Market efficiency? : A Good(will) test

Problem: Recent articles argue that the new accounting standard regarding abandonment of depreciation of goodwill will cause a rise in share prices. According to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, a rise in profits due to accounting changes should not cause an increase in share prices. Therefore we ask the following main question in our thesis: Do investors on the Stockholm Stock Exchange act semi-strong efficient in relation to the abandonment of linear depreciation of goodwill? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test the semi-strong form of market efficiency on the Stockholm Stock Exchange by studying if companies show positive abnormal returns caused by the removal of linear depreciation of goodwill. Method: Both a qualitative and quantitative approach was used to investigate semi-strong market efficiency. We conducted an event study to measure if companies with a high degree of goodwill showed abnormal returns. To be able to see if the abnormal returns were caused by the new accounting standards, a qualitative research was made. Conclusion: The empirical investigation indicates that investors acted semistrong efficient in relation to the abandonment of linear depreciation of goodwill