The asymmetric effect of discretionary and nondiscretionary components of accruals on the relation between earnings dispersion and excess stock returns

This paper aims to investigate the asymmetric effect of discretionary and nondiscretionary components of accruals on the relation between earnings dispersion and excess returns. With the increase of discretionary and nondiscretionary components of accruals, what behavior does the earnings distribution show and what effect does this issue have on the excess returns? This research presents an asymmetric correlation in terms of method and nature. Using a systematic sampling method from the companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), 137 companies were selected as a sample from 2014 to 2020. After examining the classical assumptions of regressions, the panel data model with fixed effects was determined. The results show that (1) there is a positive and significant relation between earnings dispersion and excess stock returns, (2) the accrual’s discretionary components have an insignificant effect on the relation between earnings dispersion and excess stock returns, (3) with the increase of discretionary components of accruals, the relation between earnings dispersion and excess stock returns increases, (4) the accrual’s nondiscretionary components have a negative and significant effect on the relation between earnings dispersion and excess stock returns, (5) with the increase of accrual’s nondiscretionary components, the relation between earnings dispersion and excess stock returns goes up.