Does fair value accounting contribute to market price volatility? An experimental approach

This paper contributes to the debate on the impact of accounting measurement rules for financial assets. We examine the association between fair value accounting for financial assets and market price volatility for nonfinancial firms in an experimental setting. One group of participants was provided with financial statements where held‐for‐trading securities were reported at fair market value (FVA). Another group received financial statements with investments reported at historical cost (HCA). Controlling for accounting data, we find no systematic difference between FVA and HCA for three different measures of market price volatility, despite higher earnings volatility and marginally heavier trading under FVA.     

Accounting rules,equity valuation,and growth options

In a model with irreversible capacity investments, we show that financial statements prepared under replacement cost accounting provide investors with sufficient information for equity valuation purposes. Under alternative accounting rules, including historical cost and value in use accounting, investors will generally not be able to value precisely a firm’s growth options and therefore its equity. For these accounting rules, we describe the range of valuations that is consistent with the firm’s financial statements. We further show that replacement cost accounting preserves all value-relevant information if the firm’s investments are reversible. However, the directional relation between the value of the firm’s equity and the replacement cost of its assets is different from that in the setting with irreversible investments.     

Accounting for Intangible Investments

The traditional categorisation of expenditures evident in many firms' charts of accounts and financial statements does not identify and measure expenditures on intangible investment separately from tangible investment and operating expenditures. This contrasts with the accounting for tangible investment, which separately accounts for all expenditures as assets unless the future benefits are consumed in a single accounting period. Further, in searching for better ways to account for intangibles, regulators and researchers have focused on the accounting choice problem relating to the existence and recognisability of intangible assets. In this paper, we argue that identifying and separately reporting the expenditures on intangible investment is the logical first step in accounting for intangible investments. Learning about the firm's categories of value driving (and sometimes potentially value destroying) expenditures has important implications for understanding aspects of the value chain, performance measurement, valuation, corporate governance and the external audit.     

公允价值会计:理论分析与经验证据

公允价值会计一直是会计准则制定者与银行界及其监管机构之间争论的焦点.围绕着公允价值会计的争论全面而系统地综述了国外关于公允价值会计对银行业及监管影响的相关研究成果.从历史成本向公允价值转变确实会对银行业及其监管、乃至整个金融体系产生重大影响,在决定是否采用公允价值作为财务报表的主要计量手段之前,需要对公允价值所产生的影响做出不断深入的研究.     

Information Risk and Fair Values: An Examination of Equity Betas

Using a sample of U.S. financial institutions, we exploit recent mandatory disclosures of financial instruments designated as fair value level 1, 2, and 3 to test whether greater information risk in financial instrument fair values leads to higher cost of capital. We derive an empirical model allowing asset‐specific estimates of implied betas, and find evidence that firms with greater exposure to level 3 financial assets exhibit higher betas relative to those designated as level 1 or level 2. We further find that this difference in implied betas across fair value designations is more pronounced for firms with ex ante lower‐quality information environments: firms with lower analyst following, lower market capitalization, higher analyst forecast errors, or higher analyst forecast dispersion. Overall, the results are consistent with a higher cost of capital for more opaque financial assets, but also suggest that differences in firms' information environments can mitigate information risk across the fair value designations.     

Fair Value‐related Information in Analysts’ Decision Processes: Evidence from the Financial Crisis

We use a sample of conference calls and analyst research reports from international banks to examine how financial analysts request and communicate fair value‐related information in their valuation process. We find that analysts devote considerable attention to fair value‐related topics. Most of the conference call questions and references in research reports pertain to fair value reclassifications and fair value changes of liabilities resulting from banks’ own credit risk. The accounting impact of these one‐time effects during the financial crisis and a lack of corresponding firm disclosures help to explain the prevalence of these two topics. The content of the questions and references suggests that analysts have different motives for their interest in fair value‐related information. While some analysts adjust reported earnings for unrecognised fair value changes of reclassified assets, most of the observed analysts exclude banks’ own credit risk effects from reported earnings. Thus, the use of fair value‐related information varies substantially across analysts and across instruments.     

Insights from Accounting Practitioners on China's Convergence with IFRS

This study provides insights from accounting practitioners on China's convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Through a survey of 33 senior financial executives of Chinese listed companies in 2014, the study reports their perceptions on the following issues: first, the degree of convergence between IFRS and Chinese Accounting Standards (CAS); second, the choice between fair value and historical cost accounting, and the usefulness of fair value accounting for Chinese companies’ financial reporting; third, challenges in the process of China's harmonisation with IFRS; and finally, essential capabilities of Chinese accounting professionals in the process of China's harmonisation with IFRS. Multivariate regression was used for further analysis. The survey findings reveal that in general CAS have converged with IFRS, with a few exceptions that reflect the unique Chinese context. Historical cost accounting is the preferred measurement base to fair value accounting. Exercising professional judgement was identified as a challenge for China's full convergence with IFRS. Ownership structure and the expertise of accounting practitioners were found to affect respondents’ judgements on China's convergence with IFRS. This study has policy implications for international accounting standard setters and accounting educators to consider the contextual issues of implementing IFRS in an emerging economy.     

Full costing versus variable costing: Does the choice still matter? An empirical exploration of UK manufacturing companies 1988–2002

This paper explores the impact of the choice of full costing, as a basis for stock valuation (SSAP 9), on the reported profitability of UK manufacturing companies from 1988–2002. It does so by assessing the sensitivity of these companies' profits to the adoption of the variable costing alternative and so explores the potential for this accounting method choice to influence this important performance measure. Tests are undertaken to identify the accounting significance of the stock asset and the stock adjustment, the longer term effects of the choice on the time series of companies' profits and the shorter term effects as reflected in variation in the annual profit signal (particularly, profit vs loss and profit growth vs profit decline). The results indicate that stock remains a substantial variable in profit measurement and that there are likely to be a minority of companies whose reported profitability during the period changes significantly depending upon the basis of stock valuation used. Given the absence of any definitive case for full costing over variable costing, these findings suggest that further research and some consideration of the modification of the existing standard to permit financial statement users to ascertain variable costing based profits are merited.     

Does fair value accounting for non-financial assets pass the market test?

The choice between fair value and historical cost accounting is the subject of long-standing controversy among accounting academics and regulators. Nevertheless, the market-based evidence on this subject is limited. We study the choice of fair value versus historical cost accounting for non-financial assets in a setting where market forces rather than regulators determine the outcome. In general, we find a very limited use of fair value accounting. However, the observed variation is consistent with market forces determining the choice. Fair value accounting is used when reliable fair value estimates are available at a lower cost and when they convey information about operating performance. For example, with very few exceptions, firms’ managers commit to historical cost accounting for plant and equipment. Our findings contribute to the policy debate by documenting the market solution to one of the central questions in the accounting literature. Our findings indicate that, despite its conceptual merits, fair value is unlikely to become the primary valuation method for illiquid non-financial assets on a voluntary basis.     

Valuation-based accounting research: Implications for financial reporting and opportunities for future research

This paper discusses the relation between financial reporting research and practice, particularly standard setters. Many studies addressing financial reporting issues use a valuation approach. The paper describes alternative approaches to valuation research and summarises the findings relating to four major current issues: fair value accounting for financial, tangible, and intangible assets, cash flows versus accruals, recognition versus disclosure, and international harmonisation of accounting standards. The summaries include identifying what standard setters and others would like to learn from research, what we have learned, and what is left to learn. The paper concludes with observations about future financial reporting academic research.     

Authors’ Reply: Building Better Retirement Income Models - Discussion by Robert J. Myers; Anna Rappaport,January 1997

Abstract

In recent decades, as the use of derivatives by financial institutions has expanded, the shortcomings of historical cost accounting approaches have become increasingly apparent. Since derivatives can create large exposures to risk that go unnoticed under historical standards, the accounting industry has focused on how to change the standards so that these risks are reflected appropriately in a company’s accounting statements. New standards such as SFAS 115 and SFAS 133 have been adopted in part to achieve this goal. However, both of these standards use a piecemeal approach to risk measurement that may be adding to the problem rather than creating a solution. This paper will use a simple equity-indexed annuity to illustrate the problem with historical cost accounting and with the standards that have been adopted to correct it. The paper then argues that the only legitimate means of reflecting risk properly on a company’s accounting statements is to adopt full fair value accounting for all assets and liabilities on the company’s books.     

The accounting treatment of intangibles – A critical review of the literature

Intangible investments have become the main value creators for many companies and economic sectors. However, these investments are rarely recognized as assets by current accounting standards. We provide a critical review of the literature on the consequences of this lack of accounting recognition of intangibles for the value-relevance of financial information, resource allocation in the capital market, growth of intangible investments, and the firm's market value. We then review recent empirical research on voluntary disclosure of information on intangibles. Our survey concludes that disclosure can considered as a solution to the negative consequences of non-recognition of intangibles in financial statements.     

What Do FAS 157 “Fair Values” Really Measure: Value Or Risk?

FAS 157, the U.S. accounting standard that prescribes how fair values of assets and liabilities are to be measured when other U.S. GAAP standards require fair valuation, stipulates that fair values be measured as the exit values of assets and liabilities—the proceeds for assets hypothetically sold on the date of the financial report, and, correspondingly, the amount required to settle liabilities on the date of the financial report. This conceptual article argues that exit values do not reflect the value of the net assets of the firm to shareholders, which is best reflected by discounted cash flows to maturity. Moreover, exit values—biasing fair values downward when markets are illiquid—have a pernicious, systemic risk effect; specifically, they give rise to write‐downs that in turn cause contagion: prices of equities and other financial instruments of peers react negatively, leading to further write‐downs by those peers. This may have aggravated the recent financial crisis. However, while exit values are not proper measures of value to shareholders, they are useful measures of downside risk when prospects turn sour for a firm. Thus, both exit values and discounted cash flows should be presented in financial statements.     

IFRS9的实施对中国金融机构的影响及政策建议

中国会计准则与国际会计准则的发展日益同步,备受关注的IFRS9的实施也必将影响到中国的金融机构。中国金融机构持有的金融资产如果根据IFRS9的要求进行调整,将对金融资产的计量和有关损益的确定产生直接影响。本文通过对中国金融机构持有的金融资产情况的分析,发现IFRS9的实施对中国金融机构的影响将集中体现在权益工具的计量和公允价值变动对损益的影响方面。本文认为,中国会计准则制定机构应当通过限制使用计量选择权、提供金融资产计量操作指引等措施来减少转换过程中有可能面临的问题。     

Two Different Ways of Treating Corporate Cash in FCF Valuations—and the Importance of Getting the Cost of Capital Right

The methods for calculating free cash flow presented in texts on financial statement analysis and valuation appear to be very different from those in corporate finance texts, causing some confusion among academics as well as practitioners. Financial statement analysis and valuation texts generally begin by valuing just the enterprise operations—that is, the entity that engages in the firm's primary revenue‐generating activities—and then adding back the value of its cash holdings and other financial assets. The corporate finance approach is typically to value all the assets together, including financial assets that are not used in the production of the goods and services provided by the firm. Using a simple example, the authors show that the valuation of the equity ownership of the firm should be the same for both methods of calculating free cash flow, provided the analyst makes the appropriate adjustments to the method for calculating the cost of capital (WACC) used to discount forecasted free cash flows to a present value.     

论公允价值计量与资产减值会计计量的统一

本文从财务报告模式的转换讨论了建立与财务报表目标、会计信息质量特征和要素定义相符的计量标准,进而分析了现行主要准则体系中公允价值计量与资产减值会计计量的分离及其不利后果。在此基础上,提出了基于财务报告"价值观"的要求统一公允价值计量与资产减值会计计量的可能途径,从而为解决以FASB和IASB为主的不同准则制定机构关于资产减值会计计量的分歧,实现会计准则的全球趋同,以及建立全球统一的高质量会计准则提供了可行的思路。     

IAS 39 reclassification choice and analyst earnings forecast properties

In October 2008, the International Accounting Standards Board amended IAS 39 to allow banks to retroactively reclassify financial assets that previously were measured at fair value to amortized cost. By reclassifying financial assets, a bank can potentially avoid recognizing the unrealized fair value losses and thereby increase its income and regulatory capital during a market downturn. We examine the implications of the reclassification decision by banks for the properties of financial analyst earnings forecasts during 2008–2009, when economic conditions were highly volatile. We find that the reclassification choice during the financial crisis reduced analyst forecast accuracy and increased forecast dispersion. We also find that the observed decline in analyst forecasting ability is limited to the year of adoption when the economic environment was highly volatile.     

EVA AND THE "NEW ECONOMY"

Some have observed that the new economy means the end of the EVA performance measurement and incentive compensation system. They claim that although the EVA system is useful for oldline companies with heavy investments in fixed assets, the efficient management of investor capital is no longer an imperative for newage firms that operate largely without buildings and machinery–and, in some cases, with negative working capital. This article argues that EVA is not only suitable for the emerging companies that lead the new economy, but even more important for such firms than for their “rust belt” predecessors. While there may be a new economy in terms of trade in new products and services, there is no new economics– the principles of economic valuation remain the same. As in the past, companies will create value in the future only insofar as they promise to produce returns on investor capital that exceed the cost of capital. It has made for sensational journalism to speak of companies with high valuations and no earnings, but this is in large part the result of an accounting framework that is systematically flawed. New economy companies spend much of their capital on R&D, marketing, and advertising. By treating these outlays as expenses against current profits, GAAP accounting presents a grossly distorted picture of both current and future profitability. By contrast, an EVA system capitalizes such investments and amortizes them over their expected useful life. For new economy companies, the effect of such adjustments on profitability can be significant. For example, in applying EVA accounting to Real Networks, Inc., the author shows that although the company reported increasing losses in recent years, its EVA has been steadily rising–a pattern of profitability that corresponds much more directly to the change in the company's market value over the same period. Thus, for stock analysts that follow new economy companies, the use of EVA will get you closer to current market values than GAAP accounting. And for companies intent on ensuring the right level of investment in intangibles– neither too much nor too little– EVA is likely to send the right message to managers and employees. The recent decline in the Nasdaq suggests that stock market investors are starting to look for the kind of capital efficiency encouraged by an EVA system.     

Accounting Problems in Infrastructure Asset Valuation and Depreciation in New South Wales Local Government

The aim of this paper is twofold: (i) to investigate whether New South Wales (NSW) local government councils comply with Australian Accounting Standards in accounting for revaluation of their infrastructure assets and (ii) to assess any consequences for the reliability of financial reporting in NSW local government. Using road assets as an example, we analyse the results of revaluations of road assets undertaken by 89 NSW councils as reported in their financial statements during the period 2013 to 2016. In this analysis we focus on the effect of a change in accumulated depreciation and impairment loss component of fair value as a percentage of the gross replacement cost of the revalued assets. The analysis reveals that in most cases this effect is significant. However, the accounting and reporting of this effect is strikingly inconsistent between the councils. Based on a critical analysis of the accounting framework and disclosure of the revaluation effects, we conclude that the main reason for the change in the fair value of assets is altered estimates of remaining useful life. Furthermore, we argue that councils did not comply with the requirements of AASB 116 in determining the useful life of the assets.