Identifier

etd-03172006-101515

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Accounting

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

In this study, I develop a measure of earnings quality by using qualitative characteristics of financial statement information specified in the Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts (SFAC) No. 2 (FASB 1980). I derive a summary measure of earnings quality by applying factor analysis on fifteen variables representing different components of two primary dimensions of earnings quality: relevance and reliability. I then test the validity of the earnings quality construct by examining whether the construct reflects decision usefulness that is operationalized in two ways: value relevance and cost of capital analyses. I provide empirical evidence suggesting that the earnings quality construct reflects decision usefulness to investors, which is consistent with the FASB's assertion. Finally, I explore the relative desirability of each dimension in light of decision usefulness of earnings information, and find that investors, in general, prefer the relevance to the reliability dimension of earnings.

Date

2006

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

John Kenneth Reynolds

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.2671

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Accounting Commons

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