This study investigates whether market learning explains the absence of the accrual anomaly in recent years by examining three conditions associated with the presence of the anomaly in prior research: (i) a differential relation between future earnings and cash flows versus accruals, (ii) incorrect weighting of cash flows and accruals by investors when predicting earnings, and (iii) association of earnings forecast errors with returns. All of these conditions are widely documented in the anomaly period. In the no-anomaly period, I continue to find a differential relation of cash flows and accruals with future earnings. However, investors appear to correctly weight accruals and cash flows in their earnings predictions implicit in beginning-of-year security prices, consistent with learning. This study also investigates whether improvements in analyst forecasts contribute to investor learning and the absence of the anomaly. The association between analyst optimism and accruals is weaker in the no-anomaly period, but is still statistically significant. Furthermore, the anomaly ended simultaneously for firms followed by analysts and for non-followed firms, suggesting that improvements in analyst forecasts alone cannot account for improved market efficiency with respect to accruals. The results suggest that the anomaly was similar for firms held by institutional investors and for firms with no institutional holdings before the discovery of the anomaly while the anomaly ended sooner for held firms than for non-held firms after the discovery of the anomaly, consistent with the conjecture that arbitrage by institutional investors reduce the anomaly. Overall, the findings are consistent with market learning and suggest that improvement in investors' interpretation of accruals after the discovery of the anomaly explains the end of the anomaly. This improvement in investor learning is not due to changes in analysts' forecasting behavior, however.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar o impacto da convergência às normas internacionais de contabilidade sobre a qualidade preditiva da informação contábil no Brasil. Particularmente, o estudo verifica o impacto da adoção do padrão International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) sobre: i) a acurácia das estimativas de lucro realizadas pelos analistas de mercado e ii) a dispersão dessas estimativas de lucro, além de verificar o comportamento do viés de previsão. Os dados da pesquisa foram extraídos da base Institutional Brokers Estimate System (I/B/E/S) e dos formulários de referência das empresas, no site da Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), no período de 2006 a 2012. A metodologia utilizada foi a de análise de dados em painel, com estimação de modelos de efeitos fixos e aleatórios. Para adequação dos modelos, foram utilizadas variáveis de controle comumente empregadas na literatura internacional, além de variáveis de ajuste para caso brasileiro. Os resultados do trabalho indicam que a adoção do padrão IFRS no Brasil ainda não contribuiu para melhora da qualidade preditiva da informação contábil, embora o viés de previsão tenha diminuído. A acurácia dos analistas de mercado diminuiu no período de adoção parcial do IFRS no Brasil e, no período de adoção obrigatória, as evidências encontradas não permitem concluir sobre a melhora da acurácia dos analistas. A dispersão das estimativas dos analistas de mercado aumentou no período de adoção parcial do IFRS e, no período de adoção obrigatória, não se verificou alteração no nível da mesma. Estes resultados contrariam as evidências dos estudos para a Europa e Austrália, as quais indicam elevação da qualidade preditiva das informações. Porém, assemelham-se aos resultados encontrados para o período inicial da adoção do padrão IFRS na Alemanha. A explicação para os resultados obtidos podem estar relacionadas (i) ao método de adoção do IFRS no Brasil - que incluiu um período de adoção parcial - diferentemente de outros países; e (ii) à necessidade de um tempo de aprendizado para as empresas e analistas de mercado, haja vista as alterações ainda serem recentes. Considera-se que o estudo contribui para a literatura de análise do impacto do padrão IFRS na qualidade preditiva da informação contábil no Brasil, podendo colaborar para as decisões de normatizadores sobre futuras alterações nos padrões contábeis brasileiros e auxiliar as decisões de investidores e analistas no mercado de capitais. / This study aims to analyze the impact of the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on the predictive quality of accounting information in Brazil. In particular, the study investigates the impact of the IFRS adoption on i) the accuracy of the profit forecasting by market analysts, and ii) the dispersion of these estimates, besides verifying the forecast bias. The data was extracted from the base of Institutional Brokers Estimate System (I\\/B\\E\\S) and from the forms of companies, on the website of Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM) between 2006 and 2012. The empirical strategy employed involves the analysis of panel data and estimation of fixed-effects and random-effects models, considering control variables commonly found in international literature and specific variables for Brazilian reality. The results indicate that IFRS adoption in Brazil has not contributed to improve the predictive quality of accounting information, although the forecast bias has decreased. The forecasts accuracy decreases during the period of partial adoption of IFRS in Brazil and, for the period of mandatory adoption, this study has not found conclusive evidences about accuracy of analysts\' forecasts. Moreover, the dispersion of estimates has increased in the period of partial adoption of IFRS, however no evidence was found for the mandatory adoption period. These results are contrary to the evidences for the European and Australian cases, which suggest improvement of accounting information. Nevertheless, the results resemble the evidences encountered in Germany, particularly for the initial period of IFRS adoption. The results provided might be related (i) to the method of adoption in Brazil - which includes partial and mandatory adoption periods; and (ii) need for a time of learning period for companies and market analysts, considering the requirements are still recent. We believe that this study contributes to the literature that analyzes the impact of IFRS on the predictive quality of accounting information in Brazil. Also, might contribute to the standard-setting decisions on future changes in Brazilian accounting standards and assist the decisions of investors and research analysts.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar o impacto da convergência às normas internacionais de contabilidade sobre a qualidade preditiva da informação contábil no Brasil. Particularmente, o estudo verifica o impacto da adoção do padrão International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) sobre: i) a acurácia das estimativas de lucro realizadas pelos analistas de mercado e ii) a dispersão dessas estimativas de lucro, além de verificar o comportamento do viés de previsão. Os dados da pesquisa foram extraídos da base Institutional Brokers Estimate System (I/B/E/S) e dos formulários de referência das empresas, no site da Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), no período de 2006 a 2012. A metodologia utilizada foi a de análise de dados em painel, com estimação de modelos de efeitos fixos e aleatórios. Para adequação dos modelos, foram utilizadas variáveis de controle comumente empregadas na literatura internacional, além de variáveis de ajuste para caso brasileiro. Os resultados do trabalho indicam que a adoção do padrão IFRS no Brasil ainda não contribuiu para melhora da qualidade preditiva da informação contábil, embora o viés de previsão tenha diminuído. A acurácia dos analistas de mercado diminuiu no período de adoção parcial do IFRS no Brasil e, no período de adoção obrigatória, as evidências encontradas não permitem concluir sobre a melhora da acurácia dos analistas. A dispersão das estimativas dos analistas de mercado aumentou no período de adoção parcial do IFRS e, no período de adoção obrigatória, não se verificou alteração no nível da mesma. Estes resultados contrariam as evidências dos estudos para a Europa e Austrália, as quais indicam elevação da qualidade preditiva das informações. Porém, assemelham-se aos resultados encontrados para o período inicial da adoção do padrão IFRS na Alemanha. A explicação para os resultados obtidos podem estar relacionadas (i) ao método de adoção do IFRS no Brasil - que incluiu um período de adoção parcial - diferentemente de outros países; e (ii) à necessidade de um tempo de aprendizado para as empresas e analistas de mercado, haja vista as alterações ainda serem recentes. Considera-se que o estudo contribui para a literatura de análise do impacto do padrão IFRS na qualidade preditiva da informação contábil no Brasil, podendo colaborar para as decisões de normatizadores sobre futuras alterações nos padrões contábeis brasileiros e auxiliar as decisões de investidores e analistas no mercado de capitais. / This study aims to analyze the impact of the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on the predictive quality of accounting information in Brazil. In particular, the study investigates the impact of the IFRS adoption on i) the accuracy of the profit forecasting by market analysts, and ii) the dispersion of these estimates, besides verifying the forecast bias. The data was extracted from the base of Institutional Brokers Estimate System (I\\/B\\E\\S) and from the forms of companies, on the website of Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM) between 2006 and 2012. The empirical strategy employed involves the analysis of panel data and estimation of fixed-effects and random-effects models, considering control variables commonly found in international literature and specific variables for Brazilian reality. The results indicate that IFRS adoption in Brazil has not contributed to improve the predictive quality of accounting information, although the forecast bias has decreased. The forecasts accuracy decreases during the period of partial adoption of IFRS in Brazil and, for the period of mandatory adoption, this study has not found conclusive evidences about accuracy of analysts\' forecasts. Moreover, the dispersion of estimates has increased in the period of partial adoption of IFRS, however no evidence was found for the mandatory adoption period. These results are contrary to the evidences for the European and Australian cases, which suggest improvement of accounting information. Nevertheless, the results resemble the evidences encountered in Germany, particularly for the initial period of IFRS adoption. The results provided might be related (i) to the method of adoption in Brazil - which includes partial and mandatory adoption periods; and (ii) need for a time of learning period for companies and market analysts, considering the requirements are still recent. We believe that this study contributes to the literature that analyzes the impact of IFRS on the predictive quality of accounting information in Brazil. Also, might contribute to the standard-setting decisions on future changes in Brazilian accounting standards and assist the decisions of investors and research analysts.

Defining ambiguity as investor's uncertainty about the precision of the observed information, Chapter One constructs an empirical measure of ambiguity based on analysts' earnings forecast information, and finds that the market tends to react more negatively to highly ambiguous bad news, while it tends to be less responsive to highly ambiguous good news. This result supports the theoretical argument of Epstein and Schneider (2003, 2008) that ambiguity-averse investors take a worst-case assessment of the information precision, when they are uncertain about the information precision. In addition, Chapter One shows that returns on stocks exposed to highly ambiguous and intangible information are more negatively skewed. Chapter Two finds that certain traders are informed about either the forthcoming analysts' forecasts or long-term value of the stock, and informed traders prefer to use medium-size trades to exploit their private information advantage. Specifically, medium-size trade imbalance prior to the forecast announcements is positively correlated with the nature of forecast revisions, while in the days immediately after the forecasts medium-size trade imbalance is positively correlated with future stock returns for up to four months. Small-size trade imbalance is also positively correlated with future returns but only following downward revisions. In contrast, it is also shown that large trades placed right after the forecasts are unprofitable and generate slightly negative profits in the long run. Overall, our results are consistent with the "stealth trading hypothesis" proposed by Barclay and Warner (1993).

O objetivo deste estudo é verificar se a apresentação das despesas por função na DRE proporciona menor capacidade preditiva aos usuários, especialmente aos analistas de mercado, comparada à apresentação das despesas por natureza. O CPC 26 permite duas formas de apresentação das despesas na DRE, função ou natureza, o que é caracterizado como uma escolha contábil de apresentação. No entanto, se a empresa optar pela divulgação por função, deve apresentar, também, a informação por natureza em nota explicativa, dado que essa informação apresenta capacidade preditiva, segundo o IASB. No Brasil, a lei 6.404/76 induz a maioria das empresas a divulgar as despesas por função, o que torna a informação por natureza disponível, também, para a maioria das companhias. Existem estudos que analisam como os critérios de mensuração e reconhecimento afetam a capacidade preditiva da informação divulgada. Outros trabalhos sugerem que as escolhas contábeis de reconhecimento e mensuração podem interferir na acurácia das projeções dos analistas de mercado. Entretanto, a forma como a escolha de apresentação dos itens na DRE interfere na capacidade preditiva dos usuários, especialmente para os analistas de mercado, não está suficientemente clara na literatura. Mais especificamente com relação à forma de apresentação das despesas, não se sabe se a escolha de um método em detrimento de outro pode impactar a qualidade da informação para o usuário. Então, foram analisadas 54 empresas brasileiras de capital aberto, pertencentes a seis setores da BOVESPA, durante um período de cinco anos, por meio da utilização de análise de dados em painel. De um modo geral, os resultados sugerem que a informação por natureza é mais preditiva para o usuário e que os analistas podem errar menos em suas projeções de resultado com o uso da informação sobre despesas apresentada por natureza, dado que esta informação é disponibilizada em nota explicativa nos demonstrativos contábeis das companhias brasileiras. Assim, o estudo traz evidências de que a escolha da forma de apresentação das despesas na DRE não é indiferente para o usuário, já que pode afetar a sua capacidade de predizer fluxos de caixa futuros. Além disso, como contribuição prática, espera-se mostrar que os analistas podem melhorar a acurácia de suas previsões ao utilizarem o método de apresentação das despesas por natureza para realizar suas projeções, especialmente quando analisam empresas com alto nível de custos fixos. / The aim of this study is to verify if the presentation of the expenses by function in the income statement provides less predictability to the users, especially to the market analysts, compared to the presentation of expenses by nature. CPC 26 allows two forms of presentation of expenses at the income statement, by function and by nature, what is characterized as an accounting choice of presentation. However, if the company opts for disclosure by function, it must also present information by nature in an explanatory note, given that this information presents predictive capacity, according to the IASB. In Brazil, the Law No. 6.404 /76 induces most of companies to disclose expenses by function, which makes the information by nature also available for most companies. Studies had already analyzed how measurement and recognition criteria affect a predictive capacity of the information disclosed. Other works suggest that accounting recognition and measurement choices may interfere in analysts\' forecasts. However, the way in which the choice of presentation of items in the income statement interferes in the predictive capacity of users, especially for market analysts, is not sufficiently clear in the literature. More specifically, regarding to expenses presentation, it is not known whether the choice of one method over another can generate differences for the predictive capacity of the user. It was analyzed a sample of 54 Brazilian publicly companies belonging to six sectors of BOVESPA over a five-year period, using panel data analysis. Overall, the results suggest that information by nature is more predictive for the user and that analysts can improve the accuracy of their forecasts using the information of expenses presented by nature, since this information is available in an explanatory note in the financial statements of Brazilian companies. Thus, the study provides evidence that the choice of expenses presentation at the income statement is important to the user, as it may affect their ability to predict future cash flows. Moreover, as a practical contribution, this study shows that analysts can improve the accuracy of their forecasts by using the method of presenting expenses by nature to carry out their projections, especially when analyzing companies with high fixed costs.

O objetivo deste estudo é verificar se a apresentação das despesas por função na DRE proporciona menor capacidade preditiva aos usuários, especialmente aos analistas de mercado, comparada à apresentação das despesas por natureza. O CPC 26 permite duas formas de apresentação das despesas na DRE, função ou natureza, o que é caracterizado como uma escolha contábil de apresentação. No entanto, se a empresa optar pela divulgação por função, deve apresentar, também, a informação por natureza em nota explicativa, dado que essa informação apresenta capacidade preditiva, segundo o IASB. No Brasil, a lei 6.404/76 induz a maioria das empresas a divulgar as despesas por função, o que torna a informação por natureza disponível, também, para a maioria das companhias. Existem estudos que analisam como os critérios de mensuração e reconhecimento afetam a capacidade preditiva da informação divulgada. Outros trabalhos sugerem que as escolhas contábeis de reconhecimento e mensuração podem interferir na acurácia das projeções dos analistas de mercado. Entretanto, a forma como a escolha de apresentação dos itens na DRE interfere na capacidade preditiva dos usuários, especialmente para os analistas de mercado, não está suficientemente clara na literatura. Mais especificamente com relação à forma de apresentação das despesas, não se sabe se a escolha de um método em detrimento de outro pode impactar a qualidade da informação para o usuário. Então, foram analisadas 54 empresas brasileiras de capital aberto, pertencentes a seis setores da BOVESPA, durante um período de cinco anos, por meio da utilização de análise de dados em painel. De um modo geral, os resultados sugerem que a informação por natureza é mais preditiva para o usuário e que os analistas podem errar menos em suas projeções de resultado com o uso da informação sobre despesas apresentada por natureza, dado que esta informação é disponibilizada em nota explicativa nos demonstrativos contábeis das companhias brasileiras. Assim, o estudo traz evidências de que a escolha da forma de apresentação das despesas na DRE não é indiferente para o usuário, já que pode afetar a sua capacidade de predizer fluxos de caixa futuros. Além disso, como contribuição prática, espera-se mostrar que os analistas podem melhorar a acurácia de suas previsões ao utilizarem o método de apresentação das despesas por natureza para realizar suas projeções, especialmente quando analisam empresas com alto nível de custos fixos. / The aim of this study is to verify if the presentation of the expenses by function in the income statement provides less predictability to the users, especially to the market analysts, compared to the presentation of expenses by nature. CPC 26 allows two forms of presentation of expenses at the income statement, by function and by nature, what is characterized as an accounting choice of presentation. However, if the company opts for disclosure by function, it must also present information by nature in an explanatory note, given that this information presents predictive capacity, according to the IASB. In Brazil, the Law No. 6.404 /76 induces most of companies to disclose expenses by function, which makes the information by nature also available for most companies. Studies had already analyzed how measurement and recognition criteria affect a predictive capacity of the information disclosed. Other works suggest that accounting recognition and measurement choices may interfere in analysts\' forecasts. However, the way in which the choice of presentation of items in the income statement interferes in the predictive capacity of users, especially for market analysts, is not sufficiently clear in the literature. More specifically, regarding to expenses presentation, it is not known whether the choice of one method over another can generate differences for the predictive capacity of the user. It was analyzed a sample of 54 Brazilian publicly companies belonging to six sectors of BOVESPA over a five-year period, using panel data analysis. Overall, the results suggest that information by nature is more predictive for the user and that analysts can improve the accuracy of their forecasts using the information of expenses presented by nature, since this information is available in an explanatory note in the financial statements of Brazilian companies. Thus, the study provides evidence that the choice of expenses presentation at the income statement is important to the user, as it may affect their ability to predict future cash flows. Moreover, as a practical contribution, this study shows that analysts can improve the accuracy of their forecasts by using the method of presenting expenses by nature to carry out their projections, especially when analyzing companies with high fixed costs.

No description available.

L'objectif de cette thèse est d'analyser le rôle des agences de notation sur le marché financier. Notre contribution consiste à mieux comprendre l'influence des annonces de notation sur les acteurs du marché français des actions (investisseurs et analystes financiers).La première question porte sur l'apport informatif délivré par les agences de notation et l'impact de leurs décisions. Afin de répondre à cette question, nous avons conduit une étude d'évènement à l'annonce de notation en distinguant les annonces par nature, type et catégorie.Cette recherche permet de prouver que les annonces de notation ont globalement un impact sur le marché des actions. L'impact dépend de la nature de l'annonce, des informations fournies dans les rapports de notation, des changements de note entre catégories et de ceux effectués dans la catégorie spéculative. Enfin, le niveau de la note dépend des caractéristiques financières et comptables de l'entreprise notée.La seconde question porte sur le rôle bénéfique des agences de notation sur les marchés. Afin de répondre à cette deuxième question, nous avons conduit une recherche qui consiste à analyser l'évolution de l'asymétrie d'information entre les investisseurs et de la liquidité autour des annonces de notation.Cette recherche prouve que les annonces positives (respectivement négatives) entraînent une diminution (respectivement augmentation) de l'asymétrie d'information sur le marché des actions. Les résultats prouvent également que les annonces positives et neutres, à l'inverse des annonces négatives, entraînent une réduction des fourchettes de prix et une amélioration des volumes de transactions. Ces deux effets concomitants traduisent une amélioration (respectivement détérioration) de la liquidité du marché lors des annonces positives et neutres (respectivement négatives).La troisième question porte sur l'utilité des annonces de notation pour les analystes lors de leurs prévisions. Afin de répondre à cette question, nous avons mené une recherche qui consiste à étudier l'évolution de la dispersion et de l'erreur des prévisions des analystes autour des annonces de notation.Les résultats mettent en évidence une relation inverse entre les caractéristiques des prévisions des analystes financiers et la nature de l'annonce de notation. Les annonces positives et neutres réduisent l'erreur et la dispersion des prévisions d'analystes.Ce travail de recherche permet d'attester de la réelle importance du contenu informationnel des annonces de notation pour le marché des actions et de la réelle contribution des annonces à l'amélioration de la communication financière sur le marché. / The main objective of this thesis is to analyze the role of rating agencies on the financial market. Our contribution consists in a better understanding of the impact of rating announcements on the agents on the French financial market (both investors and analysts).First we focus on the information content of announcements by rating agencies and the impact of theirs decisions in the market. To answer this question, we made an event study at the rating announcements, by identifying them by nature, type and category.This research highlights the fact that the rating announcements generally have an impact on the stock market. This impact depends on the nature of the announcement, the information provided in the reports as well as score changes between categories and within the speculative category. Moreover, the rating level depends on the firm financial and accounting characteristics.Second, we intend to understand the beneficial role of rating agencies on the financial markets. To answer this question, we analyzed the evolution of the information asymmetry and stock market liquidity around rating announcements.Our results show that positive announcements (respectively negative) lead to a decrease (respectively increase) of information asymmetry. We also found that positive and neutral announcements, unlike the negative ones, lead to a reduction of bid-ask spread and to an increase of transactions volumes. Both effects reflect higher (respectively lower) stock market liquidity when the announcements are positive or neutral (respectively negative).Finally, we focus on the study of the impact of rating announcements on analysts' forecasts. For this purpose, we studied the evolution of the analysts' forecasts dispersion and errors around rating announcements.Our results indicate an inverse relationship between the characteristics of financial analysts' forecasts and the nature of the rating announcement. Indeed, positive and neutral announcements reduce the error and the dispersion of analysts' forecasts.This research shows the informative content of rating announcements on the stock market and the real contribution of the announcements by improving financial communication.

區域技術創新能力是展現區域將知識轉化為經濟的能力，是區域競爭力的重要內容。由於區域創新能力是造成中國各區域經濟發展差距的主要原因之一。本研究採用中國之上市公司為研究對象，探討公司創新活動的揭露與中國各省（自治區、直轄市）創新能力對分析師預測行為及分析師預測跟隨人數之影響。由三個面向檢視區域創新能力：研究與試驗發展全時人員當量增長率(REGTH)、政府研發投入占GDP比例(GIGDP)、每百萬人平均發明專利授權數(AVPAT)。研究結果發現創新活動揭露越多之公司，分析師之預測誤差程度越低、分析師之離散度越高且能吸引越多分析師對公司做預測。區域創新能力指標REGTH越高地區，分析師預測跟隨人數越少；區域創新能力指標GIGDP越高地區，分析師之預測誤差程度越低、分析師之離散度越低、分析師預測跟隨人數越少；區域創新能力指標AVPAT越高地區，分析師之預測誤差程度越低、分析師之離散度越低、分析師預測跟隨人數越多。 / Regional innovation capability is an important competitive ability to improve the economic development in China. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies, this study investigates the extent to which innovation disclosure at the company level and regional innovation capabilities affect analysts’ forecast characteristics in terms of forecast error, and forecast dispersion, and the number of analysts’ following. The indicators of regional innovation capabilities are the growth rate of R&D full-time equivalent personnel (REGTH), regional government's investment in R&D per GDP (GIGDP), and average of innovation patent authorized per millions of people in one region (AVPAT). The results indicate that firms with more innovation disclosures improve analysts’ forecast error, and regions with higher GIGDP and AVPAT also improve analysts’ forecast error. For firms with more innovation disclosures increase analysts’ forecast dispersion, and for regions with lower GIGDP and AVPAT increase analysts’ forecast dispersion. I also find firms with more innovation disclosures attract more analysts’ following, and regions with higher REGTH and GIGDP have less analysts’ following, while regions with higher AVPAT attract more analysts’ following.

本文以三篇論文討論三個與財務報表向下重編盈餘公司有關的議題：（1）宣告財務報表重編後的長期股票績效；（2）重編公司內部人交易行為；（3）重編公司如何操弄盈餘以及操弄動機為何？ 本文樣本是從1984年1月至2000年12月，557家因為財務報表違法、舞弊或錯誤而宣告需要重編以前財務報表的公司。 第一篇論文討論公司宣告重編後三年長期股票績效。在不同配對組合下，實證結果顯示，三年長期持有異常報酬（buy-and-hold abnormal return）達-34％。文中也討論公司宣告重編時以及後續分析師預測行為。結果發現，分析師對於重編資訊有反應不足的現象，而且三年的盈餘預測修正與長期異常報酬有顯著正相關。 第二篇論文探討盈餘品質與內部人交易行為。本文假設內部人擁有重編公司盈餘品質不良的私有資訊，內部人會利用此私有資訊從事異常交易。實證結果顯示，內部人早在重編前兩年就已經開始異常出售持股，但是為了避免被發現，愈接近重編期間則交易量愈少，而且內部人異常交易與重編金額成正相關。 第三篇論文採取應計項目分項的方法（disaggregate approach）探討重編項目與特定應計項目的關連性以及重編公司違反一般公認會計原則的動機。實證結果顯示，特定重編項目公司的總應計項目比特定應計項目更顯著。很可能是管理當局為了避免操弄特定項目以致於被發現，所以操弄各種應計項目以達到總金額的目標。尤其在不同盈餘管理動機的成本效益的考量下，如果操弄主要應計項目的效益大於成本，管理當局還是會操弄特定應計項目以達到操弄的目的。因此，應計項目分項的方法可以作為進一步探討盈餘管理的方法。 / This dissertation examines three different aspects of downward earnings restatements in three essays: (1) the long-run stock performance of restatement firms following the announcements of restatements; (2) insider trading activities of earnings restatement firms; and (3) how earnings manipulations of restatement firms are effected and what are the incentives for earnings manipulations? Using extensive keyword (i.e., “restatements,” “restate,” “restated,” “restates,” and “restating”) searches over the period from January 1, 1984 through December 31, 2000, 557 firms are identified as having restated their previously published or filed financial statements due to accounting irregularities, fraud, or errors. The first essay examines the post earnings restatement announcement of long-term stock performance. Using various benchmark portfolio formulation strategies, I document an average buy-and-hold abnormal return of -34% over the 36-month horizon. I then investigate analysts’ forecast behavior around and after the restatement announcements. I find that market underreactions are associated with a sluggish forecast revisions by financial analysts. This study sheds light on how restatement information is transmitted to the capital markets and provides evidence that the market under reacts to externally initiated corporate events. The second essay examines the relationship between earnings quality and insider trading. Using downward earnings restatement firms to identify low-quality earnings, I find that insiders outsell non-earnings restatement firms of their holdings over the period from two years before to one year before the beginning of the restatement period. In addition, the amounts of restatement are positively associated with the excess insider selling. I also provide evidence that excess insider selling predicts excessive earnings manipulations that eventually lead to GAAP violation. In the third essay, I take advantage of the disclosed manipulation of items and approach the earnings manipulation issue by a disaggregate approach. Given that management considers cost/benefits of specific accruals to be manipulated, I examine whether management chooses different items to manipulate under different goals. Overall, the empirical results support the equity offering hypothesis and weakly support the meeting earnings threshold hypothesis. However, the results fail to support the avoidance of debt covenant violation hypothesis, indicating that manipulation under certain monitoring conditions can be conducted in a very subtle manner.