IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/coacre/v16y1999i1p75-109.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

MD&A Quality as Measured by the SEC and Analysts' Earnings Forecasts

Author

Listed:
  • ORIE E. BARRON
  • CHARLES O. KILE
  • TERRENCE B. O'KEEFE

Abstract

This study examines the predictive value of Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) information. More specifically, this study tests the association between properties of analysts' earnings forecasts and MD&A quality, where MD&A quality is measured by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). We find that high MD&A ratings are associated with less error and less dispersion in analysts' earnings forecasts after controlling for many other expected influences on analysts' forecasts. We also find that estimated regression coefficients are consistent with MD&A information having a substantial effect on earnings forecasts. Finally, we find our results are driven by forward†looking disclosures about capital expenditures and operations, and also by historical disclosures about capital expenditures. These findings are consistent with the suggestion by many constituencies (including the SEC) that the type of information found in high quality MD&A is particularly relevant for predicting earnings.

Suggested Citation

  • Orie E. Barron & Charles O. Kile & Terrence B. O'Keefe, 1999. "MD&A Quality as Measured by the SEC and Analysts' Earnings Forecasts," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(1), pages 75-109, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:coacre:v:16:y:1999:i:1:p:75-109
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1911-3846.1999.tb00575.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1911-3846.1999.tb00575.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1911-3846.1999.tb00575.x?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Morse, Dale, 1980. "Asymmetrical Information in Securities Markets and Trading Volume," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(5), pages 1129-1148, December.
    2. Lang, M & Lundholm, R, 1993. "Cross-Sectional Determinants Of Analyst Ratings Of Corporate Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 246-271.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Barbara Pirchegger & Alfred Wagenhofer, 1999. "Financial information on the Internet: a survey of the homepages of Austrian companies," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 383-395.
    2. Gad Jacek, 2020. "The association between disclosures on control system over financial reporting and mechanisms of corporate governance: Empirical evidence from Germany and Poland," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 56(4), pages 351-369, December.
    3. Song Zhang & Liang Han & Konstantinos Kallias & Antonios Kallias, 2021. "The value of in-person banking: evidence from U.S. small businesses," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1393-1435, November.
    4. Loukil, Nadia & Yousfi, Ouidad, 2010. "Firm's information environment and stock liquidity: evidence from Tunisian context," MPRA Paper 28699, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Feb 2011.
    5. Ronelle Burger & Canh Thien Dang & Trudy Owens, 2017. "Better performing NGOs do report more accurately: Evidence from investigating Ugandan NGO financial accounts," Discussion Papers 2017-10, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    6. Doidge, Craig & Andrew Karolyi, G. & Stulz, Rene M., 2007. "Why do countries matter so much for corporate governance?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 1-39, October.
    7. Brown, Stephen & Hillegeist, Stephen A. & Lo, Kin, 2009. "The effect of earnings surprises on information asymmetry," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 208-225, June.
    8. Kross, William J. & Ro, Byung T. & Suk, Inho, 2011. "Consistency in meeting or beating earnings expectations and management earnings forecasts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 37-57, February.
    9. Gagnon, Louis & Karolyi, G. Andrew, 2009. "Information, Trading Volume, and International Stock Return Comovements: Evidence from Cross-Listed Stocks," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(4), pages 953-986, August.
    10. Wei, Shang-Jin & Tong, Hui, 2012. "Does Trade Globalization Induce or Inhibit Corporate Transparency? Unbundling the Growth Potential and Product Market Competiti," CEPR Discussion Papers 8836, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Van Geyt, Debby & Van Cauwenberge, Philippe & Vander Bauwhede, Heidi, 2014. "Does high-quality corporate communication reduce insider trading profitability?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-14.
    12. Dennis Murray, 1985. "Further Evidence On The Liquidity Effects Of Stock Splits And Stock Dividends," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 8(1), pages 59-68, March.
    13. Liao, Chih-Hsien & San, Ziyao & Tsang, Albert, 2024. "Corporate governance reforms and voluntary disclosure: International evidence on management earnings forecasts," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    14. Wen-Ling Lin & Takatoshi Ito, 1994. "Price Volatility and Volume Spillovers between the Tokyo and New York Stock Markets," NBER Chapters, in: The Internationalization of Equity Markets, pages 309-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Verena K. Dutt & Christopher A. Ludwig & Katharina Nicolay & Heiko Vay & Johannes Voget, 2019. "Increasing tax transparency: investor reactions to the country-by-country reporting requirement for EU financial institutions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(6), pages 1259-1290, December.
    16. Raminder Kaur Bhatia & Prabhnoor Singh, 2024. "Relationship Between Bank-Specific Characteristics and Web-Based Disclosures of the Commercial Banks in India," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 13(1), pages 7-29, June.
    17. Battalio, Robert & Hatch, Brian & Loughran, Tim, 2011. "Who benefited from the disclosure mandates of the 1964 Securities Acts Amendments?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 1047-1063, September.
    18. Hakan Jankensgard, 2014. "A Tale of Beauties and Beasts: Testing the Optimal Disclosure Hypothesis," Multinational Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, vol. 18(1-2), pages 139-167, March - J.
    19. Andy Lardon & Marc Deloof, 2014. "Financial disclosure by SMEs listed on a semi-regulated market: evidence from the Euronext Free Market," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 361-385, February.
    20. Ali, Ashiq & Klasa, Sandy & Yeung, Eric, 2014. "Industry concentration and corporate disclosure policy," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 240-264.

    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:wly:coacre:v:16:y:1999:i:1:p:75-109. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1911-3846 .

    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.