Does Recognition Versus Disclosure Matter?

Does Recognition Versus Disclosure Matter?
Author: Kun Yu
Publisher:
Total Pages: 436
Release: 2009
Genre:
ISBN:

Abstract: An important area of research and issue of interest for standard setters is whether information disclosure in the footnotes is a substitute for recognition in the financial statements. SFAS 158, issued in 2006, requires the recognition of pension liabilities that were only disclosed in the footnotes under SFAS 87, for the fiscal year ending after Dec. 15, 2006. I empirically examine whether the recognition of the previously disclosed off-balance-sheet pension liabilities affects investors' valuation and firms' contracting costs. I also incorporate levels of investor sophistication in my analyses. Using a sample of firms with pension liabilities that were disclosed under SFAS 87 and subsequently recognized under SFAS 158 from 1999 to 2007, I find that, without considering investor sophistication, SFAS 158 generally does not increase the value relevance of the previously disclosed off-balance-sheet pension liabilities. However, after taking into account investor sophistication, I show that the disclosed off-balance-sheet pension liabilities are more value relevant for firms with a higher level of investor sophistication in the pre-158 period; more importantly, I find that SFAS 158 significantly increases the value relevance of the previously disclosed off-balance-sheet pension liabilities for firms with a low proportion of sophisticated investors, and the increase in the value relevance is less pronounced for firms with a higher proportion of sophisticated investors. Consistent with the contracting theory, I find that requiring the recognition of previously only-disclosed liabilities affects the debt contracting cost and the cost of capital. However, only sophisticated investors appear to understand the effect of SFAS 158 on the debt contracting cost and the stock price. Overall, the results support that recognition affects investors' valuation and firms' contracting costs. The results also highlight the role of the level of investor sophistication in the value relevance of disclosed vs. recognized financial information.

Does Recognition Instead of Disclosure Matter to the Users of Financial Statements?

Does Recognition Instead of Disclosure Matter to the Users of Financial Statements?
Author: Paquita Y. Davis-Friday
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 1998
Genre:
ISBN:

This paper uncovers a potential explanation for the discrepancy between Amir (1996) and Choi, Collins, and Johnson (1997) by examining whether the users of financial statement data treat information differently if it is disclosed instead of recognized in the body of the financial statements. Amir (1996) finds that the liability for postretirement benefits other than pensions (PRBs) is value-relevant conditioned on earnings and pension information while Choi et al. (1997) find that the PRB liability is measured with more error than the pension liability and is therefore less reliable. Since Amir's sample consists only of SFAS 106 adopters and the Choi et al. sample includes both adopters and non-adopters (disclosers), we identify a sample of early adopters who disclose an estimate of their anticipated liability in the Management Discussion and Analysis (MDamp;A) or notes to their financial statements. We test whether accounting information disclosed in the MDamp;A or notes (the estimate of the PRB liability) is valued by the market the same as information recognized in the financial statements (the recognized PRB liability). The results indicate that the recognized PRB liability is capitalized at a higher rate than the disclosed liability. Our evidence suggests that the market treats information disclosed in the notes in this context as less reliable than similar information recognized in the body of the financial statements.

Disclosure Versus Recognition

Disclosure Versus Recognition
Author: Jeremy Michels
Publisher:
Total Pages: 55
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN:

Standard setters explicitly state that disclosure should not substitute for recognition in financial reports. Consistent with this directive, prior research shows that investors find recognized values more pertinent than disclosed values. However, it remains unclear whether reporting items are recognized because they are more relevant for investing decisions, or whether requiring recognition itself prompts differing behavior on the part of firms and investors. Using the setting of subsequent events, I identify the differential effect of requiring disclosure versus recognition in a setting where the accounting treatment of an item is exogenously determined. For comparable events, I find a stronger initial market response for firms required to recognize relative to firms that must disclose, although the large magnitude of the identified effect calls into question whether this difference can be attributed to accounting treatments alone. In examining various reasons for the stronger market response to recognized values, I fail to find support for the hypothesis that this difference is due to differential reliability of disclosed and recognized values. I do find some evidence that investors underreact to disclosed events, consistent with investors incurring higher processing costs when using disclosed information.

The Impact of Recognition Versus Disclosure on Financial Information

The Impact of Recognition Versus Disclosure on Financial Information
Author: Shana Clor-Proell
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2014
Genre:
ISBN:

We investigate whether recognition on the face of the financial statements versus disclosure in the footnotes influences the amount that financial managers report for a contingent liability. Using an experiment with corporate controllers and chief financial officers, we find that financial managers in public companies expend more cognitive effort and exhibit less strategic bias under recognition than disclosure. This difference appears to be associated with capital market pressures experienced by public company managers as we find that both the cognitive effort and bias exhibited by private company managers are unaffected by placement. As a result, public company managers make higher liability estimates for recognized versus disclosed liabilities. Their liability estimates are similar to those of private company managers for recognition but lower than private company managers' estimates for disclosure. Our results have implications for auditors and financial statement users in evaluating recognized versus disclosed information for public and private companies.

Recognition Versus Disclosure

Recognition Versus Disclosure
Author: Doron Israeli
Publisher:
Total Pages: 59
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

The application of International Accounting Standard (IAS) 40, Investment Property, in the European Union created a unique setting to study the implications of a decision to recognize versus disclose financial statements' items because in this setting recognized and disclosed investment-property-related amounts share a common measurement base, i.e., fair value. I utilize this setting to (1) explore factors associated with a firm's choice to recognize versus disclose fair values of investment properties, (2) test whether recognized and disclosed amounts are valued equally by equity investors, and (3) determine whether these amounts exhibit equivalent associations with future financial outcomes. To correct for self-selection concerns and assure I compare analogous amounts, I develop a selection model and construct investment-property-related amounts that differ only in whether their components are recognized or disclosed. I find that (1) contractual and asset pricing incentives help explain the recognition versus disclosure choice, (2) investors place smaller valuation weights on disclosed amounts, and (3) recognized and disclosed amounts exhibit statistically equivalent associations with future changes in net rental income and cash flows from operations. Taken together, the evidence suggests that managers are opportunistic in making the recognition versus disclosure choice and that even when recognized and disclosed amounts share an equivalent measurement base and are equally relevant for future financial outcomes, investors weight disclosed information less heavily in determining a firm's value.

Research, Standard Setting, and Global Financial Reporting

Research, Standard Setting, and Global Financial Reporting
Author: Mary E. Barth
Publisher: Now Publishers Inc
Total Pages: 109
Release: 2007
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1601980086

Research, Standard Setting, and Global Financial Reporting aids researchers in conducting research relevant to global financial reporting issues, particularly those of interest to financial reporting standard setters. Research, Standard Setting, and Global Financial Reporting describes the relation between research and standard-setting issues; explains how a variety of research designs can be used to address questions motivated by standard-setting issues, including valuation research and event studies; offers examples of research addressing a specific global standard-setting issue - use of fair value in measuring accounting amounts; offers further opportunities for future research on specific standard-setting topics by providing motivating questions relating to the major topics on the agendas of the FASB and IASB; explains how the IASB aims to achieve its mission of developing a single set of high quality accounting standards that are accepted worldwide; summarizes extant evidence on the relative quality of accounting amounts across global standard-setting regimes and whether global financial reporting is achievable or even desirable. Research, Standard Setting, and Global Financial Reporting examines opportunities for future research on issues related to globalization of financial reporting by identifying motivating questions that are potentially avenues for future research.

Accounting for Biological Assets

Accounting for Biological Assets
Author: Rute Gonçalves
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 98
Release: 2017-10-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351246801

This book explores accounting for biological assets under IAS 41 – Agriculture, and explains the recent adjustments introduced by the IASB which allow firms to choose between cost or revaluation models concerning mature bearer plants. Identifying the firm and country-level drivers that inform the disclosure and measurement practices of biological assets, this concise guide examines the value relevance of measuring those assets at fair value. It also analyses how firm and country-level drivers explain the differences in the disclosure level and practices used to measure biological assets under IAS 41. Finally, it evaluates whether there is a difference in the relevance of biological assets among the listed firms with high and low disclosure levels on biological assets. Based on a major international study of a wide selection of firms and country-level drivers, this book is vital for standard setters, stakeholders, students, accountants and auditors who need to understand disclosure and measurement practices of biological assets under IAS 41.

Report and Recommendations Pursuant to Section 133 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act Of 2008

Report and Recommendations Pursuant to Section 133 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act Of 2008
Author: Barry Leonard
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2010-11
Genre:
ISBN: 143792512X

In 2008, the Emerg. Econ. Stabilization Act was signed into law. It mandates a study on mark-to-market accounting standards as provided by Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 157, Fair Value Measure. (SFAS 157). SFAS 157 does not itself require mark-to-market or fair value (FV) accounting. Rather, other accounting standards require what is more broadly known as FV, of which mark-to-market accounting is a subset. SFAS 157 defines FV, estab. a framework for measuring FV in generally accepted accounting principles, and requires expanded disclosures about FV measurements. This report considered the issue of FV accounting, incl. both mark-to-market accounting and SFAS 157.

Handbook of Financial Decision Making

Handbook of Financial Decision Making
Author: Gilles Hilary
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 463
Release: 2023-08-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1802204172

This accessible Handbook provides an essential entry point for those with an interest in the increasingly complex subject of financial decision making. It sheds light on new paradigms in society and the ways that new tools from private actors have affected financial decision making. Covering a broad range of key topics in the area, leading researchers summarize the state-of-the-art in their respective areas of expertise, delineating their projections for the future.