自從Ball and Brown（1968）證實盈餘與股票的報酬具有正相關，盈餘反應係數研究即成為財務會計研究的主流，但是卻也發現盈餘反應係數有偏低的現象，其中一個原因即是負盈餘的存在。根據Hayn（1995）研究損失公司之資訊內涵發現，當公司報導的盈餘在某一水準以上時，盈餘與公司價值之間的關係會存在高度的相關；反之，當公司報導的盈餘在某一水準以下時，則盈餘與公司價值的關係趨近於零。本研究延伸前人關於盈餘資訊內涵之探討，進一步了解當公司盈餘由負轉正時，是否會產生資訊內涵。因此，本研究之第一個目的係針對宣告正盈餘之公司，尤其是以前具有負盈餘持續性（持續虧損）之公司，探討其正盈餘宣告是否具有資訊內涵。本研究之另一個目的，即在探討管理當局是否會為了避免虧損或盈餘下降，而針對當年度之盈餘進行操縱。

　　本研究期間是以1981年至2003年，排除金融保險業之台灣上市公司為研究對象。本研究採關聯性研究，針對以前是負盈餘但今年宣告正盈餘公司之平減後累計至當年度盈餘（Epr）與股票報酬進行迴歸分析。首先探討公司以前是負盈餘但今年宣告正盈餘，是否具資訊內涵；接著，本研究以Burgstahler and Dichev（1997）及Burgstahler（1997）的研究方法為基礎，採用綜合橫斷面分配法（pooled cross-sectional distribution approach）針對國內公開發行上市公司1981年至2003年累計盈餘資料進行分析，同時並檢視盈餘分配圖形在門檻附近是否有不連續的現象產生。

　　實證結果顯示：（1）以前是負盈餘但今年宣告正盈餘公司具有資訊內涵。（2）當年度累計盈餘分配於門檻附近均有顯著不連續的現象，代表管理當局確實會為了避免損失而操縱當年度盈餘。

　After Ball and Brown（1968）provided empirical evidence that earnings and stock returns were positively related, the research of earnings response coefficient（ERC）has become the mainstream of financial accounting research. It manifests, however, the phenomenon of weak ERC. One of the possible reasons is the existence of negative earnings. Based on Hayn's empirical research results（1995）, when the reported earnings is above some specified level,it would be highly correlated with the firm value. In contrast,　when the reported earnings is below some specified level,there are almost no relationship between the reported earnings and firm value. Therefore,　we extend the existing literature to examne the information content of the first-time positive earnings announcement and whether the managers have the incetives to manipulate the yearly earnings to avoid losses or earnings decreases.

　We conduct regression analysis to examine the earnings-return relation for the year in which the sampled TSE-listed companies start to report positive earnings during 1981-2003.Our study use pooled cross-sectional distribution approach to detect whether there is discontinuity of the distribution of yearly earnings near the threshold after earnings management. Data are collected from Taiwan Economic News Journal from 1981-2003.

　Our empirical results imply that:
（1）Our study provide supportive evidence for the information content of the first-time positive earnings announcement.
（2）Managers have the incentives to manipulate the yearly earnings to avoid losses.

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