We find a positive association between short-selling and accruals during 1988-2009, and that asymmetry between the long and short sides of the accrual anomaly is stronger when constraints on short-arbitrage are more severe (low availability of loanable shares as proxied by institutional...

Prior studies employ a two period empirical model and interpret the negative association between accruals in period one and returns in period two as evidence that investors misprice the information contained in accruals. In contrast to prior studies, I employ a three period log-linear model...

Activist short-sellers could play an information role in capital markets by disclosing informative short-theses, or, as many are concerned, a manipulation role by spreading misinformation. To shed light on this controversy, this paper focuses on a powerful setting where both roles are heightened...

There is reliable evidence that managers smooth their reported earnings. If some firms manage earnings downwards (upwards) when they experience large positive (negative) earnings shocks and if investors have cognitive limits or are inattentive, then it is plausible that the post-earnings...

We investigate whether investors are misled by firms that exclude particular expenses in calculating non-GAAP earnings in order to beat analysts' earnings forecasts. Our empirical analyses suggest that firms that pursue a strategy of non-GAAP reporting to beat analysts' earnings forecasts not...

This paper examines the effect of income smoothing on information uncertainty, stock returns, and cost of equity. I show that income smoothing through both total accruals and discretionary accruals tends to reduce firms' information uncertainty, as measured by stock return volatility, analyst...

Prior research shows that a higher proportion of accrued relative to cash earnings is associated with lower earnings performance in the subsequent period (Sloan 1996). The result has been widely interpreted as indicative of higher levels of operating accruals relative to cash flows from...

We consider forecast guidance as a mechanism that managers use to avoid negative earnings surprises. Modeling forecast guidance using methods by Matsumoto, [Accounting Review 77 (3) (2002) 483-514] and Bartov et al. [Journal of Accounting and Economics 33 (2) (2002) 173-204], we show that...

Our paper examines the association between components of analysts' earnings surprises and future earnings. We decompose the analysts' earnings surprise into its revenue, pretax margin, pretax income, and tax components. After controlling for current period earnings and discretionary accruals, we...

This paper examines how simultaneous presence of domestic accounting standards of various countries affects market reactions to firms' earnings announcements and subsequent post-earnings announcement drifts (PEAD) in U.S market. Drawing from the finance and accounting literatures on investors'...