This paper provides a general version of the accounting‐based valuation model that equates the market value of a firm's equity to book value plus the present value of expected abnormal earnings. Prior theoretical work (e.g., Ohlson 1995; Feltham and Ohlson 1995, 1996) assumes investors are risk neutral and interest rates are nonstochastic and flat. Our more general analysis rests on only two assumptions: no arbitrage in financial markets and clean surplus accounting. These assumptions imply a risk‐adjusted formula for the present value of expected abnormal earnings. The risk adjustments consist of certainty‐equivalent reductions of expected abnormal earnings. A key issue deals with the capital charge component of abnormal earnings. It is measured by applying the (uncertain) riskless spot interest rate to start‐of‐period book value. Risks do not affect the rate used in the capital charge, and accounting policies do not affect the formula's constructs. An application of the general formula shows how the classic risk‐adjusted expected cash flows model derives as a special case.
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1 April 1999
Research Article|
April 01 1999
Residual Earnings Valuation With Risk and Stochastic Interest Rates
Gerald A. Feltham;
Gerald A. Feltham
aUniversity of British Columbia.
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James A. Ohlson
James A. Ohlson
bNew York University.
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Online ISSN: 1558-7967
Print ISSN: 0001-4826
American Accounting Association
1999
The Accounting Review (1999) 74 (2): 165–183.
Citation
Gerald A. Feltham, James A. Ohlson; Residual Earnings Valuation With Risk and Stochastic Interest Rates. The Accounting Review 1 April 1999; 74 (2): 165–183. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr.1999.74.2.165
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