Abstract

We show that the accrual anomaly documented by Sloan (1996) [Do stock prices fully reflect information in accruals and cash flows about future earnings? The Accounting Review 71: 289–315] is concentrated in firms with high idiosyncratic stock return volatility making it risky for risk-averse arbitrageurs to take positions in stocks with extreme accruals. Moreover, the accrual anomaly is found in low-price and low-volume stocks, suggesting that transaction costs impose further barriers to exploiting accrual mispricing.

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Citation

Mashruwala, Christina, Shivaram Rajgopal, and Terry Shevlin. "Why Is the Accrual Anomaly Not Arbitraged Away? The Role of Idiosyncratic Risk and Transaction Costs." Journal of Accounting and Economics 42 (2006): 3-33.

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