This paper has several limitations. First, the effect of concurrent events other than the passage of SFAS No. 142 on reported earnings is not perfectly controlled. Even with a control group, the different characteristics between the treatment and the control group may not guarantee that we fully isolate the distinct effect of the adoption of SFAS No. 142. Second, the partitioning based on the proxy for reporting discretion may include measurement errors. As a result, the partitioning based on a discretionary accruals model may lead to inaccurate conclusions. Therefore, the results of this paper regarding the distinct effect of the adoption of SFAS No. 142 on the informativeness of earnings should be interpreted cautiously. Nonetheless, the empirical findings of this paper are of interest to standard setters. By providing evidence on the effect of the role of managerial discretion on earnings’ ability to predict future operating cash
flows and earnings persistence, the paper provides useful insights to accounting researchers, regulators or standard setters, and market participants.