The development of earnings quality in Germany and its implication for further research: A quantitative empirical analysis of German listed companies between 1997 and 2006

Abstract

This paper investigates the development of earnings quality for a sample of 5,817 firm years during the period between 1997 and 2006 using seven different measures (accounting- and market-based). As a result, overall earnings quality of German firms improves over time. However, the measures of timeliness and value relevance indicate a decreasing earnings quality. These findings are tested by taking firm-specific accounting style into consideration using firm fixed effects.