Who's the fairest of them all? Evidence from closed-end funds

Lawrence, A, Siriviriyakul, S and Sloan, R (2016) Who's the fairest of them all? Evidence from closed-end funds. Accounting Review, 91 (1). pp. 207-227. ISSN 0001-4826

Abstract

Prior research examining the ASC 820 fair value hierarchy concludes that Level 3 fair value measurements are significantly less value-relevant than Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements. We reevaluate this conclusion using the closed-end fund setting, in which fair value measurements are available for substantially all assets. Contrary to prior research, we find that Level 3 fair values are of similar value relevance to Level 1 and Level 2 fair values. Our findings suggest that the results in previous research are attributable to correlated omitted variable bias arising from the absence of fair value data for most assets.