Investor reaction to accounting misstatements under IFRS: Australian evidence

We examine the investor reaction to misstatement news for Australian listed firms from 2006 to 2013. We find 4.1 percent of firm-years have a misstatement and 79 percent of misstatements are disclosed initially only in the periodic filings (stealth misstatements). We find no investor reaction for the average misstatement, reactions of between −2.3 percent and −2.8 percent (−1.5 and −1.7 percent) for misstatements that reduce prior-period earnings or equity (affect revenue) and reactions of between −1.3 and −2.7 percent for non-stealth misstatements. Investor reactions are more negative for non-stealth misstatements that reduce prior-period earnings or equity than for stealth misstatements.