Whether fair value accounting should be used in financial reporting has been the subject of debate for many years. A key dimension to this debate is whether fair value earnings can provide information to financial statement users that is helpful in making their economic decisions. A criticism of...

I find that the value relevant components of special items and discontinued operations at the industry-level provide useful information to assess the performance of intangibles. Special items send noisy signals about future growth opportunities for firms within an industry, while discontinued...