Investor Reactions To Complex Financial Accounting Disclosures: Experimental Evidence From The Tax Disclosure Of Permanently Reinvested Earnings

This paper investigates how increasing the transparency of complex financial accounting disclosures affects investor judgments. The income tax disclosure of permanently reinvested earnings is the context of this investigation as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is currently evaluating income tax disclosures and has specifically identified the disclosure of permanently reinvested earnings as an area to be reevaluated. Current standards allow corporations flexibility in their disclosures that can lead investors to be surprised by changes in a corporation’s assertions regarding the reinvestment of foreign earnings. My study suggests that increasing the transparency of complex disclosures through the explicit reporting of an economic value does not affect investor judgments. However, a change in the management assertion related to the realization of that value has a significant effect on investors’ judgments. My results demonstrate that standard setters should be mindful that management assertions may shape investors’ reactions to an equal or greater extent than the numerical disclosures in complex financial accounting matters