This paper revises the standard interpretation of the book rate of return as a measure of profitability. Rather, due to conservative accounting, the book rate of return informs about risk and the expected return to the investor. In contrast to asset pricing research, where the book rate of return is viewed as positively associated with risk and expected stock returns, the paper demonstrates the opposite: with the effect of conservative accounting, the book rate of return is negatively associated with risk and expected return. The empirical analysis indicates that the market prices equities accordingly. It also shows how the previously documented positive correlation is due to a misunderstanding of accounting and how the book rate of return enters into asset pricing in a way that is consistent with the accounting.

本文修订了账面收益率作为衡量获利能力的标准解释。相反，由于会计的保守性，账面收益率可告知风险和对投资者的预期收益。与资产定价研究相反，在资产定价研究中，账面收益率与风险和预期的股票收益呈正相关，本文证明了相反的事实：在保守会计的影响下，账面收益率与风险和预期呈负相关返回。实证分析表明，市场价格相应地是股票。它还显示了先前记录的正相关性是由于对会计的误解所导致的，以及账面收益率如何以与会计一致的方式进入资产定价。