近年來,公平價值會計已成主流,而過去文獻亦發現公平價值會計下之財務報表價值攸關性顯著提升。然而,財務報表之任務並不僅限於促進評價決策(Gjesdal ,1981; Sunder,1999),尤對保險業而言,更應有助瞭解公司財務健全程度;實務文獻(Chisnall, 2000; McEllin, 2006)認為,公平價值會計造成金融監理指標非必要(或不真實)之波動,可能導致其有用性降低。本研究利用臺灣保險業在2005-2011年間之資料,探討採用公平價值會計對資本適足率(Risk Based Capital ratio; RBC ratio)之影響,結果發現:(1)資本適足率對無清償能力風險之解釋能力在公平價值會計實施後,顯著下降;(2)就橫斷面角度分析,若公平價值變動損益占自有資本之比例越高,則該公司之資本適足率對無清償能力風險之解釋能力越低。
One of the most critical policy debates in recent years has been the shift from historical-cost to fair-value accounting regime. While accounting literature has provided strong supportive evidence on the incremental valuation relevance of fair-value-based metrics, the insurance industry has shown an overwhelming disfavor on the application of full fair-value accounting. In specific, numerous studies argue that the great volatility of equities induced by constantly marking-to-market is artificial and bears no relationship to business reality (Chisnall, 2000; McEllin, 2006). Using data from Taiwan's insurers between 2005 and 2011, this study is the first to empirically investigate the impact of fair-value-accounting on the usefulness of regulatory capital-based metrics. Results indicate that: (1) the shift to fair-value-based accounting regime reduces the relevance of RBC ratios in explaining insurers' insolvency risks, and (2) the degree to which an insurer's capital is fair-value-oriented weakens the ability of its RBC ratios in summarizing information about insolvency risks.