The finding that investors distinguish the plausibility among seemingly self-serving attributions based on concurrent industry performance and earnings commonality suggests that investors are somewhat sophisticated when interpreting these narrative disclosures. This study should be of interest to policymakers who advocate the importance of narrative disclosures. A potential concern that policymakers face is that managers can use unregulated narrative disclosures to manipulate investor perceptions, particularly if investors accept managers’ self-serving pronouncements uncritically. These findings mitigate this concern because investors appear to be sophisticated enough to use relevant information to distinguish the plausibility of seemingly self-serving attributions. Apparently, providing self-serving attributions purely to mislead investors may not be an effective strategy.

Kimbrough, M. D., & Wang, I. Y. 2014. Are Seemingly Self-Serving Attributions in Earnings Press Releases Plausible? Empirical Evidence. Accounting Review 89 (2): 635-667.

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