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Dissecting and connecting the growth and accounting distortion components of accruals

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  • Donglin Li

Abstract

This study refines the accrual decomposition approach in Richardson et al. (Account Rev 81:713–743, 2006 ) and introduces a growth measure that is free from accounting distortions. My evidence indicates that the lower persistence of accruals extends to accruals that are unrelated to accounting distortions. I, however, find that the growth and accounting distortion components of accruals are not isolated. Growth may provide a context where firms have more incentives to manipulate earnings. I provide evidence that the persistence of both the growth and accounting distortion components of accruals is affected by firm growth and agency cost factors, such as free cash flows, leverage, and overvalued equity. I also document high accounting distortions for relatively high-growth firms that are close to reporting positive earnings, and negative accounting distortions for relatively low-growth firms that are far from the potential to report positive earnings. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

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  • Donglin Li, 2014. "Dissecting and connecting the growth and accounting distortion components of accruals," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 1-28, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:42:y:2014:i:1:p:1-28
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-012-0323-y
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    Cited by:

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    2. Graham, Roger C. & Moore, Jared A., 2018. "The mitigation of high-growth-related accounting distortions after sarbanes-oxley," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 82-94.
    3. Godfred Adjapong Afrifa & Ahmad Alshehabi & Ishmael Tingbani & Hussein Halabi, 2021. "Abnormal inventory and performance in manufacturing companies: evidence from the trade credit channel," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 581-617, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Accruals; Growth; Accounting distortion; Earnings; Management; Accrual anomaly; G30; M41;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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