Lev and Gu are surprised that the structure and content of corporate annual reports have not changed between $1902$ and $2012.$ Why would one expect the accounting system to change over time?

$2-$Why do financial analysts spend so much time trying to predict future earnings? Do you think this makes any sense?

$3-$According to accounting standard setters, what number is more valuable to investors: Net Income or Cash Flow from Operating Activities? What are the differences between these $2$ numbers $($you may need to consult your accounting principles textbook to answer this question$).$

$4-$What do Lev and Gu mean by the concept of investor usefulness? What do Lev and Gu mean when they write that a lemonade stand concept of income beats the bottom line in terms of investor usefulness? Has this always been the case?

$5-$Is corporate accountability the same as investor usefulness? How are the two concepts related to each other?

$6-$Is it easier to predict next years net income or next years cash flow from operating activities? Why is this finding significant for the question of investor usefulness?

$7-$Some executives will even manage earnings to beat the consensus forecasts of analysts. What is earnings management? Specifically, ho do executives manage earnings? And, how do they get away with this? $($You may have to do a little research to answer these questions.$)$

$8-$Does earnings management work? Why is the answer to this question significant to Lev and Gus overarching argument about the declining usefulness of accounting information?

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1 Why would one expect the accounting system to change over time Over the years businesses have evolved significantly in terms of complexity scale and global reach This evolution necessitates changes ... View the full answer