IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jbfnac/v29y2002i1-2p223-255.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Uncertainty on the Informativeness of Earnings: Evidence from the Insurance Industry in the Wake of Catastrophic Events

Author

Listed:
  • Theodore E. Christensen

Abstract

This study examines the effects of uncertainty associated with large‐scale catastrophes on the informativeness of earnings announcements by property and casualty insurers. It contributes to the literature on the effects of uncertainty on the informativeness of earnings announcements by distinguishing between: (1) uncertainty due to exogenous events that obscure the firm’s future prospects, and (2) uncertainty due to noise in earnings. Results suggest that heightened uncertainty associated with exposure to catastrophe losses is significantly positively associated with the market’s response to earnings reports, even after controlling for uncertainty due to noise in earnings. This implies that during periods of high uncertainty, investors find earnings information more useful in assessing the future prospects of the firm.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodore E. Christensen, 2002. "The Effects of Uncertainty on the Informativeness of Earnings: Evidence from the Insurance Industry in the Wake of Catastrophic Events," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1‐2), pages 223-255.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jbfnac:v:29:y:2002:i:1-2:p:223-255
    DOI: 10.1111/1468-5957.00430
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5957.00430
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1468-5957.00430?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
    ---><---

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Chia‐Chun Chiang & Hugh Hoikwang Kim & Greg Niehaus, 2022. "Opaque liabilities, learning, and the cost of equity capital for insurers," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 89(4), pages 1031-1076, December.
    2. Theodore E. Christensen & Jennifer J. Gaver & Pamela S. Stuerke, 2005. "The Relation Between Investor Uncertainty and Market Reactions to Earnings Announcements: Evidence from the Property‐Casualty Insurance Industry in the USA," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1‐2), pages 1-29, January.
    3. Andrew B. Jackson & Chao Li & Richard D. Morris, 2020. "Earnings Co‐movements and the Informativeness of Earnings," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(3), pages 295-319, September.
    4. Carter, David A. & Simkins, Betty J., 2004. "The market's reaction to unexpected, catastrophic events: the case of airline stock returns and the September 11th attacks," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 539-558, September.
    5. Theodore E. Christensen & Toni Q. Smith & Pamela S. Stuerke, 2004. "Public Predisclosure Information, Firm Size, Analyst Following, and Market Reactions to Earnings Announcements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7‐8), pages 951-984, September.
    6. Theodore E. Christensen & Jennifer J. Gaver & Pamela S. Stuerke, 2005. "The Relation Between Investor Uncertainty and Market Reactions to Earnings Announcements: Evidence from the Property-Casualty Insurance Industry in the USA," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1-2), pages 1-29.
    7. Mouri, Nacef & Sarkar, M.B. & Frye, Melissa, 2012. "Alliance portfolios and shareholder value in post-IPO firms: The moderating roles of portfolio structure and firm-level uncertainty," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 355-371.
    8. Theodore E. Christensen & Toni Q. Smith & Pamela S. Stuerke, 2004. "Public Predisclosure Information, Firm Size, Analyst Following, and Market Reactions to Earnings Announcements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7-8), pages 951-984.
    9. Kleidt Benjamin & Schiereck Dirk & Sigl-Grueb Christof, 2009. "Rationality at the Eve of Destruction: Insurance Stocks and Huge Catastrophic Events," Journal of Business Valuation and Economic Loss Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2), pages 1-27, April.
    10. Sanan Mukhtarov & Martijn Schoute & Jacco L. Wielhouwer, 2022. "The information content of the Solvency II ratio relative to earnings," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 89(1), pages 237-266, March.

    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:bla:jbfnac:v:29:y:2002:i:1-2:p:223-255. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0306-686X .

    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.