Using a sample from 22 countries, I investigate the relations between the accuracy of analysts’ earnings forecasts and the level of annual report disclosure, and between forecast accuracy and the degree of enforcement of accounting standards. I document that firm-level disclosures are positively related to forecast accuracy, suggesting that such disclosures provide useful information to analysts. I construct a comprehensive measure of enforcement and find that strong enforcement is associated with higher forecast accuracy. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that enforcement encourages managers to follow prescribed accounting rules, which, in turn, reduces analysts’ uncertainty about future earnings. I also find evidence consistent with disclosures being more important when analyst following is low and with enforcement being more important when more choice among accounting methods is allowed. ∗University of Toronto. I appreciate the helpful comments on various versions of this paper by Joel Amernic, Hollis Ashbaugh, Ray Ball (editor), Sudipta Basu, Jeff Callen, Bjørn Jørgensen, Peter Pope (referee), Beverly Walther, and participants at the 2001 EIASM Workshop on Accounting and Regulation, 2002 European Accounting Association Meeting, 2002 Journal of Accounting Research conference, 2002 Canadian Academic Accounting Association meeting, and 2002 American Accounting Association annual meeting. All errors are my own. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. I thank IBES International Inc. for providing earnings forecast data.

Disclosure Practices, Enforcement of Accounting Standards, and Analysts' Forecast Accuracy: An International Study

This study examines the reliability of Altman’s Z-score model to predict the financial failure of the ICT sector in Pakistan. Data for 11 PSE-listed (Pakistan Stock Exchange) ICT companies were col...

Nexus between financial innovation and bankruptcy: evidence from information, communication and technology (ict) sector

http://users.metu.edu.tr/mugan/Kirkulak%20and%20Balsari%202009%20value%20rel%20of%20inf%20adj%20eq%20and%20inc%20turkey.pdf

Value Relevance of Inflation-adjusted Equity and Income

This study investigates how managerial shareholding affects audit pricing for listed companies in Hong Kong. Based on agency theory, we examine the relationship between managerial shareholding and audit fees, from the perspectives of the alignment effect and the entrenchment effect. We posit a non-linear relationship, which is tested by grouping sample firms into three levels of managerial shareholding: low, intermediate, and high regions of management ownership. The empirical results reveal that the association of managerial ownership with audit fees is non-linear: managerial shareholding is significantly and negatively associated with audit fees in the low and high regions of managerial ownership, whereas the association is significantly positive in the intermediate region. These correlations are further confirmed by the results of curvilinear regression analysis.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/ijau12000.pdf?abstractid=2319621&mirid=1

The Effects of Managerial Shareholding on Audit Fees: Evidence from Hong Kong

Analyst earnings forecast under complex corporate ownership in China

The value relevance of inflation-adjusted and historical-cost earnings during hyperinflation

We examine whether corporate governance and financial analysts affect accounting-based valuation models for B and H shares traded by foreign investors in China and Hong Kong, respectively. We expect that better corporate governance and more effective analyst activity mitigate potential adverse effects on accounting valuation models generated by country-specific problems in accounting, auditing, and legal systems. We find that valuation models perform better for companies with a greater analyst following, smaller forecast errors, relatively high public ownership and a strong board structure. Valuation models and accounting numbers have only limited explanatory power and valuation role for companies with weak governance and less effective analyst performance. The findings are robust across various market value, return, unexpected return, and other accounting valuation models. The results are consistent with less informed foreign investor clienteles searching for signals of more effective analyst activity and better corporate governance mechanisms.

Ran R. Barniv

Papers

The value relevance of inflation-adjusted and historical-cost earnings during hyperinflation

Where Corporate Governance and Financial Analysts Affect Valuation