財務報表可讀性對盈餘-報酬關聯性之影響

The Effect of Annual Report Readability on Earnings-return Association

莊佩雯(Pei-Wen Chuang)

指導教授 ： 許文馨

國立臺灣大學/管理學院/會計學研究所/碩士(2011年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU.2011.10100

摘要

本研究旨在針對於美國跨國上市之企業，探討其財務報表可讀性與其盈餘資訊之關聯，主要分以下列三方面做探討：(1)財報可讀性是否會對其所傳達之盈餘資訊造成影響; (2)財報可讀性之重要性是否會隨著盈餘調整數之增加而提高; (3)財報之可讀性是否可彌補因美國證券交易委員會取消原對於美國跨國上市之企業應按照美國一般公認會計原則調節財務報表之要求而喪失之攸關資訊。實證結果顯示盈餘反應係數與財報可讀性呈顯著正相關，此說明簡單且易於明瞭之財務揭露有助於提升投資人處理攸關資的能力，並能提供更完整之資訊予市場，因而可增加市場對盈餘資訊反應的程度。此外，隨著盈餘調整數之擴大，財報可讀性與盈餘資訊之正相關將更加顯著，此結果表示提高財報之可讀性可減少投資人對盈餘調整數產生的資訊不對稱及不確定性。最後，本研究發現在取消需按照美國一般公認會計原則調節財務報表之規定後，財報可讀性與盈餘資訊之正相關亦更加顯著，此即說明提高財報揭露之可讀性，的確可彌補因取消需按照美國一般公認會計原則調節財務報表所喪失的資訊內涵。

關鍵字

可讀性 ； 盈餘資訊內涵 ； 資訊不對稱 ； 美國跨國上市 ； 表20-F盈餘調整數

並列摘要

This thesis would like to address three questions related to financial report readability and the informativeness of earnings for U.S. cross-lists. First, I consider whether readability of financial statements can affect their ERCs (proxy for the informativeness of earnings). Then I examine whether the importance of readability is more pronounced for firms with higher reconciliation differences. Finally, I examine whether the information lost due to the elimination of reconciliation requirement can be counteracted by good financial report readability. The findings show that there is a positive relationship between ERCs and financial report readability, suggesting that higher readable disclosures increase investors’ ability to process information and provide more information to the market, thus providing a higher level of ERCs. In addition, the positive association between readability and ERCs tends to be more pronounced for firms with larger reconciliation differences, indicating the information asymmetry and uncertainty about the underlying economic earnings due to reconciliation differences perceived by investors can be reduced as the readability of financial reporting increases. With respect to the final question, I find the positive association between readability and ERCs has become more pronounced after eliminating the reconciliation rule, suggesting readability of financial report can counteract balance the information lost due to the elimination of the reconciliation requirement.

並列關鍵字

readability ； informativeness of earnings ； information asymmetry ； U.S. cross-lists ； Form 20-F reconciliations

參考文獻

Julia Yu. 2010. The interaction of voluntary and mandatory disclosures: Evidence from the SEC’s elimination of the IFRS-U.S. GAAP reconciliation. Working paper. University of Georgia.

Aboody, D., and R. Kasznik. 2000. CEO stock option awards and the timing of corporate voluntary disclosures. Journal of Accounting and Economics 29: 73-100.

Amir, E., T. Harris, and E. Venuti. 1993. A comparison of the value relevance of US versus Non-US GAAP accounting measures using Form 20-F Reconciliations. Journal of Accounting Research 31 (Supplement): 230-264.

Baginski, S., J. Hassell, and M. Kimbrough. 2002. The effect of legal environment on voluntary disclosure: Evidence from management earnings forecasts issued in U.S. and Canadian markets. The Accounting Review 77(January): 25-50.

Bailey, W., G.A. Karolyi, and S. Carolina. 2006. The economic consequences of increased disclosure: Evidence from international cross-listings. Journal of Financial Economics 81: 175-213.