Literature Review
Under efficiency markets hypothesis, investor cannot use publicly available information to generate abnormal returns. However, research shows that investors routinely use information from publicly available financial statement to assess the value of the firm. For instance, Previts et al. (1994) show that (sell-side) analysts commonly evaluate assets and liabilities based on a cost, not a market value basis, and base their recommendation primarily on an evaluation of company income. Watts and Zimmerman (1986) conclude from existing research that accounting variables are associated with market-based measures of risk and can be used to produce estimates of risk for unlisted securities and that rating agencies use accounting data publicly available in the published financial statements to predict bond ratings and their changes.