I interpret conservatism as resulting in earnings reflecting 'bad news' more quickly
than 'good news'. This interpretation implies systematic differences between bad news
and good news periods in the timeliness and persistence of earnings. Using firms' stock
returns to measure news, the contemporaneous sensitivity of earnings to negative returns
is two to six times that of earnings to positive returns. I also predict and find that negative
earnings changes are less persistent than positive earnings changes. Earnings response
coefficients (ERCs) are higher for positive earnings changes than for negative earnings
changes, consistent with this asymmetric persistence. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All
rights reserved.