Value relevance of information in transaction-based accounting vs. Fair value accounting for equity valuation

Different accounting regimes create different information sources that are disclosed through accounting reports. A combination of these sources with other sources of information will be the basis for the expected returns for investors. In this study, expected return errors and real returns are used as a proxy for evaluating the accounting valuation error. Using panel data analysis with fixed effects, it measures the aggregation of information in accounting reports based on different accounting regimes. The results of 187 companies from all 572 companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange between 2009 and 2015, show using transaction-based accounting system for reporting information, the information aggregation will be much higher and also the discrepancies of non-accounting-based residual returns indicate market participants do not have enough information for undoing accounting information from market information. In words, in some situations, fair value accounting, improves information aggregation, but generally, using transaction-based accounting, the combination of accounting information and information from other sources raise the information aggregation in the market.