Do goodwill impairments affect audit opinions? Evidence from China

There has been a steady growth of goodwill impairments in the Chinese stock market since the adoption of the impairment approach in accounting. The influence of goodwill impairments on a firm’s financial position and profitability give reason to doubt its current and future performance. We examine whether auditors, as a crucial external monitor, identify the information risks of goodwill impairments and express their concerns about financial reporting quality in their audit opinions. Using a sample of firms listed on China’s A-share market from 2007 to 2017, we test the association between goodwill impairments and the type of audit opinion received in the same financial period. Our findings are as follows. First, the probability of receiving a modified opinion increases with the amount of goodwill impairments. Second, the positive association between goodwill impairments and modified audit opinions is driven primarily by earnings management risks. Third, this positive association is more salient when auditors are industry experts and there is no auditor–client mismatch. Fourth, auditors are more sensitive to the amount of goodwill impairments than to their mere existence. Overall, we document that auditors perceive goodwill impairments as a signal of information risks and communicate their concerns to investors to avoid litigation.     

Goodwill—an Example of Puzzle-Solving in Accounting—a Reply

Grinyer and Russell's (G&R, 1992) contention that Ma and Hopkins (1988) have imposed the mutually exclusive rules of the valuation-based paradigm on the matching-based paradigm that underlies accounting practice is overly defensive and misguided. Our 1988 paper was an attempt to throw light on why there was so little agreement on the rules governing the treatment of goodwill. G&R's comment does not change our view that the only answer to the 'puzzle' lies in the lack of a full understanding of the nature of goodwill.     

战略无形资产、商誉与企业持续竞争优势

本文运用“资源基础论”分析了战略无形资产与企业持续竞争优势和超额利润之间的关系,论述了现行财务会计模式对战略无形资产信息的综合反映形式。认为商誉是现行财务会计模式对企业持续竞争优势的综合反映形式,其本质是在现行财务会计模式下无法单独入账的企业战略无形资产,商誉的性质实际上是战略无形资产性质的外在综合表现,外购商誉的本质是被收购企业未入账的战略无形资产,外购商誉的会计处理应该依据并购后被收购企业战略无形资产价值的增减变动情况来决定。     

商誉会计主要争论综述及启示

近百年来 ,会计理论界对商誉会计问题研究成果丰硕。本文对商誉的本质、自创商誉的会计确认、外购商誉的会计处理、负商誉性质等问题的主要争论进行了综述。     

关于商誉会计理论的思考

商誉是会计界所关注的一个焦点问题,历来倍受争议。本文从对商誉本有关质诸多观点的分析出发, 得出商誉的再定义。同时,针对理论界与实务界区别对待自创商誉与外购商誉的现状,也分析论证了两者的内在统一性,提出当前更应重视自创商誉问题研究的建议,并对自创商誉的计量及后续处理问题予以探讨,以期有助于商誉会计的整体协调发展并最终达成科学的共识。     

Goodwill and dynamic advertising strategies

In this paper, we empirically analyze weekly advertising policies of manufacturing firms in consumer goods markets. We assume firms engage in persuasive advertising, thus policies of firms affect the goodwill of a brand. We introduce a demand and a goodwill production function. A simple transformation of the demand function allows us to identify not only the demand parameters but also the parameters of the goodwill production function. We reconstruct the unobserved goodwill levels using these parameters and past advertising levels. We restrict our attention to Markov Perfect Equilibrium (MPE) strategies which are functions of payoff relevant state variables. Without imposing further restrictions on the dynamic competitive environment, we investigate the relationship between observed advertising strategies—which are assumed to be MPE—and payoff relevant state variables by means of several reduced form specifications. The most important determinant of advertising intensity turns out to be goodwill. We demonstrate that controlling for an advertising campaign significantly improves the explanatory power of the model. JEL Classification L13 . C73 . M30 . M37 I would like to thank Volkswagen Stiftung for the generous financial support which made this research possible.     

自创无形资产的不确定性及会计处理的创新

自创无形资产是完全资本化或费用化,还是一并确认或分阶段确认,目前在财会界依然众说纷纭。本文借鉴国际会计准则的相关规定,结合我国实际,对自创无形资产不确定性的表现和会计对自创无形资产的传统处理进行了分析,最后提出了在知识经济条件下自创无形资产会计确认和披露的创新。     

企业资源对新创上市公司创业投资决策的影响

公司创业投资（CVC）是企业外延式发展的主要路径,主要发生在大型成熟企业。近年来,我国创业板新创上市企业发生的CVC活动也比较活跃,企业资源成为影响企业选择CVC战略的重要因素。以2009-2011年在创业板上市的204家制造业企业为样本,通过其从上市至2014年12月31日之间参与的CVC数据,分析企业技术资源、财务资源和商誉资源对新创企业CVC决策的影响。通过二分类Logit实证检验发现：技术资源对新创上市企业选择CVC战略具有积极影响;充裕的现金流对新创上市企业选择CVC战略具有促进作用;商誉资源对公司创业投资决策的影响并不显著。     

Perceived Onboard Service Needs of Passengers with Mobility Limitations: An Investigation among Flight Attendants

The purpose of this study is to explore flight attendants' perceptions of the in-flight service needs of passengers with mobility impairments. In addition, this study seeks out flight attendants' recommendations for improving services to passengers with mobility impairments. The existing literature draws attention to the service needs of passengers with disabilities from the customers' perspectives. However, this study aims to understand these service needs from the service provider's perspective. Participants of the study are flight attendants who have extensive in-flight service experience and have served passengers with disabilities. The study finds four types of in-flight needs from people with mobility impairments: (1) the need for help in using in-flight amenities, (2) the need to be treated the same as passengers without any disabilities, (3) the need for individualized services, and (4) the need for effective communication and accurate information. To address these needs, flight attendants suggest that airline managers should provide adequate flight information for people with disabilities and sufficient training to front line airline and airport employees.     

商誉本质研究综述

一百多年来,会计理论界在商誉本质研究方面进行了诸多卓有成效的探索,提出了多种不同的观点,他们的研究主要沿着商誉构成要素、直接计量以及间接计量三方面进行,但并没有取得根本性的突破。进一步研究首先必须明确商誉的定位,在此基础上再应用相关理论论证商誉的本质问题。