Schrand, Catherine M.; Zechman, Sarah L.C. - In: Journal of Accounting and Economics 53 (2012) 1, pp. 311-329
A detailed analysis of 49 firms subject to AAERs suggests that approximately one-quarter of the misstatements meet the legal standards of intent. In the remaining three quarters, the initial misstatement reflects an optimistic bias that is not necessarily intentional. Because of the bias,...