IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mit/sloanp/27856.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is the Accrual Anomaly a Global Anomaly?

Author

Listed:
  • LaFond, Ryan

Abstract

This paper investigates the subsequent return implications of accruals within a sample of large, developed, international equity markets and assesses whether similar institutional features account for the accrual anomaly across countries. I investigate the returns implications of accruals in 17 countries over the 1989 to 2003 time period. In general, the results of country-specific analysis indicate that the accrual anomaly is a global phenomenon. After decomposing total accruals, I find, in general, that accrual mispricing is largest for working capital accruals, specifically current asset accruals. However, the results of further analysis suggest that there is no dominant factor that explains the accrual anomaly internationally. Overall, the results indicate that the accrual anomaly is present in international markets yet the factor(s) driving the accrual anomaly appear to vary across markets.

Suggested Citation

  • LaFond, Ryan, 2005. "Is the Accrual Anomaly a Global Anomaly?," Working papers 27856, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:mit:sloanp:27856
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/27856
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mitchell, Mark L & Stafford, Erik, 2000. "Managerial Decisions and Long-Term Stock Price Performance," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(3), pages 287-329, July.
    2. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1992. "The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 427-465, June.
    3. Chan, Louis K C & Hamao, Yasushi & Lakonishok, Josef, 1991. "Fundamentals and Stock Returns in Japan," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(5), pages 1739-1764, December.
    4. Fama, Eugene F., 1998. "Market efficiency, long-term returns, and behavioral finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 283-306, September.
    5. Frederic S. Mishkin, 1983. "A Rational Expectations Approach to Macroeconometrics: Testing Policy Ineffectiveness and Efficient-Markets Models," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number mish83-1.
    6. Gabriel Hawawini & Donald B. Keim, "undated". "The Cross Section of Common Stock Returns: A Review of the Evidence and Some New Findings," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 08-99, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    7. Richardson, Scott A. & Sloan, Richard G. & Soliman, Mark T. & Tuna, Irem, 2005. "Accrual reliability, earnings persistence and stock prices," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 437-485, September.
    8. Arturo Bris & William N. Goetzmann & Ning Zhu, 2007. "Efficiency and the Bear: Short Sales and Markets Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(3), pages 1029-1079, June.
    9. John M. Griffin, 2002. "Are the Fama and French Factors Global or Country Specific?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(3), pages 783-803.
    10. Alford, A & Jones, J & Leftwich, R & Zmijewski, M, 1993. "The Relative Informativeness Of Accounting Disclosures In Different Countries," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31, pages 183-223.
    11. Nelson, Karen K. & Barth, Mary E. & Cram, Donald, 2001. "Accruals and the Prediction of Future Cash Flows," Research Papers 1594r, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    12. Ali, A & Hwang, LS, 2000. "Country-specific factors related to financial reporting and the value relevance of accounting data," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 1-21.
    13. Paul Hribar & Daniel W. Collins, 2002. "Errors in Estimating Accruals: Implications for Empirical Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 105-134, March.
    14. Barber, Brad M. & Lyon, John D., 1997. "Detecting long-run abnormal stock returns: The empirical power and specification of test statistics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 341-372, March.
    15. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    16. 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.
    17. Kothari, S. P. & Sabino, Jowell S. & Zach, Tzachi, 2005. "Implications of survival and data trimming for tests of market efficiency," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 129-161, February.
    18. Jacobson, Robert & Aaker, David, 1993. "Myopic management behavior with efficient, but imperfect, financial markets : A comparison of information asymmetries in the U.S. and Japan," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 383-405, October.
    19. John D. Lyon & Brad M. Barber & Chih‐Ling Tsai, 1999. "Improved Methods for Tests of Long‐Run Abnormal Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(1), pages 165-201, February.
    20. Loughran, Tim & Ritter, Jay R., 2000. "Uniformly least powerful tests of market efficiency," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 361-389, March.
    21. Collins, Daniel W. & Hribar, Paul, 2000. "Earnings-based and accrual-based market anomalies: one effect or two?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 101-123, February.
    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. Jawad Mohammad & Attiya Yasmin Javid, 2015. "An Analysis of Accrual Anomaly in Case of Karachi Stock Exchange," PIDE-Working Papers 2015:116, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    2. Zhi‐an Hu & Zhuo Huang & Dawei Lin & Zhimin Qiu, 2022. "Have existing theories explained the accrual anomaly? An evaluation based on the decomposition method," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 3645-3675, September.
    3. Diana MURESAN & Monica Ioana POP SILAGHI, 2014. "Empirical evidence on cross-country differences in explaining accruals anomaly," Romanian Journal of Economics, Institute of National Economy, vol. 39(2(48)), pages 121-132, December.
    4. Igor Goncharov & Allan Hodgson & Suntharee Lhaopadchan & Sonia Sanabria, 2013. "Asymmetric trading by insiders – comparing abnormal returns and earnings prediction in Spain and Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(1), pages 163-184, March.
    5. Carlos Omar Trejo-Pech & Magdy Noguera & Angel Samaniego-Alcantar & Richard N. Weldon, 2012. "The Relationship Between Accruals, Earnings, And Cash Flows: Evidence From Latin America," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 4(1), pages 95-107.
    6. Markus Leippold & Harald Lohre, 2012. "Data snooping and the global accrual anomaly," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(7), pages 509-535, April.
    7. Richardson, Scott & Tuna, Irem & Wysocki, Peter, 2010. "Accounting anomalies and fundamental analysis: A review of recent research advances," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 410-454, December.
    8. Christoph Kaserer & Carmen Klingler, 2008. "The Accrual Anomaly Under Different Accounting Standards – Lessons Learned from the German Experiment," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(7‐8), pages 837-859, September.
    9. 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.
    10. Eveyn OHIDOA-TOUWA, 2023. "Accrual Anomaly: A Conceptual Perspective," Contemporary Economy Journal, Constantin Brancoveanu University, vol. 8(4), pages 54-64.
    11. Christoph Kaserer & Carmen Klingler, 2008. "The Accrual Anomaly Under Different Accounting Standards - Lessons Learned from the German Experiment," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(7-8), pages 837-859.
    12. Cordeiro Moreira, Jeíce Catrine & Lima, Gerlando A.S.F. & Góis, Alan Diógenes, 2019. "Effects of institutional factors on the accruals anomaly in Latin America," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-1.
    13. Adamek, Carmen & Kaserer, Christoph, 2006. "Lifting the veil of accounting information under different accounting standards: lessons learned from the German experiment," CEFS Working Paper Series 2006-01, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    14. Eero J. Pätäri & Timo H. Leivo & Sheraz Ahmed, 2022. "Can the FSCORE add value to anomaly-based portfolios? A reality check in the German stock market," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 36(3), pages 321-367, September.
    15. Nuno Soares & Andrew Stark, 2009. "The accruals anomaly – can implementable portfolio strategies be developed that are profitable net of transactions costs in the UK?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 321-345.
    16. Gegenfurtner, Bernhard & Ampenberger, Markus & Kaserer, Christoph, 2009. "The impact of managerial ownership, monitoring and accounting standard choice on accrual mispricing," CEFS Working Paper Series 2009-02, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    17. Doukakis, Leonidas C. & Papanastasopoulos, Georgios A., 2014. "The accrual anomaly in the U.K. stock market: Implications of growth and accounting distortions," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 256-277.
    18. Khan, Mozaffar, 2008. "Are accruals mispriced Evidence from tests of an Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing Model," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 55-77, March.
    19. Ohidoa Toluwa & Otakefe Joseph .P, 2023. "Accrual Anomaly: A Review of Literature," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(4), pages 444-454, April.
    20. Papanastasopoulos, Georgios A., 2015. "Accruals, growth, accounting distortions and stock returns: The case of FRS3 in the UK," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 39-54.
    21. Diana MURESAN, 2015. "The Mishkin Test: An Analysis Of Model Extensions," SEA - Practical Application of Science, Romanian Foundation for Business Intelligence, Editorial Department, issue 7, pages 393-400, 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. Kothari, S. P., 2001. "Capital markets research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 105-231, September.
    2. Louis K. C. Chan & Stephen G. Dimmock & Josef Lakonishok, 2009. "Benchmarking Money Manager Performance: Issues and Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(11), pages 4553-4599, November.
    3. Seung‐Doo Choi & Inmoo Lee & William Megginson, 2010. "Do Privatization IPOs Outperform in the Long Run?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 153-185, March.
    4. Benzoni, Luca & Schenone, Carola, 2010. "Conflict of interest and certification in the U.S. IPO market," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 235-254, April.
    5. Abhyankar, Abhay & Ho, Keng-Yu, 2006. "Long-run abnormal performance following convertible preference share and convertible bond issues: New evidence from the United Kingdom," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 97-119.
    6. Paul A. Gompers & Josh Lerner, 2003. "The Really Long‐Run Performance of Initial Public Offerings: The Pre‐Nasdaq Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(4), pages 1355-1392, August.
    7. Maher Kooli & Jean-François L'Her & Jean-Marc Suret, 2003. "Do IPOs Underperform in the Long-Run? New Evidence from the Canadian Stock Market," CIRANO Working Papers 2003s-16, CIRANO.
    8. Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Sattar A. Mansi & Oumar Sy, 2023. "Event studies in international finance research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(2), pages 344-364, March.
    9. Dionysia Dionysiou, 2015. "Choosing Among Alternative Long-Run Event-Study Techniques," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 158-198, February.
    10. Chan, Konan & Ikenberry, David L. & Lee, Inmoo & Wang, Yanzhi, 2010. "Share repurchases as a potential tool to mislead investors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 137-158, April.
    11. Brav, Alon & Geczy, Christopher & Gompers, Paul A., 2000. "Is the abnormal return following equity issuances anomalous?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 209-249, May.
    12. Eckbo, B. Espen & Norli, Oyvind, 2005. "Liquidity risk, leverage and long-run IPO returns," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 1-35, March.
    13. Malcolm Baker & Richard S. Ruback & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2004. "Behavioral Corporate Finance: A Survey," NBER Working Papers 10863, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Daniel, Kent & Hirshleifer, David & Teoh, Siew Hong, 2002. "Investor psychology in capital markets: evidence and policy implications," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 139-209, January.
    15. Nadisah Zakaria & Fariza Hashim, 2017. "Emerging Markets: Evaluating Graham's Stock Selection Criteria on Portfolio Return in Saudi Arabia Stock Market," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(2), pages 453-459.
    16. Yook, Ken C., 2010. "Long-run stock performance following stock repurchases," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 323-331, August.
    17. Luís M. S. Coelho & Rúben M. T. Peixinho & Siri Terjensen, 2012. "Going concern opinions are not bad news: Evidence from industry rivals," Working Papers Department of Economics 2012/16, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    18. Su, Chen & Bangassa, Kenbata, 2011. "The impact of underwriter reputation on initial returns and long-run performance of Chinese IPOs," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 760-791.
    19. David Hirshleifer, 2001. "Investor Psychology and Asset Pricing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1533-1597, August.
    20. Abhyankar, Abhay & Ho, Keng-Yu, 2007. "Long-horizon event studies and event firm portfolio weights: Evidence from U.K. rights issues re-visited," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 61-80.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:mit:sloanp:27856. 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: None (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ssmitus.html .

    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.