IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/euract/v17y2008i3p471-502.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Comparison of Error Rates for EVA, Residual Income, GAAP-earnings and Other Metrics Using a Long-Window Valuation Approach

Author

Listed:
  • John Forker
  • Ronan Powell

Abstract

Predictability and variability are two measures commonly used in the empirical literature to gauge the quality of earnings and hence, decision usefulness to investors. We adopt both measures to investigate empirically the relative quality of Stern Stewart's measure of economic value added (EVA) compared to GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) earnings, residual income, cash flows and other mandated metrics in the USA and UK. We proxy for accounting quality by applying a long-window methodology to obtain hindsight valuation errors based on the difference between ex ante market value and discounted ex post metrics. Decision usefulness, in terms of ease of forecasting, is proxied by differences in valuation errors between the benchmark and alternative accounting methods. Contrary to the Biddle et al. (Journal of Accounting and Economics, 24, pp. 301-336, 1997) finding that mandated earnings were superior to EVA and residual income, we find that EVA and other residual income metrics consistently give rise to lower average valuation errors and thus have higher predictability across a variety of windows and terminal dates. Further, on the basis of our second measure of accounting quality, the variability of valuation errors, EVA performs best in the USA and third in the UK. The results strongly indicate that differences between residual income constructs, including EVA, are generally small but that earnings quality will be improved by recognition of a cost of equity capital in measuring reported income.

Suggested Citation

  • John Forker & Ronan Powell, 2008. "A Comparison of Error Rates for EVA, Residual Income, GAAP-earnings and Other Metrics Using a Long-Window Valuation Approach," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 471-502.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:17:y:2008:i:3:p:471-502
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180802172420
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09638180802172420
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09638180802172420?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mattia Iotti & Giuseppe Bonazzi, 2018. "Analysis of the Risk of Bankruptcy of Tomato Processing Companies Operating in the Inter-Regional Interprofessional Organization “OI Pomodoro da Industria Nord Italia”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-23, March.
    2. Prof. Dr. Serpil Aytac & M.Sc. Gizem Akalp, 2022. "The Attribution Theory Of As a Psycho-Social Approach to the Perception of Occupational Health and Safety: A Focus Group Study Among Women Workers in Metal Industry," European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 7, January -.
    3. Giulio Corazza, 2019. "Value Based Management Systems and Firm Performance: An Analysis of the Literature," MIC 2019: Managing Geostrategic Issues; Proceedings of the Joint International Conference, Opatija, Croatia, 29 May–1 June 2019,, University of Primorska Press.
    4. Ahmed Magdy Fayed & Suchi Dubey, 2016. "An Empirical Study of Impact of EVA Momentum on the Shareholders Value Creation as Compared to Traditional Financial Performance Measures ¨C With Special Reference to the UAE," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(5), pages 23-38, May.
    5. Filippo Zanin & Giulio Corazza, 2023. "Value-based Management System e performance. Il ruolo di moderazione della strategia ibrida e della turbolenza ambientale," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2023(3), pages 63-87.
    6. Lambert Jerman, 2015. "Les Enjeux De L'Application Des Normes Ias-Ifrs : L'Etude Des Preparateurs Des Comptes, Une Perspective De Recherche Encore Inexploree," Post-Print hal-01188736, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:17:y:2008:i:3:p:471-502. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/REAR20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.