A New Perspective on Interpreting the Accounting Information of Listed Companies: Research on the Asset Structure Difference and Earnings Value Based on a Sustainable Development Strategic Perspective

Abstract

The quality of accounting information of listed companies has always been of great concern for investors, creditors, government departments, and other stakeholders. As the core component of accounting information, earnings information is essential, which is hailed as a wind vane by every stakeholder. The sustainable development strategy of companies requires companies to reasonably allocate company resources and promote the long-term and rapid development of the company. Based on the sustainable development strategic perspective, this paper takes Chinese A-share non-financial listed companies from 2007 to 2020 as a sample to study the correlation between asset structure differences and earnings value relevance. The research logic of this paper is: the corporate strategy determines the resource allocation scheme of the company, the resource allocation scheme determines the asset structure, and the asset structure determines the generation mode of profits. Therefore, there are different profit compositions, and the differences in profit compositions lead to differences in the corporate earnings value relevance. The research results show that, overall, compared to the companies with a large proportion of investment assets, the companies with a large proportion of operating assets have a stronger earnings value relevance to their net profit. From the perspective of the main composition of profits, companies with a large proportion of operating assets have a stronger value relevance to their core profits. Companies with a large proportion of investment assets have a stronger value relevance to their investment income. Listed companies’ different asset structures is an essential factor affecting the corporate earnings value relevance. Additionally, listed companies’ different asset structure results from the corporate strategic development choice, which shows that the corporate strategy affects the relevance of the corporate earnings value. This provides a new perspective for accounting information users to interpret the corporate earnings information, helps accounting information users to understand and analyze corporate financial statements more accurately, and has a particular reference significance for investment decision making.