Fig. 3 shows the distribution of earnings scaled by beginning market value ith histogram interval widths of0.005 for scaled earnings ranging from - 0.25 + 0.35. The histogram shows a single-peaked, bell-shaped distribution which relatively smooth except in the area of zero earnings: Earnings slightly less an zero occur much less frequently than would be expected given the smooth :ss of the remainder of the distribution and earnings slightly greater than zero ;cur much more frequently than would be expected.9 This phenomenon seems even more pronounced than for the distribution of earnings changes in Fig. 1. 10
The significance of the irregularity near zero is confirmed by the statistical tests. The standardized difference for the interval immediately to the left of zero is
- 13.16. (The standardized difference for the interval immediately to the right of zero is 8.92.) Thus, by virtually any standard, the irregularity around zero earnings apparent in Fig. 3 is statistically significant.