Sandra Schafhäutle

Research Interests: corporate disclosure, alternative data and investor information processing, regulation, the intersection of accounting and environmental economics.

• Sandra Schafhäutle and Gurpal S. Sran, Redacted Identities in Shipment Records: Evidence from Forced Labor Scrutiny in Supply Chains. Abstract

  US Customs and Border Protection allows firms to request redaction of their own (and their suppliers’) identifying information in transaction-level shipment records. We find that about 16% of shipment records from 2013 through 2023 have redacted identities, with significant variation across time, origin regions, and other shipment characteristics. Along with examining proprietary costs as a motive for firms to redact identities, we focus on an important but understudied force: supply chain scrutiny costs related to forced labor risks. Consistent with such costs, shipments from countries with forced labor vulnerabilities and weak government responses to forced labor are more likely to have redacted identities. We then exploit a series of events related to forced labor allegations in international cotton and apparel production that intensified supply chain scrutiny related to forced labor risks. Using a difference-in-difference-in-differences design, we find an increase in redactions for affected cotton and apparel shipments after these events. Overall, our evidence suggests that importers redact identities from shipment records in the presence of supply chain scrutiny costs introduced by public and regulatory attention to corporate social responsibility.

• Sandra Schafhäutle (Working), The Spillover Effects of Environmental Transparency and Enforcement Regulation: Evidence From Commodity Trading Firms. 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.

Current Courses

• ACCT9430 - Research In Accounting Iv

  This is Part IV of a theoretical and empirical literature survey sequence covering topics that include corporate disclosure, cost of capital, incentives, compensation, governance, financial intermediation, financial reporting, tax, agency theory, cost accounting, capital structure, international financial reporting, analysts, and market efficiency. Please contact the accounting doctoral coordinator for information on the specific upcoming modules/topics that will be taught.

  ACCT9430301 ( Syllabus )

Past Courses

• ACCT1010 - Acct & Financial Report

  This course is an introduction to the basic concepts and standards underlying financial accounting systems. Several important concepts will be studied in detail, including: revenue recognition, inventory, long-lived assets, present value, and long term liabilities. The course emphasizes the construction of the basic financial accounting statements - the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement - as well as their interpretation.

• ACCT9420 - Research in Acct IIi

  This is Part III of a theoretical and empirical literature survey sequence covering topics that include corporate disclosure, cost of capital, incentives, compensation, governance, financial intermediation, financial reporting, tax, agency theory, cost accounting, capital structure, international financial reporting, analysts, and market efficiency. Please contact the accounting doctoral coordinator for information on the specific upcoming modules/topics that will be taught.

• ACCT9430 - Research in Acct Iv

  This is Part IV of a theoretical and empirical literature survey sequence covering topics that include corporate disclosure, cost of capital, incentives, compensation, governance, financial intermediation, financial reporting, tax, agency theory, cost accounting, capital structure, international financial reporting, analysts, and market efficiency. Please contact the accounting doctoral coordinator for information on the specific upcoming modules/topics that will be taught.

Knowledge @ Wharton

• Lessons from COVID-19: Health Care’s Progress and Shortcomings Five Years Later, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/12/2025
• How COVID-19 Changed the World, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/11/2025
• How Tax Credits in Renewable Energy Finance Distort Outcomes, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/11/2025
• Why Hybrid Intelligence Is the Future of Human-AI Collaboration, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/11/2025
• The Psychology of Paying Taxes | Alex Rees-Jones, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/11/2025
• How Tariffs Are Reshaping Aviation: Supply Chains, Costs, and Consumers, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/07/2025
• NFL Combine with Kevin Cole, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/05/2025
• Retail’s Tough Reality: Lessons from Joann’s Closure, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/05/2025
• Why Does Gender Income Inequality Still Exist in the U.S.?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/04/2025
• Women Moving Forward: Collected Insights, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/04/2025