Cognitive Load Theory: Why It’s Important for International Business Teaching and Financial Reporting

ABSTRACT

Cognitive load theory (CLT) has rarely been applied in the area of financial accounting. This research demonstrates that by using CLT, financial accounting and reporting can benefit in the areas of teaching and decision making. The CLT indicates that by reducing the load of complex concepts in the working memory, a more efficient result is obtained from the expected output. A real example on International Accounting Standard (IAS) 40 on Investment Properties (IP) is used to analyze the assimilation of the true and fair view concept. This standard permits the use of either the fair value or cost value model. Additionally, the study examines whether financial presentation formats are relevant for understanding financial information. The main results show that adequate financial presentation formats reduce extraneous load, and where presentation formats cannot be changed, results can be improved by decreasing cognitive load through dedicating more time to teaching the more complex option. This research aims to aid international business education by recommending these findings to standard setters and improving education material.     

我国会计政策、会计估计变更和差错更正准则与IAS之趋同情况比较分析

文章主要对我国会计政策、会计估计变更和差错更正准则与IAS之趋同情况比较分析,旨在让大家了解国际会计准则对会计政策、会计估计变更和差错更正的一些重要内容的规定,以便了解我国准则的发展趋向。     

关于新准则借款费用会计处理问题的探讨

我国最新发布的《企业会计准则》中对借款费用的会计处理进行了重新规范,新准则关于借款费用会计处理的规定将对企业的财务信息披露带来很大影响,本文将通过对比新会计准则和国际会计准则的相关规定来探讨有关借款费用会计处理的一系列问题,并将针对新准则在实施过程中可能遇到的问题提出相应的应对措施.     

浅谈我国投资性房地产准则与IAS40的异同

本文对我国投资性房地产会计准则与IAS40的异同点进行了比较分析,并在此基础上阐述了投资性房地产准则实施的影响.我国投资性房地产准则与IAS40相比,在规范范围、投资性房产确认、计量、转换和披露诸方面都实现了"大同",但也存有一些具有中国特色的"小异";"大同"是我国实现会计国际趋同的客观要求,"小异"则是我国当前会计环境和会计改革进程的必然.     

Mandatory IFRS adoption and the cost of debt in Italy and UK

This paper analyses the effect of the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) within the EU on the cost of corporate debt. In order to avoid the imprecision involved in a large-scale cross-country study, we examine the impact of IFRS in two very clearly different institutional settings, the UK and Italy. The UK is a common-law country characterised by strong enforcement and national generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) which are equivalent to IFRS. Italy is a typical European code-law country, characterised by a weak outside investor protection system, and national GAAP significantly different from the IFRS model. No IFRS effect is observed in the UK, consistent with it having standards which are close to IFRS. During the post-IFRS period, in Italy more weight is placed on the accounting numbers to assess the cost of debt. We also find that accruals quality improves in Italy, thus suggesting that public financial reporting data are enhanced relative to privately held information about borrowers' credit ratings.     

Relevance of Differences between Net Income based on IFRS and Domestic Standards for European Firms

Net income adjustments resulting from mandatory 2005 IFRS adoption in Europe are value relevant for financial and non‐financial firms. Differences in relevance of the aggregate adjustment and adjustments related to several IFRS standards, for financial and non‐financial firms and across country groups, suggest differences in domestic standards and institutions affect investors’ assessment of the relevance of IFRS accounting amounts. Despite these differences, except for French/German non‐financial firms, investors view net income measured using IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement as more relevant than that measured using domestic standards, which is notable because IAS 39 was highly controversial in Europe.     

The consequences of discount rate selection for defined benefit liabilities

This paper provides evidence on the use of discount rates for calculating defined benefit liabilities (DBL), and their impact on value relevance and audit fees for Australian listed companies between 2011 and 2016. We document that the average discount rate is 3.96% but the yearly range across companies is 4.03% (2.76% excluding multinationals with multiple plans), despite the fact that AASB 119 provides guidance to use the yield of high quality corporate bonds or, if there is not a deep market, government bonds. We then find that the DBL or unfunded component (DBL less the fair value of the plan’s assets) is value relevant, but is less so when a higher discount rate is used. Furthermore, we document that audit fees are higher when the DBL is larger, or the discount rate is higher, consistent with greater audit effort and risk. Overall, this paper contributes to the accounting literature by documenting both the discretion available in discount rate selection and its consequences.     

The Impact of the Management Approach on Segment Reporting

Accounting standard setters have increasingly attempted to align external segment reporting disclosures to a firm's internal reporting structure. We study how this move to the management approach for segment reporting impacted the number of reported segments and the extent of line item disclosures when Australia adopted IAS 14 (revised) and IFRS 8. We find that both standards led to firms disclosing a greater number of segments. An examination of the motives behind the non‐disclosure of segments suggests that segment information was withheld for agency cost reasons. We find only limited support for the proprietary cost motive for non‐reporting of segments. We also document that IFRS 8 led to a reduction in the amount of line item disclosure. Consistent with a proprietary cost explanation, the decrease in disclosure is greatest for firms with a higher number of profitable segments. Our results indicate that the change to the management approach to segment identification is not associated with the properties of analyst forecasts, nor did it lead to increased analyst following.     

Inside the Black Box of IASB Standard Setting: Evidence from Board Meeting Audio Playbacks on the Amendment of IAS 19 (2011)

We provide evidence on the little researched internal sphere of private IASB standard setting, more specifically, on the dynamic of board discussions and the respective impact of exogenous input such as comment letters, the array of arguments evoked in IASB debates, individual board member contribution and board-staff relations. We conduct a content analysis of audio recordings of 14 IASB meetings on the amendment of IAS 19 Employee Benefits (2011) between November 2008 and February 2010. Our main findings comprise the argument-based handling of comment letters not being conditioned by the political or economic importance of the senders, the gatekeeper role of staff members in channelling exogenous input and their equal role in board discussions and the dominant reference to conceptual arguments there. We also point to the heterogeneous involvement of board members, their different attribution to key issues and to further observations regarding the meeting governance, board’s discussion culture and etiquette. Our paper adds to the literature on private IASB standard setting, pension accounting and group decision making.

Data: All data are available from the public sources identified in this paper     

Mandated disclosures under IAS 36 Impairment of Assets and IAS 38 Intangible Assets: value relevance and impact on analysts’ forecasts

Drawing on a large sample of European firms, we examine whether variant compliance levels with mandated disclosures under IAS 36 Impairment of Assets and IAS 38 Intangible Assets are value relevant and affect analysts’ forecasts. Our results indicate a mean (median) compliance level of about 84% (86%) but high variation among firms and disclosure levels regarding IAS 36 being much lower than those regarding IAS 38. In depth, analysis reveals that non-compliance relates mostly to proprietary information and information that reveals managers’ judgment and expectations. Furthermore, we find a positive (negative) relationship between average disclosure levels and market values (analysts’ forecast dispersion). Results, however, hold more specifically for disclosures related to IAS 36, and these also improve analysts’ forecast accuracy. Our findings add knowledge regarding the economic consequences of mandatory disclosures, have an appeal to regulators and financial statement preparers and reflect on the IASB’s concerns to increase the guidance and principles on presentation and disclosure.