Accounting Conservatism, Earnings Persistence, and Pricing Multiples on Earnings

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Huajing Chen ◽  
David M. Folsom ◽  
Wonsun Paek ◽  
Heibatollah Sami
Keyword(s):  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Earnings Persistence ◽  
Conservative Accounting ◽  
Reported Earnings ◽  
Jel Classifications

SYNOPSIS We examine the effect of accounting conservatism on earnings persistence and the stock market's valuation of earnings. Using a sample of U.S. companies during the period of 1988–2010, we find that firms with more conservative accounting generate less persistent earnings than firms with less conservative accounting. We also document that the pricing multiple on more conservative earnings is smaller than pricing multiples on less conservative earnings. Finally, we show that conditionally conservative earnings are less persistent than unconditionally conservative earnings, and the pricing multiple on earnings is smaller for conditionally conservative earnings than for unconditionally conservative earnings. Our results improve our understanding of the characteristics of conservatively reported earnings. JEL Classifications: M41; C23; D21; G38; N20

Accounting Conservatism and Creditor Recovery Rate

2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 2267-2303 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Donovan ◽  
Richard M. Frankel ◽  
Xiumin Martin
Keyword(s):  
Recovery Rate ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Positive Relation ◽  
Recovery Rates ◽  
Conservative Accounting ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACT We examine the relation between accounting conservatism and creditor recovery rates for firms in default. We also test the link between conservatism and the length of bankruptcy resolutions. We find that creditors of firms with more conservative accounting before default have significantly higher recovery rates, and that this positive relation is more pronounced for default firms that violated covenants before the default. We also find that conservative firms have higher asset productivity, shorter bankruptcy resolution, and a significantly higher probability of emerging from bankruptcy. These results suggest that accounting conservatism preserves firm value, leading to higher creditor recovery upon borrower default. JEL Classifications: M4; G32; G33; G34.

Accounting Conservatism, the Quality of Earnings, and Stock Returns

2002 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen H. Penman ◽  
Xiao-Jun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Stock Returns ◽  
Joint Effect ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Future Earnings ◽  
Diagnostic Measures ◽  
Conservative Accounting ◽  
Future Return ◽  
Net Operating Assets ◽  
Reported Earnings

When a firm practices conservative accounting, changes in the amount of its investments can affect the quality of its earnings. Growth in investment reduces reported earnings and creates reserves. Reducing investment releases those reserves, increasing earnings. If the change in investment is temporary, then current earnings is temporarily depressed or inflated, and thus is not a good indicator of future earnings. This study develops diagnostic measures of this joint effect of investment and conservative accounting. We find that these measures forecast differences in future return on net operating assets relative to current return on net operating assets. Moreover, these measures also forecast stock returns—indicating that investors do not appreciate how conservatism and changes in investment combine to raise questions about the quality of reported earnings.

Timeliness and persistence of conservative earnings in an emerging market

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-503
Author(s):  
Afsheena P. ◽  
Shijin Santhakumar
Keyword(s):  
Stock Returns ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Earnings Persistence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Reported Earnings

Purpose The asymmetric effect of conservatism on earnings and its other components serves as a contrivance to incorporate transparency and timeliness in financial reporting. This study aims to explore cash flow-return association, which provides insight into the accruals’ contribution that traverses through conservatism-earnings persistence liaison and its associated effects on stock returns. Design/methodology/approach The study used asymmetric timeliness (AT) model and two firm-year measures, namely, C-Score and conservatism ratio, to capture conservatism. The firm-year measures of conservatism, in addition to the AT measure, facilitate a better understanding of the persistence of reported earnings that branch out the study from the existing literature. Further, the study used panel regression analysis to evaluate the timeliness and persistence of earnings under the conservative approach with a sample of Indian corporate data from 2000 to 2017. Findings The findings of the study reveal that conservative earnings are less persistent and the accruals recognize bad news timelier than good news. The unfavorable change in earnings shows a lower earnings response coefficient in contrast to favorable earnings variations. However, the appropriate loss recognition nature of conservative reporting has little or no influence on stock returns in an emerging market such as India. Research limitations/implications Accounting conservatism is a captivating feature accounting information, especially pertinent to many decision-makers. Thus, the study has implications for the investors while evaluating the adverse and positive changes in accounting earnings; also, the results are helpful for the standard setters in ongoing debate related to accounting conservatism vs fair evaluation. The present study focuses exclusively on ex-post conservatism, while the ex post and ex ante conservatism are having a significant role in accounting practices. Future research on the differential effects of ex post and ex ante conservatism on accounting information in an emerging market, is worth promising. Originality/value The study reveals the first Indian evidence on accounting conservatism and earnings persistence relationship, which would bring a different dimension to investors’ perception in evaluating the characteristic variations of reported earnings. The findings add value to the accounting standard setters concerning the asymmetric verification as Indian Accounting standards are on the verge of convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Accounting Conservatism and Firm Growth Financed by External Debt

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Kang ◽  
Gerald J. Lobo ◽  
Michael C. Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Firm Growth ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
External Debt ◽  
Debt Maturity ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Debt Contracting ◽  
Conservative Accounting ◽  
Agency Risk

Previous research shows that accounting conservatism facilitates debt contracting. Extending this line of literature, we examine whether the role of accounting conservatism in accessing external debt to attain firm growth varies with its maturity. We find evidence of a positive relationship between conservatism and debt maturity. We also observe a positive relationship between conservative accounting and future growth funded by all classes of debt, but this relation is due to long-term rather than short-term debt, which is less prone to agency risk. Furthermore, the associations between conservatism and debt maturity and conservatism and growth financed by long-term debt are mostly observed for firms with fewer anti-takeover provisions in place. These findings suggest that the demand for accounting conservatism is not uniform across different debt maturity horizons.

scholarly journals The Benefits of Conservative Accounting to Shareholders: Evidence from the Financial Crisis

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Francis ◽  
Iftekhar Hasan ◽  
Qiang Wu
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Governance Mechanism ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Stock Performance ◽  
Conservative Accounting ◽  
Alternative Measures ◽  
Recent Financial Crisis ◽  
And Control ◽  
Jel Classifications

SYNOPSIS Using the recent financial crisis as a natural quasi-experiment we test whether, and to what extent, conservative accounting affects shareholder value. We find that there is a significantly positive and economically meaningful relation between conservatism and firm stock performance during the current crisis. The result holds for alternative measures of conservatism and is validated in a series of robustness checks. We further find that the relation between conservatism and firm value is more pronounced for firms with weaker corporate governance or higher information asymmetry. Overall, our paper complements LaFond and Watts (2008) by providing empirical evidence to their argument that conservatism is an efficient governance mechanism to mitigate information risk and control for agency problems, and that shareholders benefit from it. JEL Classifications: M41; M48; G01.

Determinants and Consequences of Firms' Derivative Accounting Decisions

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer Pierce
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Firm Risk ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Earnings Volatility ◽  
Hedge Accounting ◽  
Reported Earnings ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACTFinancial accounting standards require derivatives to be recognized at fair value with changes in value recognized immediately in earnings. However, if specified criteria are met, firms may use an alternative accounting treatment, hedge accounting, which is intended to better represent the underlying economics of firms' derivative use. Using FAS 161 disclosures, I examine determinants of hedge accounting use and the effects of hedge accounting on financial reporting and capital markets. I find variation in firms' hedge accounting use and provide evidence that compliance costs of applying hedge accounting affect firms' decision to use hedge accounting. Firms decrease their reported earnings volatility via derivatives that receive hedge accounting and could further decrease their earnings volatility if hedge accounting were applied to all their derivatives. Inconsistent with arguments given for using hedge accounting, I fail to find a decrease in investors' assessments of firm risk from using hedge accounting.JEL Classifications: M40; M41; G32.

Accounting Conservatism, Earnings Persistence and Pricing Multiples on Earnings

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wonsun D. Paek ◽  
Lucy Huajing Chen ◽  
Heibatollah Sami
Keyword(s):  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Earnings Persistence

scholarly journals The Impact of Accounting Conservatism on Corporate Performance Indicators in Egypt

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Hanaa A. El-Habashy
Keyword(s):  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Corporate Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Return On Assets ◽  
Return On Equity ◽  
Accounting Performance ◽  
Conservative Accounting ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

This study aims to investigate the impact of conservative accounting on corporate performance indicators of Egyptian firms. A sample of balanced data for the 40 most active non-financial companies was collected in the period 2009-2014 to test hypotheses. Panel regression models were used for data analysis. Givoly & Hayn (2000) indicator is used as a benchmark for measuring accounting conservatism. The corporate performance indicators used in this study are return-on-assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) representing accounting performance measures, as well as Tobin’s Q which measures market performance. The results of the research show that accounting conservatism has a significant positive impact on corporate performance indicators. This reflects the positive effect of corporate performance on shareholders that leads to a strong corporate financial position. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been conducted in Egypt as an emerging economy.

scholarly journals Accounting Conservatism And Firms’ Investment Decisions

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1223-1236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jungeun Cho ◽  
Won-Wook Choi
Keyword(s):  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Financial Disclosure ◽  
Managerial Ownership ◽  
Conservative Accounting ◽  
Controlling Mechanism ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Timely Loss Recognition

This study examines the effectiveness of accounting conservatism in monitoring and controlling managers’ decision-making regarding opportunistic investment. We find that accounting conservatism is negatively associated with over-investment. This suggests that conservative accounting policies serve as an efficient monitoring and controlling mechanism for opportunistic investment decisions. We also find a stronger negative association between accounting conservatism and over-investment in firms with low managerial ownership and low ownership by foreign investors. The results of our analysis imply that the impact of timely loss recognition on over-investment is more significant in firms with high agency problems and weaker monitoring ability, and that this factor complements other governance mechanisms, thereby helping to control managers’ myopic investment decisions. We provide evidence for a role of financial disclosure in mitigating managers’ opportunistic over-investment decisions. Though managers’ over-investment decisions are motivated by private gain, which reduces firm performance and compromises investors’ welfare, limited research exists on the role of financial information in alleviating such behavior. We suggest that timely loss recognition in financial statements can serve as an effective monitoring mechanism to aid in control of managers’ myopic over-investment.

The Influence of Country-Level Religiosity on Accounting Conservatism

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Bjornsen ◽  
Chuong Do ◽  
Thomas C. Omer
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Legal Enforcement ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Reported Earnings ◽  
High Degree

ABSTRACT This study investigates how religiosity (i.e., the strength of religion) differences across countries influence an important characteristic of financial reporting, accounting conservatism. Prior literature suggests that religious individuals are more risk averse and have higher ethical standards, while accounting conservatism has been shown to reduce various risks to the firm (e.g., bankruptcy and stock price crashes) at the expense of higher reported earnings. We find that managers in more religious societies report more conservatively. Specifically, our cross-country analysis reveals that firms headquartered in countries with higher levels of religiosity exhibit, on average, higher accounting conservatism in financial reporting. This positive association is stronger in countries following IFRS or U.S. GAAP, and weaker in countries with a high degree of uncertainty avoidance, strong legal enforcement, and countries with greater numbers of religions. JEL Classifications: G34; M41; Z12. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.

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