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The benefits of conservative accounting to shareholders: Evidence from the financial crisis

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  • Francis, Bill
  • Hasan, Iftekhar
  • Wu, Qiang

Abstract

Using the recent financial crisis as a natural quasi-experiment, we test whether and to what extent conservative accounting affects shareholder value. We find that there is significantly positive and economically meaningful relation between conservatism and firm stock performance during the current crisis. The result holds for alternative measures of conservatism and is validated in a series of robustness checks. We further find that the relation between conservatism and firm value is more pronounced for firms with weaker corporate governance or higher information asymmetry. Overall, our paper complements LaFond and Watts (2008) by providing empirical evidence to their argument that conservatism is an efficient governance mechanism to mitigate information risk and control for agency problems, and that shareholders benefit from it.

Suggested Citation

  • Francis, Bill & Hasan, Iftekhar & Wu, Qiang, 2013. "The benefits of conservative accounting to shareholders: Evidence from the financial crisis," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 8/2013, Bank of Finland.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bofrdp:rdp2013_008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wittenberg-Moerman, Regina, 2008. "The role of information asymmetry and financial reporting quality in debt trading: Evidence from the secondary loan market," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2-3), pages 240-260, December.
    2. Douglas W. Diamond & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2009. "The Credit Crisis: Conjectures about Causes and Remedies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 606-610, May.
    3. Francis, Jere R. & Martin, Xiumin, 2010. "Acquisition profitability and timely loss recognition," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1-2), pages 161-178, February.
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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Accounting conservatism; Shareholder value; Financial crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises

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