Skip to main content
Log in

Are off-balance-sheet indicators useful to evaluate accounting information quality?

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that off-balance-sheet information is potentially useful to evaluate accounting information quality in addition to financial indicators. We propose a novel method to evaluate the accounting information quality of listed companies in China by merging four financial attributes and six indicators derived from off-balance-sheet information, where the principal component analysis is used to filter the indicators which count heavily for the evaluation. Validation and comparison are implemented on the dataset of all financial frauds and violations (5031 cases) of 1995 listed companies of Shenzhen Stock Exchange from 2003 to 2017. The results show that the proposed method outperforms both the traditional “DD model” (Dechow and Dichev, The Accounting Review 77(1):35–59, 2002) and the model only involving financial indicators in identifying and predicting financial fraud of enterprises. The results highlight that off-balance-sheet information is indeed useful and important to evaluate accounting information quality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Kangmei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Stock Code: 600518)

  2. http://www.sse.com.cn/disclosure/credibility/supervision/measures/ident/c/dd6e73b4-0ef7-4b41-ba3f-42a2a099802d.pdf

  3. KangDeXin Co., Ltd (Stock Code: 002450)

  4. http://www.szse.cn/disclosure/listed/bulletinDetail/index.html?fd7d8841-be39-47da-8087-3aa95aceb39f

  5. Furen Medicines Group Co., Ltd (Stock Code: 600781)

  6. http://www.sse.com.cn//disclosure/listedinfo/announcement/c/2020-08-01/600781_20200801_2.pdf

  7. Luckin coffee Co., Ltd (Stock Code: LK.US)

  8. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/why-luckin-coffee-stock-plunged-today-2020-06-23

  9. https://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/Document_C/DocumentPage?cid=1176171746896&acceptedDisclaimer=true

  10. https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/conceptual-framework/

  11. https://www.wind.com.cn/NewSite/edb.html

  12. http://www.gtarsc.com/#/market/datalist

  13. https://www.cnrds.com/Home/Index#/FeaturedDatabase

  14. www.szse.cn/disclosure/supervision/check/index.html

  15. H&R Century Pictures Co., Ltd (Stock Code: 000892)

References

  1. Dechow PM, Sloan RG, Sweeney AP et al (1996) Causes and consequences of earnings manipulation: an analysis of firms subject to enforcement actions by the SEC*. Contemp Account Res 13(1):1–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Dechow PM, Dichev ID (2002) The quality of accruals and earnings: the role of accrual estimation errors. Account Rev 77(1):35–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Jones JJ (1991) Earnings management during import relief investigations. J Account Res 29(2):193–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bartov E (1993) The timing of asset sales and earnings manipulation. Account Rev 68(4):840–855

    Google Scholar 

  5. Xia L, Lu X (2005) On the relationship between earnings management and information disclosure quality of listed firms. Contemp Econ Manag 05:147–152+160 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Hribar P, Kravet TD, Wilson RJ et al (2014) A new measure of accounting quality. Rev Acc Stud 19(1):506–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Xin Q, Kong D, Hao Y (2014) Corporate transparency and stock price volatility. J Financ Res 10:193–206 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Barth ME, Kasznik R, Mcnichols MF et al (2001) Analyst coverage and intangible assets. J Account Res 39(1):1–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Frenkel S, Guttman I, Kremer I (2019) The effect of exogenous information on voluntary disclosure and market quality. J Financ Econ

  10. Chen JZ, Shane PB (2014) Changes in cash: persistence and pricing implications. J Account Res 52(3):599–634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Biddle GC, Hilary G, Verdi RS et al (2009) How does financial reporting quality relate to investment efficiency. J Account Econ 48(2):112–131

  12. Gomariz MFC, Ballesta JPS (2014) Financial reporting quality, debt maturity and investment efficiency. J Bank Financ 40:494–506

  13. Beyer A, Cohen DA, Lys TZ et al (2010) The financial reporting environment: review of the recent literature. J Account Econ 50(2):296–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Healy PM, Palepu KG (2001) Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure and the capital markets: a review of the empirical disclosure literature. J Account Econ 31(1):405–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Islam MA, Ali R, Ahmad Z et al (2011) Is modified Jones model effective in detecting earnings management? Evidence from a developing economy. Int J Econ Financ 3(2)

  16. Srinidhi B, Gul FA, Tsui JS et al (2011) Female directors and earnings quality. Contemp Account Res 28(5):1610–1644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Badolato PG, Donelson DC, Ege M et al (2014) Audit committee financial expertise and earnings management: the role of status. J Account Econ 58(2):208–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Kim Y, Park MS, Wier B et al (2012) Is earnings quality associated with corporate social responsibility. Account Rev 87(3):761–796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Lo K, Ramos F, Rogo R et al (2017) Earnings management and annual report readability. J Account Econ 63(1):1–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Guay WR, Samuels D, Taylor DJ et al (2016) Guiding through the fog: financial statement complexity and voluntary disclosure. J Account Econ 62(2):234–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Ali A, Zhang W (2015) CEO tenure and earnings management. J Account Econ 59(1):60–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Chaney PK, Faccio M, Parsley DC et al (2011) The quality of accounting information in politically connected firms. J Account Econ 51(1):58–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Xia H (2014) Can investor-paid credit rating agencies improve the information quality of issuer-paid rating agencies? J Financ Econ 111(2):450–468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Lobo GJ, Song M, Stanford MH et al (2012) Accruals quality and analyst coverage. J Bank Financ 36(2):497–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Yi Z, Jiang F, Qin Y (2010) The market competition in products, the corporate governance and the quality of information disclosure. J Manag World 01:133–141 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Obeng VA, Ahmed K, Miglani S et al (2020) Integrated reporting and earnings quality: the moderating effect of agency costs. Pac Basin Financ J

  27. Pourciau S (1993) Earnings management and nonroutine executive changes. J Account Econ 16(1):317–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Aharony J, Lee CJ, Wong TJ et al (2000) Financial packaging of IPO firms in China. J Account Res 38(1):103–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Lev B, Zarowin P (1999) The boundaries of financial reporting and how to extend them. J Account Res 37(2):353–385

  30. Fudenberg D, Tirole J (1995) A theory of income and dividend smoothing based on incumbency rents. J Polit Econ 103(1):75–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Leuz C, Nanda D, Wysocki PD et al (2003) Earnings management and investor protection: an international comparison. J Financ Econ 69(3):505–527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Francis JR, Krishnan J (1999) Accounting accruals and auditor reporting conservatism. Contemp Account Res 16(1):135–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Luo W, Li M (2019) ST enterprise investment income earnings management and audit opinions -- based on the moderating effect of abnormal audit expenses. Friends Account 13:19–25

    Google Scholar 

  34. Bricker RJ, Grant T, Fogarty JT, Previts JG (1999) Determinants of analysts following. J Corp Commun 1

  35. Sun Y, Zeng X, et al (2019) An active and dynamic credit reporting system for SMEs in China, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-019-01275-4

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yunchuan Sun.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sun, Y., Zeng, X., Wang, L. et al. Are off-balance-sheet indicators useful to evaluate accounting information quality?. Pers Ubiquit Comput 26, 1035–1051 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-020-01499-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-020-01499-9

Keywords

Navigation