IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/rqfnac/v45y2015i3p561-590.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firm growth and the pricing of discretionary accruals

Author

Listed:
  • Ashok Robin
  • Qiang Wu

Abstract

This paper examines how firm growth conditions the pricing of discretionary accruals. Given the rich growth opportunities and high information asymmetry in high-growth firms, we expect that managers have incentives to use discretionary accruals, especially income increasing (positive) discretionary accruals, to signal favorable private information to external investors. Our empirical tests reveal that overall there is no significant difference in the pricing of discretionary accruals between high-growth and low-growth firms. However, consistent with our expectations, we find that in high-growth firms compared to low-growth firms, positive discretionary accruals are priced to a greater extent, while negative discretionary accruals are priced to a smaller extent. Additional tests show that positive discretionary accruals have a relatively greater association with future firm performance in high-growth firms. Finally, we find that the pricing of positive discretionary accruals in high-growth firms is predominantly in those firms with high levels of information asymmetry. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Ashok Robin & Qiang Wu, 2015. "Firm growth and the pricing of discretionary accruals," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 561-590, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:45:y:2015:i:3:p:561-590
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-014-0447-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11156-014-0447-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11156-014-0447-3?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. Francis, Jennifer & LaFond, Ryan & Olsson, Per & Schipper, Katherine, 2005. "The market pricing of accruals quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 295-327, June.
    2. Holthausen, Robert W., 1990. "Accounting method choice : Opportunistic behavior, efficient contracting, and information perspectives," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1-3), pages 207-218, January.
    3. Louis, Henock, 2004. "Earnings management and the market performance of acquiring firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 121-148, October.
    4. David Easley & Soeren Hvidkjaer & Maureen O'Hara, 2002. "Is Information Risk a Determinant of Asset Returns?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 2185-2221, October.
    5. Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2000. "Do firms mislead investors by overstating earnings before seasoned equity offerings?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 339-371, June.
    6. Sanjay Kallapur & Mark A. Trombley, 1999. "The Association Between Investment Opportunity Set Proxies and Realized Growth," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3‐4), pages 505-519, April.
    7. Guay, WR & Kothari, SP & Watts, RL, 1996. "A market-based evaluation of discretionary accrual models," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34, pages 83-105.
    8. Dechow, Patricia M., 1994. "Accounting earnings and cash flows as measures of firm performance : The role of accounting accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 3-42, July.
    9. Dechow, Patricia M. & Kothari, S. P. & L. Watts, Ross, 1998. "The relation between earnings and cash flows," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 133-168, May.
    10. DeFond, Mark L. & Subramanyam, K. R., 1998. "Auditor changes and discretionary accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 35-67, February.
    11. Arthur Kraft & Andrew J. Leone & Charles E. Wasley, 2007. "Regression‐Based Tests of the Market Pricing of Accounting Numbers: The Mishkin Test and Ordinary Least Squares," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 1081-1114, December.
    12. Lang, Larry & Ofek, Eli & Stulz, Rene M., 1996. "Leverage, investment, and firm growth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 3-29, January.
    13. Sung Bae & Hoje Jo, 2007. "Underwriter warrants, underwriter reputation, and growth signaling," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 129-154, August.
    14. Choi, Jong-Hag & Kim, Jeong-Bon & Lee, Jay Junghun, 2011. "Value relevance of discretionary accruals in the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 166-187, March.
    15. Gaver, Jennifer J. & Gaver, Kenneth M., 1993. "Additional evidence on the association between the investment opportunity set and corporate financing, dividend, and compensation policies," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-3), pages 125-160, April.
    16. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    17. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "Corrigendum to "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings"; [Journal of Accounting and Economics 29 (2000) 1-51]," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 241-241, October.
    18. Jones, Jefferson P & Morton, Richard M & Schaefer, Thomas F, 2000. "Valuation Implications of Investment Opportunities and Earnings Permanence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 21-35, July.
    19. Sadka, Ronnie, 2011. "Liquidity risk and accounting information," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 144-152.
    20. Skinner, Douglas J., 1997. "Earnings disclosures and stockholder lawsuits," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 249-282, November.
    21. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    22. Guay, W. & Kothari, S.P. & Watts, R.L., 1996. "A Market-Based Evaluation of Discretionary-Accrual Models," Papers 96-01, Rochester, Business - Financial Research and Policy Studies.
    23. Cohen, Daniel A. & Zarowin, Paul, 2010. "Accrual-based and real earnings management activities around seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 2-19, May.
    24. Miller, Merton H & Rock, Kevin, 1985. "Dividend Policy under Asymmetric Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(4), pages 1031-1051, September.
    25. Jeffery Abarbanell & Reuven Lehavy, 2003. "Can Stock Recommendations Predict Earnings Management and Analysts’ Earnings Forecast Errors?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 1-31, March.
    26. Bartov, Eli & Gul, Ferdinand A. & Tsui, J.S.L.Judy S. L., 2000. "Discretionary-accruals models and audit qualifications," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 421-452, December.
    27. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-51, February.
    28. Ball, R & Brown, P, 1968. "Empirical Evaluation Of Accounting Income Numbers," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 159-178.
    29. Subramanyam, K. R., 1996. "The pricing of discretionary accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1-3), pages 249-281, October.
    30. Korajczyk, Robert A & Lucas, Deborah J & McDonald, Robert L, 1991. "The Effect of Information Releases on the Pricing and Timing of Equity Issues," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 4(4), pages 685-708.
    31. Basu, Sudipta, 1997. "The conservatism principle and the asymmetric timeliness of earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 3-37, December.
    32. Core, John E., 2001. "A review of the empirical disclosure literature: discussion," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 441-456, September.
    33. Chee Lim & Tiong Thong & David Ding, 2008. "Firm diversification and earnings management: evidence from seasoned equity offerings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 69-92, January.
    34. Shao-Chi Chang & Sheng-Syan Chen & Ailing Hsing & Chia Huang, 2007. "Investment opportunities, free cash flow, and stock valuation effects of secured debt offerings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 123-145, February.
    35. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    36. Ross L. Watts, 1977. "Corporate Financial Statements, A Product of the Market and Political Processes," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 2(1), pages 53-75, April.
    37. Verrecchia, Robert E., 1983. "Discretionary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 179-194, April.
    38. Grossman, S J & Hart, O D, 1980. "Disclosure Laws and Takeover Bids," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 35(2), pages 323-334, May.
    39. Louis, Henock & Robinson, Dahlia, 2005. "Do managers credibly use accruals to signal private information? Evidence from the pricing of discretionary accruals around stock splits," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 361-380, June.
    40. John, Kose & Williams, Joseph, 1985. "Dividends, Dilution, and Taxes: A Signalling Equilibrium," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(4), pages 1053-1070, September.
    41. Aboody, David & Kasznik, Ron, 2000. "CEO stock option awards and the timing of corporate voluntary disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 73-100, February.
    42. Sanjay Kallapur & Mark A. Trombley, 1999. "The Association Between Investment Opportunity Set Proxies and Realized Growth," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3-4), pages 505-519.
    43. Bernard, Victor L. & Skinner, Douglas J., 1996. "What motivates managers' choice of discretionary accruals?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1-3), pages 313-325, October.
    44. Skinner, Douglas J., 1993. "The investment opportunity set and accounting procedure choice : Preliminary evidence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 407-445, October.
    45. Richardson, Vernon J, 2000. "Information Asymmetry and Earnings Management: Some Evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 325-347, December.
    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. Eero J. Pätäri & Timo H. Leivo & Janne Hulkkonen & J. V. Samuli Honkapuro, 2018. "Enhancement of value investing strategies based on financial statement variables: the German evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 813-845, October.
    2. Michalis Makrominas, 2017. "Recognized intangibles and the present value of growth options," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 311-329, February.
    3. Sondes Draief, 2021. "Earnings Management Incentives and the Pricing of Discretionary Accruals," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(7), pages 1-77, July.
    4. James Cicon, 2017. "Say it again Sam: the information content of corporate conference calls," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 57-81, January.
    5. Mihai Carp & Leontina Păvăloaia & Constantin Toma & Iuliana Eugenia Georgescu & Mihai-Bogdan Afrăsinei, 2020. "Companies’ Sustainable Growth, Accounting Quality, and Investments Performances. The Case of the Romanian Capital Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-16, November.
    6. Yuni Pristiwati Noer Widianingsih & Doddy Setiawan, 2022. "Idiosyncratic Risk Volatility: Stock Price Informativeness or Price Error?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-14, October.
    7. Meiying Hua & Pervaiz Alam, 2021. "Audit Quality and Environment, Social, and Governance Risks," International Journal of Business Research and Management (IJBRM), Computer Science Journals (CSC Journals), vol. 12(2), pages 50-75, April.

    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. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    2. Chad R. Larson & Richard Sloan & Jenny Zha Giedt, 2018. "Defining, measuring, and modeling accruals: a guide for researchers," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 827-871, September.
    3. Kothari, S. P., 2001. "Capital markets research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 105-231, September.
    4. Fargher, Neil & Wee, Marvin, 2019. "The impact of Ball and Brown (1968) on generations of research," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 55-72.
    5. Espahbodi, Reza & Liu, Nan & Weigand, Robert A., 2022. "Opportunistic earnings management or performance-related effects? Evidence from dividend-paying firms," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    6. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    7. Mouselli, Sulaiman & Jaafar, Aziz & Hussainey, Khaled, 2012. "Accruals quality vis-à-vis disclosure quality: Substitutes or complements?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 36-46.
    8. Anagnostopoulou, Seraina C. & Tsekrekos, Andrianos E., 2015. "Earnings management in firms seeking to be acquired," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 351-375.
    9. Ray Ball & Lakshmanan Shivakumar, 2006. "The Role of Accruals in Asymmetrically Timely Gain and Loss Recognition," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 207-242, May.
    10. Alves, Sandra, 2012. "Executive stock options and earnings management in the portuguese listed companies," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 211-235.
    11. Julia Sawicki & Keshab Shrestha, 2014. "Misvaluation and Insider Trading Incentives for Accrual-based and Real Earnings Management," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(7-8), pages 926-949, September.
    12. Francis, Jennifer & LaFond, Ryan & Olsson, Per & Schipper, Katherine, 2005. "The market pricing of accruals quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 295-327, June.
    13. Adnan Shoaib & Muhammad A. Siddiqui, 2022. "Earning information content changes based on accrual measures and quality measures: Evidences from member countries of Asia Pacific trade agreement," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 1526-1546, January.
    14. Sudip Datta & Mai Iskandar‐Datta & Vivek Singh, 2014. "Opaque financial reports and R2: Revisited," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(1), pages 10-17, January.
    15. Araceli Mora Enguidanos & Juan Manuel García Lara & Beatriz García Osma & Ana Gisbert Clemente, 2004. "La Comparabilidad De La Información Contable En Europa: Efectos De La Manipulación Contable Sobre El Nivel De Conservadurismo," Working Papers. Serie EC 2004-14, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    16. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    17. Juan García Lara & Beatriz Osma & Evi Neophytou, 2009. "Earnings quality in ex‐post failed firms," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 119-138.
    18. Fields, Thomas D. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Vincent, Linda, 2001. "Empirical research on accounting choice," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 255-307, September.
    19. Vasilescu, Camelia & Millo, Yuval, 2016. "Do industrial and geographic diversifications have different effects on earnings management? Evidence from UK mergers and acquisitions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 33-45.
    20. Sharon Katz, 2008. "Earnings Quality and Ownership Structure: The Role of Private Equity Sponsors," NBER Working Papers 14085, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Discretionary accruals; Firm growth; Valuation; Capital markets; Information asymmetry; Signaling; M41; G14; G32;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    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:kap:rqfnac:v:45:y:2015:i:3:p:561-590. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://springer.com .

    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.