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A Theory of Income Smoothing When Insiders Know More Than Outsiders

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  • Viral V. Acharya
  • Bart M. Lambrecht

Abstract

We develop a theory of income and payout smoothing by firms when insiders know more about income than outside shareholders, but property rights ensure that outsiders can enforce a fair payout. Insiders set payout to meet outsiders' expectations and underproduce to manage future expectations downward. The observed income and payout process are smooth and adjust partially and over time in response to economic shocks. The smaller the inside ownership, the more severe underproduction is, resulting in an "outside equity Laffer curve."

Suggested Citation

  • Viral V. Acharya & Bart M. Lambrecht, 2015. "A Theory of Income Smoothing When Insiders Know More Than Outsiders," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(9), pages 2534-2574.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:28:y:2015:i:9:p:2534-2574.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Myers, Stewart C & Lambrecht, Bart, 2014. "The Dynamics of Investment, Payout and Debt," CEPR Discussion Papers 9926, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Acharya, Viral & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2017. "Financial dependence and innovation: The case of public versus private firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 223-243.
    5. Jeong‐Bon Kim & Jeff J. Wang & Eliza Xia Zhang, 2021. "Does real earnings smoothing reduce investors’ perceived risk?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1560-1595, October.
    6. Cao, Zhangfan & Rees, William & Zhang, Zhifang, 2023. "The effect of real earnings smoothing on corporate labour investment," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(6).
    7. Yasmin Jamadar & Tze San Ong & Asna Atqa Abdullah & Fakarudin Kamarudin, 2022. "Earnings and discretionary accruals," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(2), pages 431-439, March.
    8. Ozili, Peterson K, 2022. "Determinants of bank income smoothing using loan loss provisions in the United Kingdom," MPRA Paper 112047, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Zhang, Ping & Wang, Yiru & Gao, Jieying, 2023. "Going public and innovation: Evidence from the ChiNext stock market," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 586-613.
    10. Ulrike Malmendier, 2018. "Behavioral Corporate Finance," NBER Working Papers 25162, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Armitage, Seth & Gallagher, Ronan, 2019. "Are pension contributions a threat to shareholder payouts?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 27-42.
    12. Hahn, Sebastian, 2021. "The Role of Large Institutional Ownership on Goodwill Impairment under the SFAS 142 Regime," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 6(2), pages 408-423.
    13. Lee, Cheng-Few & Sung, Hao-Chang, 2021. "Product market competition and real activities manipulation: Theory and implications," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 192-205.
    14. Koussis, Nicos & Martzoukos, Spiros H. & Trigeorgis, Lenos, 2017. "Corporate liquidity and dividend policy under uncertainty," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 221-235.
    15. Ruichang Lu & Weijia He & Xiaojun Zhang, 2023. "Using Available‐for‐sale Securities to Smooth Earnings: Evidence from China," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 59(1), pages 163-196, March.
    16. Doukas, John A. & Zhang, Rongyao, 2020. "Corporate managerial ability, earnings smoothing, and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    17. Sopp, Heiko, 2018. "Interest rate pass-through to the rates of core deposits: A new perspective," Discussion Papers 25/2018, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    18. Balli, Faruk & De Bruin, Anne & Balli, Hatice Ozer & Karimov, Jamshid, 2020. "Corporate net income and payout smoothing under Shari'ah compliance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    19. Chen, Changling & Kim, Jeong-Bon & Yao, Li, 2017. "Earnings smoothing: Does it exacerbate or constrain stock price crash risk?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 36-54.
    20. Lee, Yun-Chi, 2020. "Does staying private longer affect innovation of VC-backed IPOs and outcomes of VC investments?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    21. Basse, Tobias & Klein, Tony & Vigne, Samuel A. & Wegener, Christoph, 2021. "U.S. stock prices and the dot.com-bubble: Can dividend policy rescue the efficient market hypothesis?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    22. M. Rozina & М. Розина, 2019. "Теория и практика поведенческой экономики в процессе принятия финансовых решений // The Use of Theory and Methods of Behavioural Economics in the Process of Making Financial Decisions," Review of Business and Economics Studies // Review of Business and Economics Studies, Финансовый Университет // Financial University, vol. 7(3), pages 45-82.
    23. Koussis, Nicos & Martzoukos, Spiros H. & Trigeorgis, Lenos, 2017. "Corporate liquidity and dividend policy under uncertainty," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 200-214.
    24. Yiwei Li & Wei Song & Tingyu Sun & Qingjing Zhang, 2023. "The impact of shareholder litigation risk on income smoothing," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1379-1413, November.
    25. Li, Shengfeng & Hoque, Hafiz & Thijssen, Jacco, 2021. "Firm financial behaviour dynamics and interactions: A structural vector autoregression approach," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M42 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Auditing
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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