■ Asset quality index. Asset quality in a given year is the ratio of noncurrent assets other than property, plant, and equipment (PP&E) to total assets and measures the proportion of total assets for which future benefits are potentially less certain. The asset quality index (AQI) is the ratio of asset quality in year t to asset quality in yeart– 1. The AQIis an aggregate measure of the change in asset realization risk, which was suggested by Siegel. If the AQIis greater than 1, the company has poten-tially increased its involvement in cost deferral.11 An increase in asset realization risk indicates an
increased propensity to capitalize, and thus defer, costs. Therefore, I expected to find a positive relationship between the AQIand the probability of earnings manipulation.