Seminario Supplier Disclosures and Customer Performance

The seminar is reserved for the Department of Management community. Other interested colleagues can contact the Reference Person below for information.

Abstract

This study examines information transmission within supply-chain relationships. We focus on the informativeness and real effects of suppliers’ voluntary disclosures about their major customers during quarterly conference calls. Using 10-K filings to identify supplier-customer links, we find that supplier discussions of customers convey decision-useful and forward-looking information. Negative supplier sentiment predicts lower current and future customer earnings, and more future news coverage. Extending the analysis to financial coordination, we show that supplier disclosure tone is associated with subsequent changes in customers’ payment periods: positive sentiment corresponds to longer payable periods, while negative sentiment predicts shorter ones. These results indicate that supplier disclosures provide early signals of both operational and financial outcomes for major customers. Our findings suggest that suppliers’ voluntary disclosures serve as a mechanism for transferring private operational and financial information across firms, shaping both market expectations and coordination within supply-chain networks.

Short Bio

Pietro A. Bianchi Fedrigoni joined the Department of Accounting at Bocconi University in 2024. Prior to this, he worked at Florida International University, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in the summer of 2024, as well as at the University of South Florida and the University of Miami. Pietro earned his Ph.D. from IE Business School in Spain.

His research interests encompass corporate governance, auditing, social network analysis, and financial reporting for private firms with an international focus. His work has been presented at numerous national and international conferences and published in top accounting journals, including Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, and European Accounting Review. Pietro has received multiple awards for his research, teaching, and service. He also serves on the Editorial Reviewer Boards of several prominent accounting journals, including The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Accounting Horizons, and Journal of Accounting and Public Policy.

His teaching expertise includes financial reporting, with experience teaching US GAAP and IFRS, Financial Statement Analysis, and Accounting for Value at the undergraduate and master’s levels.  Since September 2025, Pietro has served as director of the undergraduate program in Business Administration and Management (Corso di Laurea in Economia Aziendale e Management, CLEAM).

Before entering academia, he worked for several accounting firms in Milan. He is a licensed Chartered Accountant (Dottore Commercialista) and Statutory Auditor (Revisore dei Conti) in Italy.

For information: Eleonora Monaco (e.monaco@unibo.it)