Evidence on the Selective Reporting of Financial Ratios.
Abstract ABSTRACT: The annual reports of 141 Fortune 500 Industrial companies were reviewed to determine which financial ratios are reported. The values for 11 selected ratios are computed for all companies using a standardized computational rule. Three of the 11 ratios are significantly more favorable for reporting than for nonreporting firms, suggesting that Fortune 500 firms may selectively report these ratios.