IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/coacre/v36y2019i1p389-417.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Financial Statement Comparability and the Informativeness of Stock Prices About Future Earnings

Author

Listed:
  • Jong‐Hag Choi
  • Sunhwa Choi
  • Linda A. Myers
  • David Ziebart

Abstract

We find that financial statement comparability enhances the ability of current period returns to reflect future earnings, as measured by the future earnings response coefficient (FERC). This suggests that comparability improves the informativeness of stock prices and allows investors to better anticipate future firm performance. In addition, using both the FERC and stock price synchronicity tests, we find that comparability increases the amount of firm‐specific information (rather than market/industry‐level information) reflected in stock prices. Analysts play an important role in improving stock price informativeness by producing more firm‐specific information when comparability is high. These findings suggest that comparability lowers the costs of gathering and processing firm‐specific information. Comparabilité des états financiers et information sur les résultats futurs livrée par le cours des actions Les auteurs constatent que la comparabilité des états financiers accroît l'aptitude des rendements de l'exercice courant à refléter les résultats futurs, mesurée au moyen du coefficient de réaction des résultats futurs (CRRF). Ce constat donne à penser que la comparabilité améliore la valeur informative du cours des actions et permet aux investisseurs de mieux anticiper la performance future de l'entreprise. De plus, en utilisant à la fois le CRRF et les tests de synchronicité du cours des actions, les auteurs observent que la comparabilité augmente le volume d'information propre à l'entreprise (plutôt que le volume d'information relative au marché ou au secteur d'activité) livré par le cours des actions. Les analystes jouent un rôle important dans l'amélioration de la valeur informative du cours des actions en produisant davantage d'information propre à l'entreprise lorsque la comparabilité est élevée. Ces observations permettent de croire que la comparabilité diminue les coûts associés à la collecte et au traitement de l'information propre à l'entreprise.

Suggested Citation

  • Jong‐Hag Choi & Sunhwa Choi & Linda A. Myers & David Ziebart, 2019. "Financial Statement Comparability and the Informativeness of Stock Prices About Future Earnings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 389-417, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:coacre:v:36:y:2019:i:1:p:389-417
    DOI: 10.1111/1911-3846.12442
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.12442
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1911-3846.12442?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. 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. 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.
    3. Russell Lundholm & Linda A. Myers, 2002. "Bringing the Future Forward: The Effect of Disclosure on the Returns‐Earnings Relation," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 809-839, June.
    4. 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.
    5. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "Financial Ratios, Discriminant Analysis And The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 589-609, September.
    6. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Kim, Jeong-Bon & Qiu, Annie A., 2010. "Ownership concentration, foreign shareholding, audit quality, and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 425-442, March.
    7. Clare Wang, 2014. "Accounting Standards Harmonization and Financial Statement Comparability: Evidence from Transnational Information Transfer," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 955-992, September.
    8. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy: A Discriminant Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(1), pages 193-194, March.
    9. Kothari, S. P. & Zimmerman, Jerold L., 1995. "Price and return models," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 155-192, September.
    10. Ciao‐Wei Chen & Daniel W. Collins & Todd D. Kravet & Richard D. Mergenthaler, 2018. "Financial Statement Comparability and the Efficiency of Acquisition Decisions," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(1), pages 164-202, March.
    11. Artyom Durnev & Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung & Paul Zarowin, 2003. "Does Greater Firm‐Specific Return Variation Mean More or Less Informed Stock Pricing?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 797-836, December.
    12. Gerard Hoberg & Gordon Phillips, 2010. "Product Market Synergies and Competition in Mergers and Acquisitions: A Text-Based Analysis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(10), pages 3773-3811, October.
    13. Ayers, Benjamin & Freeman, Robert N., 1997. "Market assessment of industry and firm earnings information," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 205-218, December.
    14. DeFond, Mark & Hu, Xuesong & Hung, Mingyi & Li, Siqi, 2011. "The impact of mandatory IFRS adoption on foreign mutual fund ownership: The role of comparability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 240-258, April.
    15. Kai Wai Hui & P. Eric Yeung, 2013. "Underreaction to Industry‐Wide Earnings and the Post‐Forecast Revision Drift," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 701-737, September.
    16. Collins, Daniel W. & Kothari, S. P. & Shanken, Jay & Sloan, Richard G., 1994. "Lack of timeliness and noise as explanations for the low contemporaneuos return-earnings association," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 289-324, November.
    17. Neslihan Ozkan & Zvi Singer & Haifeng You, 2012. "Mandatory IFRS Adoption and the Contractual Usefulness of Accounting Information in Executive Compensation," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(4), pages 1077-1107, September.
    18. Benjamin C. Ayers & Robert N. Freeman, 2000. "Why Do Large Firms' Prices Anticipate Earnings Earlier than Small Firms' Prices?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 191-212, June.
    19. Joanne Horton & George Serafeim & Ioanna Serafeim, 2013. "Does Mandatory IFRS Adoption Improve the Information Environment?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 388-423, March.
    20. Liu, Mark H., 2011. "Analysts’ Incentives to Produce Industry-Level versus Firm-Specific Information," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(3), pages 757-784, June.
    21. Vivian W. Fang & Mark Maffett & Bohui Zhang, 2015. "Foreign Institutional Ownership and the Global Convergence of Financial Reporting Practices," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 593-631, June.
    22. Audrey Wen†Hsin Hsu & Hamid Pourjalali, 2015. "The Impact of IAS No. 27 on the Market's Ability to Anticipate Future Earnings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(2), pages 789-813, June.
    23. Francois Brochet & Alan D. Jagolinzer & Edward J. Riedl, 2013. "Mandatory IFRS Adoption and Financial Statement Comparability," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1373-1400, December.
    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. De George, Emmanuel T. & Li, Xi & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2016. "A review of the IFRS adoption literature," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 67599, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Emmanuel T. De George & Xi Li & Lakshmanan Shivakumar, 2016. "A review of the IFRS adoption literature," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 898-1004, September.
    3. repec:mth:ijafr8:v:8:y:2018:i:3:p:174-211 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jia Li & Zhoutianyang Sun, 2023. "Cost stickiness, earnings forecast accuracy, and the informativeness of stock prices about future earnings: evidence from China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Fangjun Wang & Zhichao Zhang & Luying Xu, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and financial statement comparability: Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1375-1394, May.
    6. Petaibanlue, Jirada & Walker, Martin & Lee, Edward, 2015. "When did analyst forecast accuracy benefit from increased cross-border comparability following IFRS adoption in the EU?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 278-291.
    7. Cho, Meeok & Kim, Sehee & Kim, Yewon & Lee, Bryan Byung-Hee & Lee, Woo-Jong, 2021. "IFRS adoption and stock misvaluation: Implication to Korea discount," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    8. Gross, Christian & Perotti, Pietro, 2017. "Output-based measurement of accounting comparability: A survey of empirical proxies," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-22.
    9. Blankespoor, Elizabeth & deHaan, Ed & Marinovic, Iván, 2020. "Disclosure processing costs, investors’ information choice, and equity market outcomes: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2).
    10. Marcus L. Caylor & Dennis J. Chambers & Sunay Mutlu, 2022. "Financial reporting uniformity: Its relation to comparability and its impact on financial statement users," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(9-10), pages 1457-1488, October.
    11. Hinson, Lisa & Tucker, Jennifer Wu & Weng, Diana, 2019. "The tradeoff between relevance and comparability in segment reporting," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 70-86.
    12. Wang, Yushi & Feng, Yuan & Zhu, Zhangyao & Liu, Jia & Li, Yubin, 2024. "Financial statement comparability and expected default risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    13. Jeong‐Bon Kim & Leye Li & Louise Yi Lu & Yangxin Yu, 2021. "Financial statement comparability and managers’ use of corporate resources," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1697-1742, April.
    14. Ho, Kung-Cheng & Sun, Renji & Yang, Lei & Li, Hui-Min, 2023. "Information disclosure as a means of minimizing asymmetric financial reporting: The role of market reaction," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1221-1240.
    15. 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.
    16. Feng, Xunan & Johansson, Anders C., 2019. "Top executives on social media and information in the capital market: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 824-857.
    17. Caban-Garcia, Maria T. & Choi, Heeick & Kim, Myungsun, 2020. "The effects of operating cash flow disclosure on earnings comparability, analysts' forecasts, and firms’ investment decisions during the Pre-IFRS era," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(4).
    18. Lee, Bryan Byung-Hee & Lee, Jay Junghun, 2024. "Financial statement comparability and analysts’ optimism for accruals," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    19. Vivian W. Fang & Michael Iselin & Gaoqing Zhang, 2022. "Consistency as a Means to Comparability: Theory and Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(6), pages 4279-4300, June.
    20. Edmonds, Mark A. & Smith, David B. & Stallings, Matthew A., 2018. "Financial statement comparability and segment disclosure," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 103-111.
    21. Czerny Małgorzata & Firkowska-Jakobsze Zuzanna & Hońko Stanisław, 2019. "A Comparability of Information in the Financial Statements of Gaming Companies," Financial Sciences. Nauki o Finansach, Sciendo, vol. 24(4), pages 27-44, December.

    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:36:y:2019:i:1:p:389-417. 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.