Differences in the Reliability of Fair Value Hierarchy Measurements: A Cross-Country Study

Abstract

Prior research suggests that there are significant differences in how investors perceive the reliability of fair values across the fair value hierarchy. An unaddressed question in this stream of research is whether cross-country differences in institutional factors are able to mediate differences in reliability for the fair value hierarchy measurements. Based on an international sample of banks across 20 different countries, we find that the probability of crash risk is lower among countries with better financial development infrastructure, greater level of trust, tighter security regulations and higher level of disclosure requirements. These results apply to Level 1 assets but not to Level 2 and Level 3 assets. We also document that these cross-country factors improve the trading volume of our sample banks. Our study suggests that while ongoing concerns toward the more opaque fair values are not fully eliminated by institutional differences, they matter in influencing investor willingness to trade in these stocks.