The Association between Firms' Values and Accounting Numbers after Adoption of Fresh Start Reporting

Abstract

This study examines the association between firms' values and accounting numbers for 72 firms that adopted fresh start reporting (FSR) upon their emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It focuses on the effects of a misstatement in the reporting choice of the initial fresh start value of equity on the association between firms' values and accounting numbers reported subsequently. Using a security valuation model, I derive an explicit relation between firms' values and a measure of the misstatement in the fresh start equity. This model provides a theoretical value for a coefficient associating the misstatement with firms' values under the null hypothesis that investors accurately undo the effects of the misstatement on subsequently reported numbers. I estimate this model for eight quarters after the adoption of FSR. The results of the regressions suggest that even two years after the emergence from Chapter 11 and the adoption of FSR, investors unravel the effects of the initial misstatement on book values and earnings reported subsequent to the adoption of FSR. The results also suggest that while investors appear to adjust for these effects, the magnitude of the adjustment is constant over time (in contrast to the predicted pattern of this adjustment).

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