The Fair-Value Accounting Framework and the Evolution of the Ohlson Model

Abstract

Our study examines the Ohlson Model, which links a company's market value to its equity and net earnings, in the context of the evolution of the accounting model, characterized in particular by a more extensive application of fair value and a broader measure of performance. Our hypothesis is that if equity is reported at its fair value, this measurement is closely linked to market capitalization, insofar as the weight of earnings weakens or even disappears in the Ohlson Model. Drawing on Canada's adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), our results confirm our hypothesis that equity seems to include the information which is pertinent to investors, while earnings had lost some importance. However, the latter still remain important to explain market value of firms.

Keywords: Fair-Value Accounting, Ohlson Model Specification, Earnings and Equity Value-Relevance