Zhuo (June) Cheng and Jing (Bob) Fang
This study examines the effect of stock liquidity on the magnitude of the accrual anomaly.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the effect of stock liquidity on the magnitude of the accrual anomaly.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines the relation—both time-series and cross-sectional—between stock liquidity and the magnitude of the accrual anomaly and use the 2001 minimum tick size decimalization as a quasi-experiment to establish causality.
Findings
There is both cross-sectional and time-series evidence that stock liquidity is negatively related to the magnitude of the accrual anomaly. Moreover, the extent to which investors overestimate the persistence of accruals decreases with stock liquidity. Results from a difference-in-differences analysis conducted using the 2001 minimum tick size decimalization as a quasi-experiment suggest that the effect of stock liquidity on the accrual anomaly is causal. The findings of this study are consistent with the enhancing effect of stock liquidity on pricing efficiency.
Originality/value
The study's findings are well aligned with the mispricing-based explanation for the accrual anomaly, suggesting that the improvement in market-wide stock liquidity drives the contemporaneous decline in the magnitude of the accrual anomaly, at least to a great extent.
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Zhuo (June) Cheng and Jing (Bob) Fang
This study aims to examine what underlies the estimated relation between idiosyncratic volatility and realized return.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine what underlies the estimated relation between idiosyncratic volatility and realized return.
Design/methodology/approach
Idiosyncratic volatility has a dual effect on stock pricing: it not only affects investors' expected return but also affects the efficiency of stock price in reflecting its value. Therefore, the estimated relation between idiosyncratic volatility and realized return captures its relations with both expected return and the mispricing-related component due to its dual effect on stock pricing. The sign of its relation with the mispricing-related component is indeterminate.
Findings
The estimated relation between idiosyncratic volatility and realized return decreases and switches from positive to negative as the estimation sample consists of proportionately more ex ante overvalued observations; it increases and switches from negative to positive as the estimation sample consists of proportionately more ex post overvalued observations. In sum, the relation of idiosyncratic volatility with the mispricing-related component dominates its relation with expected return in its estimated relation with realized return. Moreover, its estimated relation with realized return varies with research design choices and even switches sign due to their effects on its relation with the mispricing-related component.
Originality/value
The novelty of the study is evident in the implication of its findings that one cannot infer the sign of the relation of idiosyncratic volatility with expected return from its estimated relation with realized return.
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Lizhong Hao, Joseph H. Zhang and Jing (Bob) Fang
The paper aims to examine whether or not firms voluntarily filing in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) format enjoy a lower cost of capital. XBRL, or “interactive…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine whether or not firms voluntarily filing in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) format enjoy a lower cost of capital. XBRL, or “interactive data” as the US Securities and Exchange Commission refers to it, is an information format that enables electronic exchange of standardized business and financial information.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors investigate whether voluntary adoption of XBRL impacts cost of equity capital using a sample of US firms participated in the SEC Voluntary Filer Program, each matched with a pair of non-XBRL filers (matched by two-digit SIC code, same fiscal yearend, and close total assets in the same year). The authors measure firm-specific cost of equity capital at the fiscal year of last voluntary XBRL filing, using the PEG ratio model proposed by Easton, Gode and Mohanram, and Hou et al.
Findings
The results show that cost of equity capital is significantly and negatively associated with XBRL adoption. The magnitude of the coefficient on XBRL suggests that firms voluntarily adopting XBRL are associated with an average reduction in cost of equity capital by 17-20 basis points (conditional on different cost of capital measures).
Research limitations/implications
There is a research limitation due to the sample of voluntary XBRL adopters as of self-selection bias. The authors address this issue by using the Heckman two-stage regression procedure.
Practical implications
The study provides evidence on the economic consequence of XBRL adoption in that it benefits shareholders by reducing the cost of equity capital. The evidence should provide regulators like the SEC more incentives to mandate the XBRL standard and motivate companies to adopt the standard as well.
Originality/value
By showing that voluntary XBRL adopters are associated with lower cost of equity capital, the study provides timely and relevant empirical evidence to the economic consequences of voluntary adoption of XBRL. It also contributes to the limited empirical research on the economic consequences of new information technology and highlights the importance of institutional regulation in shaping the outcomes of new financial reporting format.