Overall, accounting data is considered less ‘noisy’ compared to market data, as it indicates what is actually happening in the firm rather than indicating the perception the market may have about the firm which is subject to macroeconomic factors, such as speculation (Lopez et al., 2007). Consistent with previous research, in this study we employ the two dominant accounting measures in the field, e.g. Return on Assets, computed as the ratio of operating income to total assets; and Return on Equity, computed as the ratio of operating income to equity (see, Russo and Fouts, 1997; Ahuja and Hart, 1996).