Accounting information, disclosure, and the cost of capital article in journal of accounting research 452. The main perceived cost of disclosure is creating the information. Voluntary disclosure and the cost of capital greg clinch. The information is reported to a variety of different types of interested parties. We find that, consistent with prior research, the quantity and quality of financial disclosure is negatively related to the cost of equity capital for firms with low analyst following. Whether firms receive cost of capital benefits from greater disclosure is an important and controversial question.
Internal factors influencing the cost of equity capital hal. Costs and benefits of business information disciosure. Jun 20, 2015 this area of nonfinancial information disclosure and specifically disclosure of corporate social responsibility is of interest to accounting researchers. The effects of financial reporting and disclosure on corporate. This area of nonfinancial information disclosure and specifically disclosure of corporate social responsibility is of interest to accounting researchers. Conversely, highincentive companies are more likely to be found in countries where equity market financing is more important and where.
Theoretical research investigating the link between disclosure and a firms cost of capital suggests a negative association between the two. Perceptions of professionals interested in accounting and auditing about. Thus if current accounting information is more uncertain, thereby increasing the uncertainty of firms future cash flows, future stock returns are expected to be more volatile lin 2000. A theory of voluntary disclosure and cost of capital. The cost of capital is the weightedaverage, aftertax cost of a corporations longterm debt, preferred stock if any, and the stockholders equity associated with common stock.
For example, arthur levitt, the former chairman of the securities and exchange commission sec, suggests tha. The main benefits are promotion of a reputation for openness and of shareholder confidence, not a lower cost of capital. These include business managers, owners, creditors, governmental units, financial analysts, and even employees. Diamond 1985 shows that disclosing information reduces the need for each individual shareholder to bear the cost of gathering it. Accounting disclosures may reduce the magnitude of the impact of news about a. Dhaliwal, oliver zhen li, albert tsang, and yong george yang 2011 voluntary nonfinancial disclosure and the cost of equity capital. However, the association between disclosure level and cost of equity capital is not well. Cost of capital and earnings transparency sciencedirect. The cost of capital is expressed as a percentage and it is often used to compute the net present value of the cash flows in a proposed investment.
Casual inspection of the extant literature on disclosure and cost of capital suggests that researchers have tended to blur the distinction between these two concepts. May 10, 20 in this paper, i find that when disclosure is voluntary firms that disclose their information have a lower cost of capital than firms that do not disclose, but the association between voluntary disclosure and cost of capital for disclosing and nondisclosing firms is positive in aggregate. Disclosure quality, cost of capital, and investor welfare. Corporate disclosure and the cost of capital edinburgh research. Accounting theory also includes the reporting of accounting and financial information. Cost of capital, strategic disclosures and accounting choice. This paper examines the link between disclosure and the cost of capital. An extensive literature highlights numerous benefits of disclosure. Accounting information, the cost of capital and excess. The calm before the storm rising profits or deflated values.
We test the relation between financial and social disclosure and the cost of equity capital for a sample of canadian firms with yearends in 1990, 1991 and 1992. Voluntary nonfinancial disclosure and the cost of equity. The certificate of incorporation of a company is issued by registrar of. Structural equation modeling in archival accounting research. We demonstrate that the quality of accounting information can influence the cost. Cost of capital determination for information disclosure. Mandatory disclosures alter firms voluntary disclosures, their capital structure choices, and their cost of capital. Shareholder rights, financial disclosure and the cost of. In this paper, we examine the effects of accounting policy choice on the cost of equity capital, and on the relationship between cost of equity capital and disclosure level. The influence of variety of internal factors on the costs of equity capital has been. Currentperiod depreciation expense, with disclosure of amounts charged to each of the functions in the statement of activities 22. Olsson 2008 who examine the effect of voluntary disclosure on the cost of equity capital conditional on the underlying quality of earnings, and ahmed, billings, morton, and stanfordharris 2002 who find accounting conservatism to be associated with a lower cost of debt.
Great changes have occurred in the ways and content of information disclosure, and the mainstream has recognized by point of view that the increase of information disclosure quality will reduce the cost of equity financing. However, since costs affect cash flows, employees, as parts of the entity with an interest in its cash fiows, have an interest in minimizing the cost of disclosure. Greater disclosure to rating agencies and lenders reduces the cost of debt. Standards of financial accounting and reporting for research and development costs are set page 4. Voluntary disclosure, mandatory disclosure, and cost of. This study shows that the argument is valid only in limited circumstances. We build a model that is consistent with the capm and explicitly allows for multiple securities whose cash flows are correlated. Editions of the cost of capital study by kpmg highlighted subjects of the study. The majority view of the executives interviewed is that disclosure reduces the cost of equity. Social disclosure, financial disclosure and the cost of. In this paper we examine whether and how accounting information about a firm manifests in its cost of capital, despite the forces of diversification.
Accounting information, disclosure, and the cost of capital abstract in this paper we examine whether and how accounting information about a firm manifests in its cost of capital, despite the forces of diversification. To summarise, if accounting policy choice is correlated with both the. Request pdf accounting information, disclosure, and the cost of capital abstract in this paper we examine whether and how accounting. One might expect that disclosure quality improves investor welfare by reducing cost of capital. The cost of capital formula is the blended cost of debt and equity that a company has acquired in order to fund its operations. In economics and accounting, the cost of capital is the cost of a companys funds both debt and equity, or, from an investors point of view the required rate of return on a portfolio companys existing securities. Conceptual framework sustainability accounting standards. Disclosure shall be made in the financial statements of the total research and development costs charged to expense in each period for which an income statement is presented. The authors argue that corporate risk disclosure reduces the cost of capital as investors attain better information and have confidence in the business and that less risk disclosure may generate. Using cost ofequity capital estimates derived from expected earnings growth valuation models, we find that firms with stronger shareholder rights regimes and higher levels of financial transparency are associated with significantly. To the extent that accounting information affects expected cash flows, it also affects the firms costs of capital. Valuation of capital assets for financial reporting purposes 6. Due to the fact that the financial impacts of decisions also have to be objectively reflected in. We build a model that is consistent with the capital asset pricing model and explicitly allows for multiple securities whose cash flows are correlated.
Disclosure level and the cost of equity capital christine a. This question is extracted from the theoretical studies and theories that support the view of that highquality accounting information is expected to reduce the cost of equity and debt capital. Accounting information and stock volatility in the nigerian. This framework isolates three channels through which financial accounting information can affect the investments, productivity, and valueadded of firms. This conceptual framework sets out the basic concepts and definitions behind sasbs sustainability accounting standards the sasb standards and serves as additional guidance for the adoption of the standards by corporations and the use of material sustainability information by investors. We investigate the association between voluntary disclosure and the riskrelated discount investors apply to price. Zhang g 2001 private information production, public. Citeseerx document details isaac councill, lee giles, pradeep teregowda. The goal of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of the firms accounting information and particularly the role of earnings quality as a part of accounting information, on its cost of capital. Finally, we illustrate how chps 8kbased voluntary and mandatory disclosure measures can be used to enhance our understanding of firms disclosure environments. This paper examines the relationship between accounting information and stock volatility in the nigerian capital market. An application to disclosure and cost of capital lisa a. This study extends research into whether shareholder rights and disclosures of financialrelated attributes are associated with firms costs of equity capital. Oct 12, 2005 accounting information, disclosure, and the cost of capital journal of accounting research, vol.
First, is the effect on stock volatility arising from the role of accounting information disclosure in mitigating uncertainty. Based on a production economy with perfect competition among investors, the analysis demonstrates three points. It is important, because a companys investment decisions related to new operations should always result in a return that exceeds its cost of capital if not, then the company is not generating a return for its investors. Apr 20, 2009 this paper examines the link between disclosure and the cost of capital.
The findings showed that an increase in expected cash flows, coming from improvements in the quality of accounting information, leads to a reduction in the firms cost of capital. Abstract in this paper we examine whether and how accounting information about a firm manifests in its cost of capital, despite the forces of. Attitudes towards more mandatory disclosure are mostly negative. Its impact on the cost of equity capital executive summary 5 executive summary domestic accounting standards traditionally demand lowerquality disclosure. Corporate disclosure, cost of capital and reputation. Capital structure, cost of capital, and voluntary disclosures. Transparency, corporate governance and capital markets ronald. Hinson the university of georgia steve utke the university of connecticut modern modeling methods conference may 25, 2016. Under information perspective in accounting policy, managers have to provide related. Though the model predicts a negative association between firms cost of capital and the extent of information firms disclose, more expansive voluntary disclosure does not cause firms cost of capital to decline. Firms with more transparent earnings have lower cost of capital as reflected in subsequent excess. Transparency, financial accounting information, and. The effect of disclosure level on the cost of equity capital is a matter of considerable interest and importance to the financial reporting community.
Cost of capital includes the cost of debt and the cost of equity. The impact of intellectual capital disclosure on cost of. Part i develops the concept that corporate governance functions as the corporations equity contract, the set of rules that determine the terms of the stockholders investment. Accounting information and stock volatility in the. Nature and types a company is an artificial person created by law, having separate entity with a perpetual succession and a common seal.
In particular, it is unclear to what extent accounting information or firm disclosures reduce nondiversifiable risks in economies with multiple securities. Mar 16, 2007 in this paper we examine whether and how accounting information about a firm manifests in its cost of capital, despite the forces of diversification. Accounting information, disclosure, and the cost of capital richard lambert, christian leuz,t and robert e. Accounting information, disclosure, and the cost of capital. The first stream of research arguing for this association concludes that firms with increased levels of disclosure reduce the cost of capital arising from information asymmetries, either between firms and. Policymakers and financial regulators frequently refer to the reduced cost of capital as a justification for improving disclosure quality. Disclosure costs include the cost of gathering, processing, auditing if the in formation is audited, and disseminating the information. Information disclosure, firm growth, and the cost of capital. Botosan abstract whether firms receive cost of capital benefits from greater disclosure is an important and controversial question. Cost of capital is the required return necessary to make a capital budgeting project, such as building a new factory, worthwhile.
Capital structure, cost of capital, and voluntary disclosures jeremy bertomeu, anne beyer, and ronald dye stanford university, northwestern university october 2009 abstract this paper develops a model of external nancing that jointly determines a rms capital structure, its voluntary disclosure policy, and its cost of capital. Accounting for share capit al share and share capital. More recently, hail 2011 in his discussion of serafeim. We study how information disclosure affects the cost of equity capital and investor welfare in a dynamic setting. The impact of voluntary corporate disclosures on the exante cost of capital for swiss firms. Therefore, this theoretical study will provide a direct link between accounting information related to the firms reports and the cost of capital so as between the cost of capital and firms stock returns within. This paper examines this conventional wisdom by studying a production economy in which disclosure influences a firms investment decisions. Accounting information, disclosure, and the cost of capital by. The link between information disclosure and the cost of equity capital is of fundamental interest to academics and regulators alike. T financial statements portray the effect of past events and. How voluntary nonfinancial disclosure affects the cost of. Accounting information and cost of capital research plan rq 2 1.
We exploit an exogenous cost of capital shock created by the enron scandal in fall 2001 and analyze firms disclosure responses to this shock. These tests are opposite to the typical research design that analyzes cost of capital responses to disclosure changes. Accounting information, disclosure, and the cost of capital accounting information, disclosure, and the cost of capital lambert, richard. Disclosure of accounting policies 1 as1 disclosure of accounting policies he objective of financial statements is to provide information about the financial position, performance and cash flows of an enterprise that is useful to a wide range of users, in making economic decisions. The full disclosure principle requires a company to provide the necessary information so that people who are accustomed to reading financial information are able to make informed decisions regarding the company. The initiation of corporate social responsibility reporting. Sec regulation fair disclosure, information, and the cost.
In our paper, the real costs of disclosure, which was recently made publicly available on ssrn, we analyze the effect of a firms disclosure policy on real investment. Recent journal of accounting and economics articles elsevier. Model link between accounting, demand for accounting as a contracting device and cost of capital prior research has focused on the link between cost of capital and public financial accounting disclosures explained by the valuation role of accounting. Using cost of equity capital estimates derived from expected earnings growth valuation models, we find that firms with stronger shareholder rights regimes and higher levels of financial transparency are associated with significantly.
In one way or another, these users of accounting information tend to be concerned about their own interests in the entity. Disclosure quality, cost of capital, and investors welfare. A governmentregulated enterprise that defers research and development costs for financial accounting purposes in accordance with the addendum to apb opinion no. For example, article voluntary nonfinancial disclosure and the cost of equity capital. It is the minimum return that investors expect for providing capital to the company, thus setting a benchmark that a new. Recently published articles from journal of accounting and economics. The effect of increased disclosure on cost of capital. Yang j, yang j 1998 the handbook of chinese accounting chinese. In fact, understanding the economic consequences of information disclosure can. These channels involve the use of financial accounting information. Sec regulation fair disclosure, information, and the cost of capital. Beginningandendofyear balances with accumulated depreciation presented separately from historical cost b.
The impact of information disclosure quality on the cost of. The impact of voluntary corporate disclosures on the exante. In this paper, i find that when disclosure is voluntary firms that disclose their information have a lower cost of capital than firms that do not disclose, but the association between voluntary disclosure and cost of capital for disclosing and nondisclosing firms is positive in aggregate. This can lead to investors making poor investment decisions. Accounting information is judged to be of high value because it affects the markets ability to direct firms capital allocation choices. It is widely believed that disclosure quality improves investors welfare by reducing cost of capital in a competitive market. Listed company information disclosure quality attracts more and more attention to capital subject. We demonstrate that the quality of accounting information can influence the cost of capital. Conservatism, disclosure and the cost of equity capital. A theoretical analysis connecting conservative accounting to the cost of capital. Structural equation modeling in archival accounting. We build a model that is consistent with the capital asset pricing model.
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