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Abstract

We construct a modified measure of disaggregation quality (MDQ) based on the disaggregation quality (DQ) measure from Chen et al. Both are parsimonious measures of disclosure quality in the annual report using the percentage of nonmissing financial statement items in Compustat. However, we take additional screening steps to minimize counting errors by resolving missing values due to GAAP changes over time and using a more comprehensive set of accounting equations from Casey et al. We also apply industry-based weights to adjust for the relative importance of the variables. We identify firm characteristics that are associated with the DQ measures and validate the measures. In addition, we find that MDQ intensifies market reactions to earnings announcements. Overall, MDQ is a more reliable and consistent measure of DQ.

Keywords

disclosure quality disaggregation quality financial statement articulation Compustat annual report

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