The value relevance of accounting and financial information: panel data evidence

The value-relevance of the major corporate financial variables for Tunisian listed companies is investigated using a levels-based approach. The theoretical background of the paper is based on Ohlson's work (Contemporary Accounting Research, 11(2), 661-87, 1995) and Rees' empirical paper (Journal of Business, Finance and Economics, 24, 1111-40, 1997). This paper reports that earnings and book value are value-relevant. It is found that dividend policy is a signalling device for Tunisian companies but debt and investment policies are not value-relevant. The results of segmentation by capitalization show that dividend policy is value-relevant only for smaller firms. The dividend coefficient is considerably larger for the medium ROE group and the book value variable is most influential when return on equity is abnormally high.