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Corporate Asset Revaluations: 1925-1934, Gadis James Dillon

Accounting Historians Journal

Early SEC filings for 110 corporations listed on the New York Stock Exchange are used to summarize the extent and accounting treatment of asset revaluations during the period 1925-1934. The findings, considered with a brief review of the relevant contemporary accounting literature, lead to the conclusion that the popular conception of extensive and misleading revaluations is generally unsupported. Significantly, no firm in the sample increased reported earnings during the period 1925-1929 as a result of asset revaluations.