Are earnings quality attributes reflected in financial strength ratings?

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 293-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Ames ◽  
Chris S. Hines ◽  
Jomo Sankara
Keyword(s):  
Insurance Industry ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Earnings Persistence ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Accrual Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Strength ◽  
Reported Earnings ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether earnings quality attributes are reflected in AM best's financial strength ratings (FSRs), a measure widely used in the insurance industry to assess financial health. Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of insurance companies during the period 2006-2012, the authors measure the quality of reported earnings using three accounting-based measures: earnings persistence, accrual quality, and earnings smoothness. Findings – The authors find that better earnings persistence, higher accrual quality, and less earnings smoothing are reflected in higher FSRs for both public and private insurers, with the magnitude of the effect greater for private insurers. Originality/value – This is the first study of which the authors are aware that seeks to understand the impact, if any, of variations in the quality of reported financial information on the perceived financial health of firms by ratings agencies in the insurance industry. The authors also include a novel research design in assessing the determinants of financial health ratings. Users of FSRs should be aware of the impact of ownership structure on ratings agencies’ propensity to incorporate reported earnings attributes in their ratings.

The quality of earnings in Shariah-compliant companies: evidence from Malaysia

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wan Adibah Wan Ismail ◽  
Khairul Anuar Kamarudin ◽  
Siti Rahayu Sarman
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Accrual Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reported Earnings

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the quality of reported earnings in the corporate reports of Shariah-compliant companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – This study hypothesises that companies with Shariah compliance status have higher quality of earnings because of greater demand for and supply of high-quality financial reports. The quality of reported earnings is measured using the cross-sectional Dechow and Dichev (2002) accrual quality model. The study uses a balanced panel data of 3,048 observations from 508 companies during a six-year period of 2003-2008. Findings – This paper finds robust evidence that Shariah-compliant companies have significantly higher earnings quality compared to other firms. The results provide support for the arguments that Shariah-compliant companies supply a higher quality of reported earnings to attract foreign investment, have greater demand for high-quality financial reporting because of their Shariah status and are subject to greater scrutiny by regulators and institutional investors. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the existing literature on Islamic capital market, business ethics, firms’ governance and financial reporting quality. The study would give a better understanding on issues relating to earnings quality of Shariah-compliant companies and would be especially useful for financial statement users, including investment analysts. Originality/value – This paper provides evidence on the quality of earnings in Shariah-compliant companies and offers new arguments that explain why such companies possess higher quality of earnings compared to their counterparts.

How Would the Mandatory Adoption of IFRS Affect the Earnings Quality of U.S. Firms? Evidence from Cross-Listed Firms in the U.S.

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 837-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Sun ◽  
Steven F. Cahan ◽  
David Emanuel
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Earnings Persistence ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Timely Loss Recognition ◽  
The U.S

SYNOPSIS We examine the impact of IFRS adoption on the earnings quality of foreign firms cross-listed in the U.S. from countries that have already adopted IFRS on a mandatory basis. We use the cross-listed firms as surrogates for the U.S. firms so we can observe the effect of IFRS adoption in the U.S. We examine five measures of earnings quality related to discretionary accruals, target beating, earnings persistence, timely loss recognition, and the earnings response coefficient (ERC). To isolate the effect of IFRS adoption, we use a matched sample design where each cross-listed firm is matched to a U.S. firm. We find the difference in earnings quality from the pre- to post-IFRS period is not different for the cross-listed and matched firms when earnings quality is measured by absolute discretionary accruals, timely loss recognition, or a long-window ERC. However, for the incidence of small positive earnings and earnings persistence, we find significant difference-in-differences, indicating that IFRS adoption led to an improvement in earnings quality for cross-listed firms relative to the matched firms. Our results are slightly surprising since U.S. GAAP is generally viewed as high-quality standards with little room for improvement.

Effect of eliminating mandatory reconciliation requirements for foreign issuers in the U.S.

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-291
Author(s):  
Gaurav Kumar ◽  
Jagjit S. Saini
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Value Relevance ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Accrual Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Reported Earnings ◽  
Book Values

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of choice of accounting standards on the value relevance and accrual quality of reported earnings and book values under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) versus US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Design/methodology/approach The authors examine the effect of choice of accounting standards on the value relevance and accrual quality of reported earnings and book values under IFRS versus US GAAP using 404 firms from 37 countries listed in the USA. They use the modified Jones (1991) model to measure accruals. Findings The authors find that value relevance of the book value of equity is increasing (significantly) when the sample firms use IFRS to prepare their financial statements. They also find some evidence in support of the mediating effect of the choice of accounting standards on the accrual quality of the sample firms. The results of this paper indicate that sample firms with lower accrual quality (larger discretionary accruals) experience higher returns during the fiscal year. However, the authors also find that the positive association between size of discretionary accruals and returns is decreasing in the use of IFRS by the sample firms. Originality/value This paper adds to prior literature on the harmonization of accounting standards and emphasizes the role of accounting standards in the quality of financial reporting. By using the financial data of all foreign registrants listed in the USA, the authors are able to provide deeper and more representative evidence.

Transaction-based lending and accrual quality

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Gray ◽  
Arjan Premti
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Cost Of Debt ◽  
Accrual Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Income Statement ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
The Cost

PurposeThis study examines how lenders modify their behavior and their use of traditional, transaction-based lending models in credit decisions when faced with low earnings quality.Design/methodology/approachTo measure the earnings quality, following Bharath, Sunder and Sunder (2008), the authors use three measures of accrual quality and combine them into a simple parsimonious measure of accrual quality. Subsequently, the authors apply the incremental R-square approach used by Kim and Kross (2005) to determine the degree to which lenders modify their reliance on financial statement ratios when faced with low accrual quality.FindingsConsistent with prior literature, this study shows that the cost of debt is higher when accrual quality is low. In addition, this study extends prior literature by showing that lenders decrease their reliance on income statement data to make credit decisions as accrual quality decreases.Originality/valueThis paper broadens existing literature on the pricing of information risk in capital markets by being the first to show that lenders modify their reliance on financial statement data when faced with low-quality accruals. In addition, this paper extends the findings of Billings and Morton (2002) and demonstrates to managers the futility of using accrual manipulations to obtain more favorable credit terms. Lastly, this paper aids regulators and standard setters who seek to improve the usefulness of financial statements by showing that creditors do not appear to be misled by reporting choices that lower the quality of accruals.

Earnings Quality of Indonesian Family Businesses

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 890-893
Author(s):  
Rosaline Tandiono
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Agency Problem ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Earnings Persistence ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Public Firms ◽  
Earnings Predictability ◽  
Reported Earnings

Many Indonesian firms started from family business. Many of them are now big public firms that contribute significantly to the Indonesian economy. As public firms, their reports are used by investors to value their traded shares. A firm’s reported earnings are important information for investors. This study aims to examine the earnings quality of Indonesian listed family businesses and compare this information with their counterparts. Using earnings persistence and predictability as proxies for earnings quality, this study finds that the earnings of Indonesia family businesses are less persistent than their counterpart’s earnings, due to type II agency problem and business diversification. However, there is no difference found in earnings predictability of both businesses. Thus, this study concludes that Indonesian family businesses have poor earnings quality compared to their counterparts.

The impact of corporate governance on earnings quality: evidence from Peru

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-541
Author(s):  
Mauricio Melgarejo
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Good Corporate Governance ◽  
Self Selection ◽  
Quality Of Accounting Information ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether firms with good corporate governance practices in countries with high levels of political and economic uncertainty, such as Peru, present a higher quality of accounting information. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a multivariate regression analysis to investigate the impact of good corporate governance practices on the quality of accounting information for the firms listed in the Lima Stock Exchange (LSE). Findings Firms included in the Good Corporate Governance Index, in the LSE, present more value relevant, more persistent and more conservative accounting reports. These results hold after controlling for a self-selection bias. Originality/value It is the first paper to explore the impact of good corporate practices on earnings quality in Peru. Also, this study uses a two-state regression methodology to control for the self-selection bias in the sample.

Family ownership and earnings quality of Thai firms

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kriengkrai Boonlert-U-Thai ◽  
Pradyot K. Sen
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Family Ownership ◽  
Earnings Persistence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Book Value ◽  
Founding Family

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide evidence that the quality of earnings of family run firms is superior to that of the other firms and that firms run by founding family members exhibit this trait even more prominently. Using insights from the fundamental accounting valuation model, this study also hypothesizes that financial markets place a higher weightage on earnings than book value for founding family-run firms in Thailand as these firms report a more reliable earnings number.Design/methodology/approachThis is an empirical archival research.FindingsThe authors report evidence that financial markets place a higher weightage on earnings than book value for founding family-run firms. The evidence is consistent with the insight that current earnings of the founding family-run firms offer more information about future earnings and cash flow compared to book value than those for family (FAM) and non-family (NonCS) firms. The authors also provide evidence that earnings persistence and the accrual quality of the founding family firms are higher compared to the other firms. This evidence is contrary to the notion that family firms have more opaque disclosures, lower earnings quality and higher implied cost of equity capital.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors find support for the alignment hypothesis of the long-term family ownership of Thai firms. The authors consider these evidences consistent with the shareholder interest alignment hypothesis of the controlling shareholders as opposed to the entrenchment hypothesis.Practical implicationsThe study implies that earnings of the Thai firms run by founding family members are more reliable and can be relied on more for firm valuation. Additionally, the authors also offer a different methodology by appealing to the valuation properties of the reported accounting numbers besides looking at the quality of accruals and earnings persistence tests offered in the existing literature.Social implicationsThe society is better off if there are more opportunities to invest in Thai firms run by founding family members. The finding of the quality difference in governance by firms with founding family members is new. Therefore, the study points to the need of finer partition of the family firms while looking at their corporate governance practices. The fact that the FF firms offer a higher quality of earnings implies that they are less engaged in opportunistic manipulation of earnings and cash flow and, thus, are self-motivated to protect the longer term interest of the firms.Originality/valueThis if the first time the accounting fundamental valuation theory has been used to provide evidence of higher earnings quality.

scholarly journals The role of accrual estimation errors to determine accrual and earnings quality

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javad Izadi Zadeh Darjezi
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Cash Flow ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Working Capital ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Significant Information ◽  
Accrual Quality ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Managers, investors and security analysts all pay special attention to the bottom line of income statements and they miss significant information included in accruals about the quality of earnings. A considerable portion of the earnings-quality literature examines the possibility of using the accruals to shift reported income among fiscal periods. One of the main roles of working-capital accruals is to adjust the recognition of cash flows. This paper aims to focus on earnings quality by examining the working-capital accruals quality using the method of Dechow and Dichev (2002). Design/methodology/approach Following the Dechow and Dichev (2002) model, the result of this paper shows that accrual quality is related to the absolute magnitude of accruals negatively. Also, the standard deviation of accruals, cash flows, sales and earnings is positively related to firm size. The result demonstrates and suggests that these observable firm characteristics can be used as instruments for measuring accrual quality. According to this framework, the author expects that the larger the unsigned abnormal accrual measure, the lower the earnings quality. Therefore, firms with low accrual quality have more accruals that are unrelated to cash flow realisations and so have more noise and less persistence in their earnings. Findings After examining earnings and accrual quality, this paper finds that average UK company behaviour was quite similar to the behaviour found earlier in the USA. This paper’s findings show that greater volatility of sales, cash flow, accruals and earnings results in a lower accrual quality. Without a doubt, some of the analysis in this paper, especially that using different equations to calculate working-capital accruals, leads us to a valuable improvement of the earlier studies. Originality/value In this paper, the author follows the method of Dechow and Dichev (2002) and define accrual quality as the extent to which accruals map into cash-flow insights based on the UK data. To find the quality of working-capital accruals, the author uses the standard deviation of the residuals as accrual quality that resulted from the author’s firm-specific OLS regressions of working-capital accruals based on last, current and one-year-ahead operating cash flow. Unlike prior research, to avoid a restriction to working-capital accruals, we use different equations to cover more items of working-capital accruals.

scholarly journals KUALITAS INFORMASI AKUNTANSI SEKTOR INDUSTRI SEBELUM DAN SELAMA PANDEMI COVID-19: STUDI NEGARA-NEGARA ASEAN

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Slamet Sugiri ◽  
Retno Yuni Nur Susilowati
Keyword(s):  
Information Quality ◽  
Value Relevance ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Accrual Quality ◽  
Quality Of Accounting Information ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the quality of accounting information in terms of accrual quality and value relevance. This study uses a sample of companies listed on stock exchanges in five ASEAN countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, for the period 2009-2020. OLS pooled regression model was estimated with panel data. The results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted earnings quality, but not on value relevance of accounting information quality. Enforcement of accounting and auditing standards can reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in improving earnings quality. However, investor protection is not adequate to improve the quality of accounting information during the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals ampak Profitabilitas sebagai Intervening pada Kepemilikan Institusional terhadap Kualitas Laba

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-131
Author(s):  
Supami Wahyu Setiyowati ◽  
Mochamad Fariz Irianto
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Method ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Institutional Ownership ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Future Earnings ◽  
Opportunistic Behaviour ◽  
Reported Earnings ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Earnings quality refers to reported earnings to predict a firm’s future earnings, which is essential for the investor’s decision-making to understand its financial health. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of profitability as an intervening variable between institutional ownership to earnings quality. This study's population was manufacturing companies in the consumer goods industry listed on the IDX for the 2017-2019 period. The sampling method is based on criteria. The samples in this study were 15 issuers. Data analysis techniques using Smart Pls. The results showed that institutional ownership affected earnings quality. Profitability was not proven as an intervening variable on the relationship between institutional ownership and earnings quality. This finding implied that institutions that had share ownership in the company increased their supervision to reduce the manager's opportunistic behaviour.

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