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Sustained Earnings and Revenue Growth, Earnings Quality, and Earnings Response Coefficients

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Abstract

We show that firms reporting sustained increases in both earnings and revenues have (1) higher quality earnings and (2) larger earnings response coefficients (ERCs) in comparison to firms reporting sustained increases in earnings alone. With respect to earnings quality, firms with revenue-supported increases in earnings have more persistent earnings, exhibit less susceptibility to earnings management, and have higher future operating performance. With respect to response coefficients, firms with revenue-supported increases in earnings have both higher ERCs and lower book value response coefficients, consistent with the implications of the Ohlson (1995, Contemporary Accounting Research 12, 661–687) model.

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Correspondence to Prem C. Jain.

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JEL Classification: G12, M41

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Ghosh, A., Gu, Z. & Jain, P.C. Sustained Earnings and Revenue Growth, Earnings Quality, and Earnings Response Coefficients. Rev Acc Stud 10, 33–57 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11142-004-6339-3

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