Optimal Precision of Accounting Information in Debt Financing

This paper studies qualitative characteristics of accounting systems that are used in debt financing. We consider a financially constrained firm that provides to lenders information on the value of assets that serve as collateral in a financing contract for a risky investment project. We find that the investor prefers an accounting system that provides biased signals about the value of assets. This bias adjusts the information content of the signals to maximize the probability of undertaking the project. Under fair value accounting, low book values are more precise measures of actual value than high book values, which is consistent with conditional conservatism. Next, we study accounting risk to study the effect of institutions that govern the financial reporting policy based on the optimal precision. We find that fair value measurement introduces greater accounting risk and is preferred by financially constrained firms to measurement at historical cost.     

资产可抵押性、会计信息质量与融资约束

基于上市公司2000—2014年的财务数据研究资产可抵押性、会计信息质量对融资约束的影响,结果表明：资产可抵押性越高,融资约束越低;会计信息质量越高,融资约束越低。与已有研究不同,按会计信息质量分组后研究发现,信息质量较高的一组中,资产可抵押性对融资约束的影响不显著;信息质量较低的一组中,较高的资产可抵押性能够显著地降低企业融资约束水平。资产可抵押性和会计信息质量对融资约束的影响具有一定的替代作用。进一步区分产权性质后研究发现,对于国有控股企业,上述影响不存在;对于非国有企业,资产可抵押性、会计信息质量对融资约束的作用依然存在。     

Financial reporting in the context of crisis: reconsidering the impact of the 'mania' on early railway accounting

The patterns of change in the financial reporting practices of the early railway companies, and their causes, are important aspects of the evolution of accounting practice more generally. They have accordingly been widely discussed in the literature, although the views expressed have rarely been supported by reference to any very substantial or systematically derived bodies of empirical evidence. One of the most interesting and important suggestions in this literature is the claim that the early UK railway companies voluntarily made both quantitative and qualitative changes to their published accounting statements, in response to a crisis in shareholder confidence in the second half of the 1840s, consequent upon the collapse of the railway mania of 1845–47. The quantitative response involved the disclosure of far more information and the qualitative led to changes in the conceptual basis of reporting, from a cash to an accruals basis, changes that met with the satisfaction of the shareholders concerned and were important parts of the gradual evolution of financial reporting. The paper undertakes a systematic analysis of the financial accounting practices of the major early railway companies from 1840 until 1855. The mapping of the variety of such practices, and their changes over time, enable a re-examination of these important claims concerning the nature of the financial reporting response to one of its earliest crises.     

Harmonizing the notes in the UK and France: a case study in de jure harmonization

This paper provides a case study of the process of de jure harmonization of financial reporting by examining the extent to which in the UK and France the regulations relating to the notes on the accounts (annexe) have been harmonized by the Fourth and Seventh Company Law Directives of the European Union and ‘deharmonized’ by other regulations. It looks at the requirements of the directives in relation to the notes and the reactions in the two countries to those requirements. It examines a number of areas in which implementation of the directives has been different, viz. consolidated financial statements; exemptions and extensions; financial statement formats; accounting policies; true and fair view; and tax. Finally, it explores the problem of readability and understandability and the choice between disclosure in the notes and disclosure elsewhere.     

公允价值计量面临全球金融风暴的考验

本文讨论公允价值计量面临非常严重的金融危机。本文认为,公允价值计量在财务会计中带来新意。假定所有资产和负债都按公允价值计量(即应用所谓"调到市价会计"),财务报告有可能使一个企业的财务信息建立在价值而不是历史成本基础上。联系到金融工具,公允价值是最相关甚至唯一相关的计量属性。公允价值建立在三个基础上:础上:a.它的初始确认不是实际的,而是假想的交易;b.作为计量属性,它仅仅是估计价格;c.它的计量是以市场为基础,而不是两个主体间的交换。很明显,假定上述基础丧失了(例如,在金融危机的情况下),则用公允价值来计量的财务信息的可靠性必定产生疑问。本文的结论是公允价值仍是财务会计的一个有用的计量属性,但是现在需要反思并按《美国2008年紧急经济稳定法案》第132和133节进行修正。本文还断定,财务会计与财务报表用于记录并报告历史的交易和事项及它们的影响是基本的和本质的特征与功能。历史成本是主要的计量属性,而包括公允价值在内的其他计量属性仅仅是补充。会计决不能变成估计。     

企业会计准则公允价值应用研究

文章梳理我国会计准则的公允价值计量规范,分析其中可能存在的缺陷与不足,在借鉴国外研究成果基础上提出完善建议。分析认为,我国公允价值应用研究的核心问题是:如何在构建系统"公允价值会计框架"基础上研究制定一项具有较强操作性的独立"公允价值计量准则",统一指导我国财务报告计量实务。     

True and fair in the Czech Republic: a note on local perceptions

With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.     

基于不同融资体系的国别会计差异研究

笔者由于政治、经济、法律等因素的影响,各国的会计模式呈现出巨大差异。各国的融资体系差异对会计模式选择具有重要影响。以资本市场为导向的融资体系更倾向于会计信息的公允性,而以银行等机构为导向的融资体系则更关注会计利润的平滑性。通过比较两种融资体系的差异,说明这些差异对各国会计模式产生的影响,以探寻融资模式在国别会计及国际会计协调中的重要作用。     

现代金融工具确认与计量的国际案例研究

通过分析金融衍生工具的国际会计报告标准,结合跨国公司在本土和海外融资与金融投资活动案例,剖析现代金融衍生工具业务活动的会计核算实务技巧与方法;着重可转换债券、可供出售的金融资产、贸易性债权融资、金融资产公允价值和金融衍生投资产品等金融衍生工具交易中隐含的权益分离会计核算法和成本分摊会计核算法的应用程序和计量要点,为我国企事业单位金融投资财务决策与管理层提供务实可行的现代金融衍生工具业务报告分析与会计核算处理的有效途径。     

会计中的价值与成本问题

文章探讨"价值"与"成本"在财务会计和成本(管理)会计中的性质与功能。在财务会计中,价值通常来自市场,表现为过去的买入市价、当前的买入或脱手(销售)市价,这些价格可以称为历史成本、现行成本和公允价值,并作为财务会计与报表(报告)的计量属性。但成本会计中的成本则意味着产品成本,是由资产和其他资源的价值转化而来,在产品生产过程中,主要的信息是产品成本的分配、归集和积累,这里没有新价值可以确认,除非产品在市场交换。总之,在财务会计中,价值和成本信息表示一个企业的经营、投资和融资能力,而在成本会计中,只有成本信息表现管理层的才能(比如企业有效利用企业资源效率常表现为成本水平的高低)。     

政府财务报告主体的国际比较及思考

比较了美国、英国、法国和澳大利亚四国政府财务报告主体的现状,并结合国际公共部门会计准则委员会关于政府合并财务报表主体的最新动态,对于政府财务报告主体界定和实施中的具体问题进行了分析,针对我国政府会计与财务报告改革提出了相关政策建议。     

历史成本与公允价值的共存关系探析

本文对历史成本与公允价值之间的内在联系进行了分析,提出＂公允价值=历史成本＋持有利得＋经营增值＂的关系式,并指出相比持有利得而言,经营增值是推动历史成本向公允价值演化的更重要因素,也是导致目前财务会计信息缺陷的主要领域。财务会计应转变理念,接纳经营增值作为会计对象,构建历史成本与公允价值并存的资产负债表,以及同时反映已实现利润和未实现增值的收益表,建立更全面、完整地反映企业价值运动且具有更明晰勾稽关系的报表体系。     

Accounting enlightenment in the age of reason

We scrutinize the role financial reporting for fair values, asset securitizations, derivatives and loan loss provisioning played in the Financial Crisis. Because banks were at the center of the Financial Crisis, we focus our discussion and analysis on the effects of financial reporting by banks. We conclude fair value accounting played little or no role in the Financial Crisis. However, transparency of information associated with asset securitizations and derivatives likely was insufficient for investors to assess properly the values and riskiness of bank assets and liabilities. Although the FASB and IASB have taken laudable steps to improve disclosures relating to asset securitizations, in our view, the approach for accounting for securitizations in the IASB's Exposure Draft that would require banks to recognize whatever assets and liabilities they have after the securitization is executed better reflects the underlying economics of the securitization transaction. Regarding derivatives, we recommend disclosure of more disaggregated information, disclosure of the sensitivity of derivatives' fair values to changes in market risk variables, and implementing a risk-equivalence approach to enable investors to understand better the leverage inherent in derivatives. We also conclude that because the objectives of bank regulation and financial reporting differ, changes in financial reporting needed to improve transparency of information provided to the capital markets likely will not be identical to changes in bank regulations needed to strengthen the stability of the banking sector. We discuss how loan loss provisioning may have contributed to the Financial Crisis through its effects on procyclicality and on the effectiveness of market discipline. Accounting standard setters and bank regulators should find some common ground. However, it is the responsibility of bank regulators, not accounting standard setters, to ensure the stability of the financial system.     

The Decision Usefulness of Fair Value Accounting – A Theoretical Perspective

ABSTRACT

Regulators such as the SEC and standard setting bodies such as the FASB and the IASB argue the case for the conceptual desirability of fair value measurement, notably on the relevance dimension. Recent standards on financial instruments and certain non-financial items adopt the new measurement paradigm. This paper takes issue with the notion of decision usefulness of a fair-value-based reporting system from a theoretical perspective. Emphasis is put on the evaluation of the theoretical soundness of the arguments put forward by regulators and standard setting bodies. The analysis is conducted as economic (a priori) analysis. Two approaches to decision usefulness are adopted, the measurement or valuation perspective and the information perspective. Findings indicate that the decision relevance of fair value measurement can be justified from both perspectives, yet the conceptual case is not strong. The information aggregation notion that underlies standard setters' endorsement of fair value measurement turns out to be theoretically restricted in its validity and applicability. Also, comparative analysis of fair value accounting vs. historical cost accounting yields mixed results. One immediate implication of the research – a condition for the further implementation of fair value accounting – is the need to clarify standard setters' notion of accounting income, its presumed contribution to decision relevance and its disaggregation.     

The Decision Usefulness of Financial Accounting Measurement Concepts: Evidence from an Online Survey of Professional Investors and their Advisors

In their current framework project, the IASB and the FASB identify decision usefulness as the objective of financial reporting. Unfortunately, accounting research has neither yet come up with an undisputed measure of decision usefulness, nor with a satisfying method to rank competing measurement concepts, such as fair value or historical cost, with regard to their relative decision usefulness. Thus, assessing the decision usefulness of different accounting measurement concepts ultimately poses an empirical question. We provide evidence to this question by surveying an important user group, namely professional investors and their advisors, about their opinions on the decision usefulness of different accounting measurement concepts. We find that our respondents clearly differentiate between mark-to-market and mark-to-model fair values. While they consistently rank mark-to-market fair values as most decision-useful, they generally rank mark-to-model fair values as least decision-useful. In addition, the ranking differs across asset classes.     

Climate Change and Mandatory Carbon Reporting: Impacts on Business Process and Performance

As part of their annual directors' report, UK‐listed companies are now required to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and account publicly for their contributions to climate change. This paper uses this mandatory carbon reporting to explore wider debates about corporate social responsibility and the purpose, practice, and impacts of such non‐financial reporting. Empirically, it combines documentary analysis of the carbon reporting practices of 176 large firms listed in the FTSE100 and/or subject to the UK government's adaptation reporting power with 60 interviews with stakeholders involved in carbon reporting. Firms disclose their emissions in response to financial incentives, social pressure and/or regulatory compulsion. In turn, rationales shape whether and how carbon reporting influences internal business processes and performance. The importance of reporting to the bottom line varies by sector depending on two variables – energy intensity and economic regulator status – yet there is limited evidence that carbon reporting is driving substantial reductions in emissions. Findings suggest reasons for caution about hopes for ‘nudging’ firms to improve their environmental performance and social responsibility through disclosure requirements.     

Accounting Information and Investment Risk Perception in Japan*

This paper investigates the issue of whether financial reports appear to convey information on risk on a consistent basis across international capital markets. Data collected from a sample of Japanese financial analysts are compared to previously reported data from U.S. analysts. The results indicate that traditional accounting measures of risk explain substantial variation in the average risk perceptions of financial analysts in both the U.S. and Japan; however, while accounting risk measures were found to explain significant variation in ex post beta for the U.S. sample, this was not found to be the case for the Japanese sample. The implications of these cross-national differences and similarities are discussed.     

不同财务报告框架下公允价值的计量与披露

不同的财务报告框架要求或允许财务报表中对公允价值的计量与披露各异，其差异体现在为资产，负债或相关披露提供的指导程度不同。有些财务报告框架指导详细，有的指导简略，有的根本没有指导。另外，各国还存在特定行业对公允价值计量与披露的实务标准。     

公允价值在我国运用的难点及应对策略

经济全球化发展促使公允价值计量在会计界已成为一种国际趋势。随着财务会计概念框架国际趋同进程的不断推进,我国公允价值的运用也呈现出不断扩大的趋势。本文通过公允价值的概念解释,分析公允价值计量在我国运用的必要性及难点,并提出相应的应对策略。     

浅析中小企业利润操纵的现状

企业会计报表是企业财务报告的主要部分,是根据日常会计核算资料定期编制的,综合反映企业某一特定日期财务状况和某一会计期间经营成果、现金流量的总结性书面文件,是企业向外传递会计信息的主要手段。本文就试图对中小企业常见的利润操纵方法进行分析,进一步揭示中小企业操纵利润的动机、手段等,从而对企业提供的会计报表能有一个更加清醒的认识。