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The Effect of Limited Liability on the Informativeness of Earnings: Evidence from the Stock and Bond Markets

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  • C. ELIZABETH PLUMMER
  • SENYO Y. TSE

Abstract

Previous empirical research on the informativeness of earnings has focused on stockholders, and has not examined differences in earnings' informativeness for stockholders and bondholders. Because stockholders are residual claimants and bondholders are fixed claimants, the informativeness of earnings should differ for these two types of investors. When a firm's default risk is low, changes in its financial condition should be of limited relevance to bondholders, but should be relevant to stockholders. In contrast, as the likelihood of financial distress increases, stockholders' limited liability allows them to abandon the firm to the bondholders (Fischer and Verrecchia 1997). Accordingly, as a firm's default risk increases, changes in its financial condition should be increasingly important to bondholders and less important to shareholders. Because earnings provide information on firm value, the stock return†earnings association should decrease as the firm's financial strength declines, while the bond return†earnings association should increase. We use two measures of a firm's financial strength: the firm's bond rating and its reporting of a loss. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that the association between stock returns and changes in annual earnings decreases as bond ratings decline, while the association between bond returns and changes in annual earnings increases. These results suggest that as the company's financial condition deteriorates, earnings become less relevant for stock valuation and more relevant for bond valuation. When we partition firms based on their loss status, we find a stronger association between stock returns and annual earnings changes for firms with positive earnings (profit firms) than for firms with losses, consistent with earlier studies. In contrast, we find that the association between bond returns and earnings changes is greater for loss firms than for profit firms. These results suggest that losses reduce the informativeness of earnings for stockholders but increase informativeness for bondholders, suggesting that investors view losses as indicating increased credit risk.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Elizabeth Plummer & Senyo Y. Tse, 1999. "The Effect of Limited Liability on the Informativeness of Earnings: Evidence from the Stock and Bond Markets," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 541-574, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:coacre:v:16:y:1999:i:3:p:541-574
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1911-3846.1999.tb00595.x
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    2. Feng, Xiaoli & Li, Wenjing & Peng, Yuanhuai & Tan, Youchao, 2021. "International trade friction and the cost of debt: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Peter D. Easton & Steven J. Monahan & Florin P. Vasvari, 2009. "Initial Evidence on the Role of Accounting Earnings in the Bond Market," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 721-766, June.
    4. Samuel B. Bonsall IV & Eric R. Holzman & Brian P. Miller, 2017. "Managerial Ability and Credit Risk Assessment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(5), pages 1425-1449, May.
    5. Dan Givoly & Carla Hayn & Sharon Katz, 2017. "The changing relevance of accounting information to debt holders over time," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 64-108, March.
    6. 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.
    7. Chu, Ling & Mathieu, Robert & Mbagwu, Chima, 2018. "The association between firm fundamentals and bank interest rates under different measures of risk," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 46-58.
    8. Richard Anthony Kent & Di Bu, 2020. "The importance of cash flow disclosure and cost of capital," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(S1), pages 877-908, April.
    9. Sondes Draief & Adel Chouaya, 2012. "Effet de la gestion comptable et réelle des résultats sur le coût de la dette : analyse avant et après SOX," Post-Print hal-00691020, HAL.
    10. Zalata, Alaa Mansour & Roberts, Clare, 2017. "Managing earnings using classification shifting: UK evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 52-65.
    11. Anastasios Demertzidis & Vahidin Jeleskovic, 2021. "Empirical Estimation of Intraday Yield Curves on the Italian Interbank Credit Market e-MID," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, May.
    12. Griffin, Paul A. & Hong, Hyun A. & Ryou, Ji Woo, 2018. "Corporate innovative efficiency: Evidence of effects on credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 352-373.
    13. Chen, Fan, 2016. "The wealth effects of dividend announcements on bondholders: New evidence from the over-the-counter market," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 52-75.
    14. Chen, Fan & Ramaya, Krishnan & Wu, Wei, 2020. "The wealth effects of merger and acquisition announcements on bondholders: New evidence from the over-the-counter market," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    15. Truong, Cameron & Corrado, Charles & Chen, Yangyang, 2012. "The options market response to accounting earnings announcements," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 423-450.
    16. Akinobu Shuto & Norio Kitagawa & Naoki Futaesaku, 2017. "The Effect of Bank Monitoring on the Demand for Earnings Quality in Bond Contracts," IMES Discussion Paper Series 17-E-12, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan.
    17. Li, Wanli & Lai, Yin & Wang, Chaohui & Tan, Bowen, 2022. "How do emerging debt market participants recognize firm internationalization?Evidence from effects on credit ratings," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    18. Bradley Blaylock & Fabio B. Gaertner & Terry Shevlin, 2017. "Book-tax conformity and capital structure," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 903-932, June.

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