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The sharpest tool in the shed: IPO financial statement management of STEM vs. non-STEM firms

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  • Tatiana Fedyk

    (University of San Francisco)

  • Zvi Singer

    (HEC Montreal)

  • Mark Soliman

    (University of Southern California)

Abstract

The valuation of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) firms has recently gained attention in the literature. Research has shown that, for valuation of STEM firms, accounting items such as sales growth and R&D expenditures matter more than bottom-line earnings. We examine whether, around the time of the IPO, STEM managers apply discretion over the accounting items most weighted by investors for their valuation. We find that investors tend to weigh sales growth and R&D more heavily than earnings in valuing STEM firms and that managers respond by managing those items rather than bottom-line earnings as in prior research. We find that future stock returns of STEM firms are negatively associated with sales management and not with abnormal accruals as for non-STEM firms. Our results illuminate the differential behavior of STEM managers and highlight the importance of a departure from the traditional IPO earnings management paradigm, which assumes that firms mainly manage their earnings.

Suggested Citation

  • Tatiana Fedyk & Zvi Singer & Mark Soliman, 2017. "The sharpest tool in the shed: IPO financial statement management of STEM vs. non-STEM firms," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1541-1581, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:reaccs:v:22:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s11142-017-9412-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11142-017-9412-4
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    Cited by:

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    5. Ewa Sletten & Yonca Ertimur & Jayanthi Sunder & Joseph Weber, 2018. "When and why do IPO firms manage earnings?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 872-906, September.
    6. Jaewoo Kim & Seyoung Park & Kyle Peterson & Ryan Wilson, 2022. "Not Ready for Prime Time: Financial Reporting Quality After SPAC Mergers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 7054-7064, September.
    7. Salim Chahine & Gonul Colak & Iftekhar Hasan & Mohamad Mazboudi, 2020. "Investor relations and IPO performance," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 474-512, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    STEM firms; Initial public offering; Discretion over accounting items; IPO valuation; Earnings management;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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