{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/143260"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/143260","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Information Content of Discretionary Disaggregation","abstract":"I examine the information content embedded in firms' decision to disaggregate financial statement line items. I find that the level of disaggregation predicts both current and future performance. I also find that significant changes in discretionary disaggregation are indicative of weak fundamentals. In particular, I document a hump-shaped pattern such that both increases and decreases in discretionary disaggregation are negatively associated with measures of performance. Investors do not unravel this information at the time of filing, resulting in predictable return patterns over time. Together, these findings are consistent with discretionary disaggregation providing an informative-but low saliency-signal regarding firms' fundamental performance.","abstract_html":"I examine the information content embedded in firms' decision to disaggregate financial statement line items. I find that the level of disaggregation predicts both current and future performance. I also find that significant changes in discretionary disaggregation are indicative of weak fundamentals. In particular, I document a hump-shaped pattern such that both increases and decreases in discretionary disaggregation are negatively associated with measures of performance. Investors do not unravel this information at the time of filing, resulting in predictable return patterns over time. Together, these findings are consistent with discretionary disaggregation providing an informative-but low saliency-signal regarding firms' fundamental performance.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Anderson, Samuel S."],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Master","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Sloan School of Management","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["So, Eric C."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-02","date_published":"2022-02","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:22Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/143260","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["So, Eric C."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Sloan School of Management"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Anderson, Samuel S."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2022-06-15T13:07:56Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-06-15T13:07:56Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2022-02"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master","Master of Science in Management Research"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/143260"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["I examine the information content embedded in firms' decision to disaggregate financial statement line items. I find that the level of disaggregation predicts both current and future performance. I also find that significant changes in discretionary disaggregation are indicative of weak fundamentals. In particular, I document a hump-shaped pattern such that both increases and decreases in discretionary disaggregation are negatively associated with measures of performance. Investors do not unravel this information at the time of filing, resulting in predictable return patterns over time. Together, these findings are consistent with discretionary disaggregation providing an informative-but low saliency-signal regarding firms' fundamental performance."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.M."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Information Content of Discretionary Disaggregation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["So, Eric C."],"dc:contributor.department":["Sloan School of Management"],"dc:creator":["Anderson, Samuel S."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2022-06-15T13:07:56Z"],"dc:date.available":["2022-06-15T13:07:56Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2022-02"],"dc:description.abstract":["I examine the information content embedded in firms' decision to disaggregate financial statement line items. I find that the level of disaggregation predicts both current and future performance. I also find that significant changes in discretionary disaggregation are indicative of weak fundamentals. In particular, I document a hump-shaped pattern such that both increases and decreases in discretionary disaggregation are negatively associated with measures of performance. Investors do not unravel this information at the time of filing, resulting in predictable return patterns over time. Together, these findings are consistent with discretionary disaggregation providing an informative-but low saliency-signal regarding firms' fundamental performance."],"dc:description.degree":["S.M."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/143260"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"dc:title":["The Information Content of Discretionary Disaggregation"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master","Master of Science in Management Research"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:22Z"}