IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v20y2017icp130-136.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Earnings comparability and informed trading

Author

Listed:
  • Kim, Sangwan
  • Lim, Steve C.

Abstract

We investigate whether earnings comparability is associated with the probability of informed trading (PIN) as a proxy for information asymmetry in the equity market. We measure earnings comparability in three different ways to account for idiosyncratic variation in firm-specific components of earnings using GAAP earnings, special item-adjusted GAAP earnings, and Street earnings. We find that earnings comparability is inversely associated with PIN. The inverse relation between earnings comparability and information asymmetry is pronounced for large and high-analyst coverage firms. Overall, this paper adds to the literature by demonstrating economic benefits of cross-firm properties of accounting information.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim, Sangwan & Lim, Steve C., 2017. "Earnings comparability and informed trading," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 130-136.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:20:y:2017:i:c:p:130-136
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2016.09.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612316301660
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2016.09.013?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.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gus De Franco & S.P. Kothari & Rodrigo S. Verdi, 2011. "The Benefits of Financial Statement Comparability," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 895-931, September.
    2. Gu, Zhaoyang & Chen, Ting, 2004. "Analysts' treatment of nonrecurring items in street earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 129-170, December.
    3. Duarte, Jefferson & Young, Lance, 2009. "Why is PIN priced?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 119-138, February.
    4. Yan, Yuxing & Zhang, Shaojun, 2012. "An improved estimation method and empirical properties of the probability of informed trading," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 454-467.
    5. Boehmer, Ekkehart & Grammig, Joachim & Theissen, Erik, 2007. "Estimating the probability of informed trading--does trade misclassification matter?," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 26-47, February.
    6. Bessembinder, Hendrik, 2003. "Issues in assessing trade execution costs," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 233-257, May.
    7. William Lin, Hsiou-Wei & Ke, Wen-Chyan, 2011. "A computing bias in estimating the probability of informed trading," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 625-640, November.
    8. Aslan, Hadiye & Easley, David & Hvidkjaer, Soeren & O'Hara, Maureen, 2011. "The characteristics of informed trading: Implications for asset pricing," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 782-801.
    9. Francis, J & Schipper, K, 1999. "Have financial statements lost their relevance?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 319-352.
    10. David Easley & Marcos M. López de Prado & Maureen O'Hara, 2012. "Flow Toxicity and Liquidity in a High-frequency World," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(5), pages 1457-1493.
    11. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1997. "Industry costs of equity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 153-193, February.
    12. Ellis, Katrina & Michaely, Roni & O'Hara, Maureen, 2000. "The Accuracy of Trade Classification Rules: Evidence from Nasdaq," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(4), pages 529-551, December.
    13. Mark T. Bradshaw & Richard G. Sloan, 2002. "GAAP versus The Street: An Empirical Assessment of Two Alternative Definitions of Earnings," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 41-66, March.
    14. Diamond, Douglas W, 1985. "Optimal Release of Information by Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(4), pages 1071-1094, September.
    15. Easley, David, et al, 1996. "Liquidity, Information, and Infrequently Traded Stocks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(4), pages 1405-1436, September.
    16. Easley, David & Kiefer, Nicholas M & O'Hara, Maureen, 1997. "One Day in the Life of a Very Common Stock," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(3), pages 805-835.
    17. Lee, Charles M C & Ready, Mark J, 1991. "Inferring Trade Direction from Intraday Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(2), pages 733-746, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Feng, Wenjun & Wang, Yiming & Zhang, Zhengjun, 2018. "Informed trading in the Bitcoin market," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 63-70.
    2. Kim, Junwoo & Kim, Robert & Kim, Sangwan, 2020. "Does financial statement comparability mitigate delayed trading volume before earnings announcements?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 62-75.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schreder, Max, 2018. "Idiosyncratic information and the cost of equity capital: A meta-analytic review of the literature," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 142-172.
    2. Yan, Yuxing & Zhang, Shaojun, 2014. "Quality of PIN estimates and the PIN-return relationship," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 137-149.
    3. Lof, Matthijs & Bommel, Jos van, 2018. "Asymmetric information and the distribution of trading volume," Research Discussion Papers 1, Bank of Finland.
    4. repec:zbw:bofrdp:001 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2018_001 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Ersan, Oguz & Alıcı, Aslı, 2016. "An unbiased computation methodology for estimating the probability of informed trading (PIN)," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 74-94.
    7. Petchey, James & Wee, Marvin & Yang, Joey, 2016. "Pinning down an effective measure for probability of informed trading," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(PB), pages 456-475.
    8. Lof, Matthijs & van Bommel, Jos, 2023. "Asymmetric information and the distribution of trading volume," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. David Abad & M. Fuensanta Cutillas†Gomariz & Juan Pedro Sánchez†Ballesta & José Yagüe, 2018. "Does IFRS Mandatory Adoption Affect Information Asymmetry in the Stock Market?," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 28(1), pages 61-78, March.
    10. Griffin, Jim & Oberoi, Jaideep & Oduro, Samuel D., 2021. "Estimating the probability of informed trading: A Bayesian approach," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    11. Thomas Pöppe & Michael Aitken & Dirk Schiereck & Ingo Wiegand, 2016. "A PIN per day shows what news convey: the intraday probability of informed trading," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1187-1220, November.
    12. Hung, Chiayu & Lai, Hung-Neng, 2022. "Information asymmetry and the profitability of technical analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    13. Agudelo, Diego A. & Giraldo, Santiago & Villarraga, Edwin, 2015. "Does PIN measure information? Informed trading effects on returns and liquidity in six emerging markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 149-161.
    14. Chang, Charles & Lin, Emily, 2015. "Cash-futures basis and the impact of market maturity, informed trading, and expiration effects," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 197-213.
    15. Emily Lin & Chu-Lan Michael Kao & Natasha Sonia Adityarini, 2021. "Data-driven tree structure for PIN models," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 411-427, August.
    16. Travis L. Johnson & Eric C. So, 2018. "A Simple Multimarket Measure of Information Asymmetry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(3), pages 1055-1080, March.
    17. Cosmin Octavian Cepoi & Victor Dragotă & Ruxandra Trifan & Andreea Iordache, 2023. "Probability of informed trading during the COVID-19 pandemic: the case of the Romanian stock market," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-27, December.
    18. Aktas, Osman Ulas & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2014. "Trade classification accuracy for the BIST," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 259-282.
    19. Ke, Wen-Chyan & Chen, Hueiling & Lin, Hsiou-Wei William, 2019. "A note of techniques that mitigate floating-point errors in PIN estimation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    20. Bardong, Florian & Bartram, Söhnke M. & Yadav, Pradeep K., 2005. "Informed Trading, Information Asymmetry and Pricing of Information Risk: Empirical Evidence from the NYSE," MPRA Paper 13586, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Oct 2008.
    21. Hwang, Lee-Seok & Lee, Woo-Jong & Lim, Seung-Yeon & Park, Kyung-Ho, 2013. "Does information risk affect the implied cost of equity capital? An analysis of PIN and adjusted PIN," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 148-167.
    22. Hatheway, Frank & Kwan, Amy & Zheng, Hui, 2017. "An Empirical Analysis of Market Segmentation on U.S. Equity Markets," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(6), pages 2399-2427, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Earnings comparability; Information-based trading; Information asymmetry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    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:eee:finlet:v:20:y:2017:i:c:p:130-136. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    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.