We consider stock markets in 20 countries to investigate whether the accrual anomaly (Sloan 1996), characterized by U.S. stock prices overweighting the role of accrual persistence, is a local manifestation of a global phenomenon. We explore whether the occurrence of the anomaly is related to...

This paper extends the work of Sloan (1996) by linking accrual reliability to earnings persistence. We construct a model showing that less reliable accruals lead to lower earnings persistence. We then develop a comprehensive balance sheet categorization of accruals and rate each category...

Prior studies suggest that managers use their reporting discretion to signal their private information. Because managers are often assumed to use their discretion to mislead investors, we conjecture that, without a second corroborating signal, discretionary accruals are likely to be regarded as...

This study investigates the market valuation of income smoothing via a long run analysis of the relationship between income smoothing and return and risk in the Spanish stock market. The results suggest that firms that smooth income appear to yield higher stock returns than firms that do not;...

The relationship between accounting information and capital markets has been the subject of numerous studies, especially in the US. The purpose of this article is to examine the corresponding evidence in Europe. This review classifies the European literature into three groups: studies of the...

This paper examines the effect of income smoothing on information uncertainty, stock returns, and cost of equity. I show that income smoothing through both total accruals and discretionary accruals tends to reduce firms' information uncertainty, as measured by stock return volatility, analyst...

We examine the effect of earnings surprises on changes in information asymmetry. We hypothesize and find that asymmetry is lower (higher) in the quarter following positive (negative) earnings surprises compared to firms that meet the consensus analyst earnings forecast. The relations between...

Flotation costs represent a significant loss of capital to firms and are positively related to information asymmetry between managers and outside investors. We measure a firm's information asymmetry by its accounting information quality based on two extensions of the Dechow and Dichev earnings...

Controlling for firm-specific characteristics determining financial reporting quality, this paper finds evidence of a negative association between firms' total risk and financial reporting quality. While the results imply that firms providing financial information of higher quality do not...