Do short-sellers arbrtrage accrual-based return anomalies?

Abstract

We find a positive association between short-selling and accruals, and between short-selling and NOA, during 1988-2003. The accrual and NOA return anomalies are asymmetric. The absolute value of mean abnormal returns is larger for high-accrual firms than low-accrual firms on NASDAQ, but not on NYSE, and the abnormal return asymmetry is stronger among firms with low institutional holdings. For NOA, there is only limited evidence that the abnormal return asymmetry is stronger on NASDAQ than on NYSE. These findings indicate that there is short arbitrage of the accrual and NOA anomalies, but that short sale constraints limit the effectiveness of short arbitrage (especially among NASDAQ firms).Accruals; NOA; anomalies; arbitrage; short sales; market efficiency