Prior research has documented the empirical regularity that more firms than expected (i) report small positive earnings and (ii) have zero forecast errors. It appears that management avoid reporting negative earnings or disappointing analysts. We investigate how and why firms beat these...

In this paper we examine whether the utilization of independent valuers provides a credible signal about the underlying reliability of upward asset revaluations. A sample of recognized Australian asset revaluations is used to compare the reliability of independent and director based revaluations...

Existing research indicates that firms with high accruals are more likely to experience future earnings reversals and SEC enforcement actions for GAAP violations, but that investors do not appear to anticipate these consequences. In this paper, we directly examine the published opinions of two...

This paper examines the dynamic behavior of analysts' earnings forecasts over the twelve months preceding annual earnings announcements. We investigate the claim that analysts make optimistic forecasts at the start of the year and then 'walk down' their estimates to a level the firm is likely to...

We use an accounting-based approach to link two primary measures of ‘value' to expected returns for countries: earnings-to-price (E/P) and book-to-price (B/P). We document that when country-level earnings are less affected by accounting distortions related to conservative accounting for...

Value investing is the age-old investment strategy that involves buying securities that appear cheap relative to some fundamental anchor. For equity investors that anchor is typically a measure of intrinsic value linked to financial statement variables. Recently, there has been much written...

We extend the analysis of systematic investment approaches to emerging market (EM) fixed income. We focus on hard currency bonds issued by emerging sovereign and quasi-sovereign entities. We find that systematic exposures linked to carry, defensive, momentum and valuation themes are well...

This paper lays out a decomposition of book-to-price (B/P) that articulates precisely how B/P quot;absorbsquot; leverage. The B/P ratio can be decomposed into an enterprise book-to-price (that pertains to operations and potentially reflects operating risk) and a leverage component (that reflects...

We examine whether managers' trading decisions (both at a firm and personal level) are correlated with trading strategies suggested by the operating accruals and the post-earnings announcement drift (SUE) anomalies. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of the use of managerial trading...

Security regulators and the business press have alleged that firms play an 'earnings-guidance game' where analysts make optimistic forecasts at the start of the year and then 'walk down' their estimates to a level the firm can beat by the end of the year. In a comprehensive sample of I/B/E/S...