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The Economic Implications of Corporate Financial Reporting

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Author Info
John R. Graham
Campbell R. Harvey
Shiva Rajgopal

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Abstract

We survey 401 financial executives, and conduct in-depth interviews with an additional 20, to determine the key factors that drive decisions related to reported earnings and voluntary disclosure. The majority of firms view earnings, especially EPS, as the key metric for outsiders, even more so than cash flows. Because of the severe market reaction to missing an earnings target, we find that firms are willing to sacrifice economic value in order to meet a short-run earnings target. The preference for smooth earnings is so strong that 78% of the surveyed executives would give up economic value in exchange for smooth earnings. We find that 55% of managers would avoid initiating a very positive NPV project if it meant falling short of the current quarter's consensus earnings. Missing an earnings target or reporting volatile earnings is thought to reduce the predictability of earnings, which in turn reduces stock price because investors and analysts hate uncertainty. We also find that managers make voluntary disclosures to reduce information risk associated with their stock but try to avoid setting a disclosure precedent that will be difficult to maintain. In general, management's views provide support for stock price motivations for earnings management and voluntary disclosure, but provide only modest evidence in support of other theories of these phenomena (such as debt, political cost and bonus plan based hypotheses).

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10550.

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Date of creation: Jun 2004
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10550

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy
G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Capital and Ownership Structure

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Hirshleifer, David & Teoh, Siew Hong, 2009. "The Psychological Attraction Approach to Accounting and Disclosure Policy," MPRA Paper 14046, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  2. Mark Bauman & Kenneth Shaw, 2006. "Stock option compensation and the likelihood of meeting analysts' quarterly earnings targets," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 301-319, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Pástor, Luboš & Taylor, Lucian & Veronesi, Pietro, 2007. "Entrepreneurial Learning, the IPO Decision, and the Post-IPO Drop in Firm Profitability," CEPR Discussion Papers 6061, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. DEGEORGE, François & DING, Yuan & JEANJEAN, Thomas & STOLOWY, Hervé, 2005. "Does Analyst Following Curb Earnings Management?," Les Cahiers de Recherche 810, HEC Paris. [Downloadable!]
  5. Juan Monterrey & Amparo Sánchez-Segura, 2006. "Las características socioeconómicas como incentivos para la información financiera: evidencia empírica española," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 30(3), pages 611-634, September. [Downloadable!]
  6. Douglas A. Shackelford & Joel Slemrod & James M. Sallee, 2007. "A Unifying Model of How the Tax System and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Affect Corporate Behavior," NBER Working Papers 12873, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Bischof, Jannis & Ebert, Michael, 2007. "Inconsistent measurement and disclosure of non-contingent financial derivatives under IFRS: A behavioral perspective," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 07-02, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim & Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
  8. Joseph F. Brazel & Elizabeth Webb, 2006. "CEO compensation and the seasoned equity offering decision," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(5), pages 363-378. [Downloadable!]
  9. Jeanjean, Thomas & Stolowy, Hervé & Lesage, Cédric, 2008. "Why do you speak English (in your annual report)?," Les Cahiers de Recherche 904, HEC Paris. [Downloadable!]
  10. Bischof, Jannis & Wüstemann, Jens, 2007. "How Does Fair Value Measurement under IAS 39 Affect Disclosure Choices of European Banks?," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 07-75, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim & Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Efraim Benmelech & Eugene Kandel & Pietro Veronesi, 2008. "Stock-Based Compensation and CEO (Dis)Incentives," NBER Working Papers 13732, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Shachat, Jason, 2009. "Procuring Commodities: Request for Quote or Reverse Auctions?," MPRA Paper 13418, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  15. Jiao, T. & Mertens, G.M.H. & Roosenboom, P.G.J., 2007. "Industry Valuation Driven Earnings Management," Research Paper ERS-2007-069-F&A Revision, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus Uni. [Downloadable!]
  16. Stefano DellaVigna & Joshua Pollet, 2005. "Investor Inattention, Firm Reaction, and Friday Earnings Announcements," NBER Working Papers 11683, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Xiaoqiong Cai & Guy Liu & Bryan Mase, 2008. "The long-run performance of initial public offerings and its determinants: the case of China," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 419-432, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Davies, Phil & Minton, Bernadette & Schrand, Catherine, 2008. "Commodity Price Exposure and Ownerhsip Clienteles," Working Paper Series 2008-7, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics. [Downloadable!]
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