers are more likely to default when their banks are financially distressed, particularly where contract enforcement is weak. We examine whether regulatory intervention in the form of Prompt Corrective Action (PCA), which seeks to improve bank health through enhanced monitoring, reverses such defaults. To address this question, we exploit the bright-line entry thresholds in India’s PCA regime using a regression discontinuity framework. We first show that such defaults exist in India. Our main result is that PCA intervention significantly reduces such defaults. The result is robust to variation in methodology and alternative definitions of bank health. Our evidence suggests that PCA reduces such defaults by credibly signaling to borrowers the likely restoration of bank health and continuity of lending relationships. Its effectiveness was reinforced by an earlier regulatory reform that improved the timeliness of loan-loss provisioning, enhancing the credibility of enforcement. Overall, our findings suggest that PCA, when underpinned by credible financial reporting, can serve as an effective policy tool to curb strategic defaults.
Predictive Hotspot Mapping for Data-Driven Crime Prediction
Karthik Sriram | Ankur Sinha | Suvashis Choudhary | Production and Operations Management | February 2026
Abstract
Predictive hotspot mapping is an important problem in crime prediction and control. An accurate hotspot mapping helps in appropriately targeting the available resources to manage crime in cities. With an aim to make data-driven decisions and automate policing and patrolling operations, police departments across the world are moving toward predictive approaches relying on historical data. In this paper, we create a nonparametric model using a spatiotemporal kernel density formulation for the purpose of crime prediction based on historical data. The proposed approach is also able to incorporate expert inputs coming from humans through alternate sources. The approach has been extensively evaluated in a real-world setting by collaborating with the Delhi police department to make crime predictions that would help in effective assignment of patrol vehicles to control street crime. The results obtained in the paper are promising and can be easily applied in other settings. We release the algorithm and the dataset (masked) used in our study to support future research that will be useful in achieving further improvements.
Pooja Thakur-Wernz | Chitra Singla | Olga Bruyaka | Journal of Business Ethics | March 2026
Abstract
Why do some firms voluntarily exceed legally mandated requirements for corporate social responsibility (CSR)? We examine this question in the context of India, an emerging economy where the Companies Act of 2013 mandates eligible firms to spend 2% of profits on CSR. This institutional setting provides a clear benchmark for identifying firms’ CSR overspending, voluntary spending beyond the mandated threshold, as a substantive form of CSR engagement rather than compliance. Drawing on agency and stakeholder theories, we argue that family ownership influences CSR overspending through specific governance mechanisms: (a) overlapping membership between CSR and stakeholder relations committees and (b) female representation on the CSR committee. From an agency perspective, family owners pursue non-economic objectives such as preserving the family’s legacy and reputation. From a stakeholder perspective, they are particularly attentive to maintaining societal legitimacy. We propose that as family ownership increases, CSR governance becomes less oriented toward CSR spending compliance and more toward stakeholder preferences, leading to CSR overspending. Using panel data from 601 publicly listed Indian firms (2015–2024), we find robust empirical support for our research model. Our findings suggest that in a context where family ownership is widespread, CSR overspending represents a strategic choice shaped by family owners’ preferences and channeled through CSR governance mechanisms. This study contributes to research on family-firm ethics and CSR governance in emerging economies by clarifying how ownership and CSR committee composition influence CSR spending beyond compliance.
Source: Research and Publications Office, IIM Ahmedabad.
