Understanding earnings quality - MIT Sloan School of Management
Understanding earnings quality - MIT Sloan School of Management
Understanding earnings quality - MIT Sloan School of Management
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<strong>earnings</strong> <strong>quality</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten suggest that the study’s findings are robust to alternative specifications <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>earnings</strong> <strong>quality</strong>. The results are consistent across the proxies, but we question whether they should<br />
be.<br />
In summary, our wide-ranging finding across all the EQ proxies is that we have not<br />
adequately separated the unobservable dimension <strong>of</strong> <strong>quality</strong> related to the fundamental <strong>earnings</strong><br />
process from the ability <strong>of</strong> the accounting measurement process to contribute to the <strong>quality</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
reported <strong>earnings</strong>. The research attempts to separate abnormal accruals from normal accruals, but<br />
the distinction between the normal accruals and X as a source <strong>of</strong> reported <strong>earnings</strong> <strong>quality</strong> is still an<br />
open question.<br />
In the remainder <strong>of</strong> this section, we summarize our specific findings on each individual EQ<br />
proxy (Sections 2.2.1 through 2.2.3). Detailed discussions <strong>of</strong> the papers and justification for the<br />
conclusions are discussed in the survey section noted. Exhibit 1 provides an overview <strong>of</strong> each<br />
proxy, its strengths and its weakness, and how fundamentals and measurement error in the<br />
accounting system are likely to affect the proxy. In Section 2.3, we outline additional conclusions<br />
based on our survey <strong>of</strong> the entirety <strong>of</strong> the network <strong>of</strong> studies, with some suggestions <strong>of</strong> future<br />
research opportunities.<br />
2.2 Specific findings on each EQ proxy<br />
2.2.1 Properties <strong>of</strong> <strong>earnings</strong><br />
Earnings persistence and accruals (Section 3.1.1): A considerable number <strong>of</strong> studies provide<br />
evidence on the ability <strong>of</strong> reported <strong>earnings</strong>, and various components <strong>of</strong> <strong>earnings</strong>, to predict future<br />
cash flows relative to cash flows or other <strong>earnings</strong> metrics. Another set <strong>of</strong> studies examines <strong>earnings</strong><br />
persistence directly, typically using an approach that measures the incremental contributions <strong>of</strong><br />
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