Sandra Schafhäutle

Sandra Schafhäutle (Working), Commodity Supply Chains and Local Environmental Regulation.

Abstract: This paper examines the effects of local environmental regulation on the sourcing patterns of commodity trading firms (i.e., firms that source commodities from upstream producers and distribute these commodities further downstream). Exploiting a transparency and enforcement regulation targeting producers in deforestation-intense Brazilian municipalities, I find trading firms do not reallocate their sourcing from regulated to unregulated municipalities. However, trading firms reduce their exposure to upstream deforestation and scope 3 emissions associated with their sourcing in both regulated and unregulated locations. Although the direct effect in regulated municipalities could reflect the first-order responses by producers, the positive spillover effect in unregulated municipalities suggests trading firms actively invest in sustainable sourcing. Yet, not all firms exhibit a positive spillover effect: this effect is concentrated in trading firms exposed to stringent local enforcement actions and committed to zero deforestation sourcing. I conclude that upstream supply chain shocks can have transmission effects on agents further down in supply chains, evidenced by global trading firms adopting firm-wide sourcing strategies that can shape the efficacy of local environmental regulation.

Sandra Schafhäutle and David Veenman (2024), Crowdsourced Forecasts and the Market Reaction to Earnings Announcement News, The Accounting Review, March 1st 2024, 99 (2), pp. 421-456.

Abstract: This study examines whether crowdsourced forecasts of earnings and revenues help investors unravel bias in earnings announcement news, which is commonly derived from analyst forecasts. Our results suggest that investors, on average, understand and price the predictive signals reflected in crowdsourced forecasts about the bias in analyst-based earnings and revenue surprises. Using the staggered addition of firms to the Estimize platform, we find that crowdsourced coverage is associated with reductions in the mispricing of forecast bias and declines in earnings announcement premia. We further find some evidence that managers use income-increasing accruals to meet the crowdsourced forecast benchmark and that they respond to crowdsourced coverage through increased downward earnings and revenue guidance. Overall, we conclude that user-generated content on crowdsourced financial information platforms helps investors discount biases in traditional equity research and thereby better process the news in earnings announcements.

Sandra Schafhäutle (Working), Why Disclose Privately? Shareholder Litigation Risk and Managers’ Private Disclosure of Earnings Warnings.

Abstract: This paper examines managers’ private disclosure to analysts in the context of shareholder litigation risk. I first validate that my proxy for private earnings warnings disclosure (based on sell-side analysts' forecast revisions relative to benchmark forecasters) is predictive of future adverse firm performance and positively associated with analysts’ private access to managers. Next, I exploit plausibly exogenous changes in shareholder litigation risk based on judge ideology to understand managerial incentives to engage in private disclosure. Consistent with theory, I find managers' propensity to provide private earnings warnings increases when shareholder litigation risk increases. This effect is concentrated among firms that do not already provide public earnings guidance and firms that face high proprietary costs. I conclude that, in response to increases in shareholder litigation risk, managers use private disclosure to indirectly influence market earnings expectations, and they consider disclosure-channel-specific costs and benefits when choosing to do so.