In this dissertation I investigate and compare the impairments of long-lived operating assets under US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from different perspective, including the informativeness, determinants, and market valuation of asset impairments. A firm invests in long-lived operating assets with the expectation of generating future benefit. The decision or recognition of asset impairments implies such future benefit is expected to be lower than originally estimated. US GAAP and IFRS both require the recognition of impairment losses but their standards and accounting approaches are different in several ways. These distinctions raise the question whether the reported long-lived asset impairments under US GAAP and IFRS are comparable and motivate this dissertation. I investigate the predictive ability of reported asset write-offs for firms' future performance and find negative associations suggesting the informativeness of impairment losses. But such informativeness depends on the type of assets impaired, the accounting standards adopted, and the institutional characteristics. In general, aggregate impairments are persistently associated with future performance under IFRS but not US GAAP. The impairments of tangible assets have more predictive ability than those of intangibles. For IFRS adopters, enforcement takes a more important role in determining the informativeness of asset impairments than legal origins. I also examine the determinants and attributes of asset impairments under US GAAP and IFRS. I find both of them reflect certain economic factors and reporting incentives. Under US GAAP asset impairments strongly reflect GDP growth, unemployment rate, industry-trend and reporting incentives, including taking a big bath and income smoothing. Under IFRS the impairments reflect most economic factors but less reporting incentives. However, when enforcement is low in IFRS countries, firms tend to manage earnings through asset write-offs. I further address the market valuation of asset write-offs under US GAAP and IFRS. The reporting of asset impairments improves the explanatory power of accounting information for equity prices under IFRS but not US GAAP, especially when enforcement is high. The associations between asset write-offs and equity prices under IFRS in high enforcement countries are significantly different from those under US GAAP, implying investors weigh reported impairments under IFRS. I also use stock returns as an alternative metric of market valuation. Under US GAAP, asset write-offs are negatively associated with past, current, and future stock returns. Under IFRS in high enforcement countries the effects of impairment loss concentrate on past and current stock returns. The results of comparisons suggest asset write-offs under US GAAP and IFRS are not totally comparable from a market perspective. This dissertation contributes to literature on special items, impairment accounting, and reporting under IFRS. It is also related to the comparability of financial reporting under US GAAP and IFRS. While studies have compared overall properties of the two standards, examining the differences in a specific accounting area is also important as U.S. SEC express concern about the convergence of different accounting standards and whether U.S. should incorporate IFRS into its financial reporting systems. / Business Administration/Accounting

為加速與國際會計準則接軌，我國財務會計準則委員會於民國93年7月1日發布財務會計準則公報第35號「資產減損之會計處理準則」，並規定得於93年度提前適用。本研究由揭露的角度切入，研究提前適用35號公報之公司，其揭露資產減損資訊數量與代表資訊不對稱變數 (分析師預測錯誤、個股交易量以及股票報酬標準差)間之關聯，以及資產減損揭露降低資訊不對稱之效果，是否會受到管理當局盈餘管理以及經營風險所影響。為衡量揭露資訊之充分性，本研究參考Botosan (1997)與Guo et al. (2004)，自行建構揭露評分項目與評分表，並以迴歸分析來檢定資產減損揭露數量與代表資訊不對稱之替代變數間的關連性。 研究結果顯示，在控制了減損金額後，公司所揭露的資產減損資訊確實具備增額資訊內涵，能降低分析師對未來一年每股盈餘的預測錯誤；然而，有進行「洗大澡」盈餘管理行為之公司，其資產減損揭露資訊降低資訊不對稱效果並未受影響。 另外，電子業以及研發支出佔營業收入淨額比例較高公司，其資產減損揭露資訊則較非電子業及研發支出佔營業收入淨額比例較低公司更能顯著提升個股交易週轉率；然而，公司所揭露之資產減損資訊，卻無法顯著降低股票報酬標準差。本研究另發現相較於研發支出佔營業收入淨額比率，產業別是衡量公司風險較佳之替代變數。 就資產減損揭露資訊的評分結果而言，本研究發現三個現象。第一為有分析師盈餘預測的公司，其資產減損資訊揭露分數與無分析師預測之公司並無顯著差異，此現象可能代表了分析師在決定是否針對特定公司宣告盈餘預測資訊時，資產減損揭露資訊並非決定性因素。第二為提前適用35號公報之公司，其揭露分數就整體而言是偏低的。第三為整體揭露較透明之公司，其資產減損揭露資訊並未顯著優於整體揭露較不透明的公司。 / To harmonize faster with international accounting standards, the Financial Accounting Standards Board of Taiwan issued Financial Accounting Standards No. 35, “Accounting for Asset Impairment” on July 1, 2004, and allowed early adoption. This paper examines the relations between the disclosure quantity-level of asset impairment and proxy variables (financial analysts’ earnings forecast error, trading volume and standard deviation of stock return) of information asymmetry, for the companies which adopted Financial Accounting Standards No. 35 early. In addition, this paper examines whether earnings management or operating risks of company has impact on the effect of reducing information asymmetry. In order to effectively measure the disclosure quantity-level of asset impairment, this paper follows the methods of Botosan (1997) and Guo et al. (2004) to construct a tailor-made disclosure index, and then uses multiple regression models to test the hypotheses. After controlling the dollar amount of asset impairment, this paper finds significant positive relation between the disclosure quantity-level of asset impairment and earnings forecast error. This finding indicates that disclosure of asset impairment has incremental information content to reduce information asymmetry. However, that effect of reducing information asymmetry is not significant for probable candidate companies of earnings management. Within the same disclosure quantity-level, companies in the electronics industry and companies with a higher R&D expenditure to net operating revenue ratio have more stock trading volume than those in non-electronics and those with a lower R&D expenditure ratio, respectively. This paper cannot verify the expected sign between disclosure quantity-level of asset impairment and standard deviation of stock return. This paper also finds that industry, as a proxy variable, is more suitable to represent risk of company than R&D ratio. As to the asset impairment disclosure index, this paper finds three phenomena. First, companies with at least one financial analyst following do not have higher disclosure scores than those with no financial analyst following. Secondly, asset impairment disclosure scores are low in average. Thirdly, there is no positive relation between the total disclosure level and asset impairment disclosure scores.

Prior to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.121 (SFAS No.121): Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Long-Lived Assets to Be Disposed Of, managers had substantial discretion concerning the amount and timing of reporting writedowns of long-lived assets. Moreover, the frequency and dollar amount of asset writedown announcements that led to a large “surprise” caused the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to consider the need for a new standard to guide the recording of impairment of long-lived assets. This study has two primary objectives. First, it investigates the effects of SFAS No.121 on asset impairment reporting, examining whether SFAS No.121 reduces the magnitude and restricts the timing of reporting asset writedowns. Second, the study compares the information content (surprise element) of the asset impairment loss announcement as measured by cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) before and after the issuance of SFAS No.121. The findings provide support for the hypothesis that the FASB's new accounting standard does not affect the magnitude of asset writedown losses. The findings also provide support for the hypothesis that SFAS No. 121 does not affect the management choice of the timing for reporting asset writedowns. In addition, the findings suggest that the market evaluates the asset writedown losses after the issuance of SFAS No. 121 as good news for “big bath” firms, while, for “income smoothing” firms, the market does not respond to the announcements of asset writedown losses either before or after the issuance of SFAS No. 121. The findings also suggest that, for “big bath” firms, the market perceives the announcement of asset impairment losses after the adoption of SFAS No. 121 as more credible relative to that before its issuance. This could be because the practice of reporting asset writedowns after the issuance of SFAS No. 121 is under the FASB's authoritative guidance, which brings consistency and comparability in asset impairment reporting.

強制報導資產減損的目的為希冀企業能夠真實反映出資產的公平價值，使會計資訊能夠有更完整的報導。 本研究探討的主題一為上市公司選擇適用三十五號財務會計準則公報之時點是否會受到管理階層之盈餘管理動機與公司特性所影響。實證結果顯示，當上市公司有未預期的負營運績效時，管理階層會自願提前認列資產減損來達到洗大澡的目的，而一旦提前適用三十五號財務會計準則公報時，管理階層也會同時選擇認列鉅額的資產減損比例來達成盈餘管理的目的，與釋放潛在獲利改善的訊息給投資大眾。 本研究探討的主題二為上市公司認列資產減損金額比率是否會受到管理階層之盈餘管理動機與公司特性之影響。實證結果顯示，上市公司認列減損金額時，除受到管理階層洗大澡動機的影響外，也會將公司本身之固定資產比率、負債比率與公司規模等公司特性列入考量，而非只是單純的應公報要求認列資產減損而認列損失。 與三十五號財務會計準則公報的本意相反，實證結果顯示資產減損的報導在強制認列之後，似乎未使財務報表的品質提升，反映出企業的真實價值，而是給予經理人更多空間與誘因操縱盈餘。 / Accounting Research and Development Foundation in Taiwan (the Accounting Standards Setting Body in Taiwan) issued Statement Financial Accounting Standards No.35, “Accounting for the Impairment of Assets”on July 2004. Prior to SFAS No.35, accounting for assets impairment often remains room for substantial judgments and estimates without any specific regulation. The new statement was issued primarily to establish guidelines to recognize impairment of assets that reflects more true value of the enterprises. The statement was effective for fiscal year 2005. The board encouraged early application of the standard. The purposes of this research are to find out (i) if companies manage earnings by adopting SFAS No.35 earlier and what characteristics of firms will tend to adopt it earlier, and (ii) when a company recognizes impairment of assets, does the amount of the impairment affected by the motivation for earnings management of other characteristics of the company. The empirical analysis reveals “taking a big bath” of earnings management behavior and the growth of fix assets are the factors influencing the decision of early adoption of the accounting standard. Another empirical result suggests that when companies have higher unexpected losses, they tend to recognize large amount of impairment loss to improve the quality of the earnings in the future. Companies that chose to adopt SFAS No.35 earlier appeal to have a great amount of impairment loss too. Finally, the characteristics of companies such as high fixed assets ratio, high debt ratio, and small size are also the factors leading to the recognition of a larger amount of impairment loss.

為了使公司帳面價值符合穩健原則，我國財務會計準則委員會於民國九十三年七月一日公布財務會計準則公報第三十五號 -- 「資產減損之會計處理」。此公報規定當資產之帳面價值高於可回收金額，對於超過的部分即須認列減損損失。本文之目的即在於藉由探討資產減損認列之決定因素，係經濟因素或報導誘因，以瞭解第三十五號公報之實施是否真能達到當初制定之目的，而使公司財報更為透明，更能反映公司的經營績效與價值，而非淪為管理階層盈餘管理之工具。此外，本文亦探討公司資產減損之認列與其股價之關係，以瞭解投資人對資產減損資訊之反應，以及第三十五號公報對市場之影響。 本研究之主要發現如下：（1）國內上市公司認列資產減損之決定因素主要係經濟因素，但亦有藉以平穩其盈餘之現象；以及（2）整體而言，資產減損對股價不具有顯著之影響力，顯示市場對於資產減損並無顯著之反應。但市場對於未提前適用之公司所認列之資產減損，則有顯著之負向反應。 / In July 2004, Financial Accounting Standards Board in Taiwan issued SFAS No. 35: Accounting for Impairment of Assets, to enhance the conservatism in corporate financial statements. SFAS No. 35 requires that when an asset’s book value is lower than its recoverable amount, a company should recognize the difference as an impairment loss. The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants (economic factors and reporting incentives) of reported impairment losses to evaluate whether SFAS No. 35 achieves its purpose. In addition, this study examines the relationship between reported impairment losses and stock prices to determine the impact of SFAS No. 35 on the capital market investors. Our empirical results show that economic factors are the main determinants of reported impairment losses of the listed firms in Taiwan. There is also a high association between reported impairment losses and corporate “income smoothing” behavior. Overall, reported impairment losses do not have significant impact on stock prices. However, after excluding the early adopting firms, the capital market reacts negatively to reported impairment losses.

國內35號會計準則公報的實施是會計從歷史成本原則走向公平價值之重要里程碑，在新公報提高財務報表攸關性之同時，卻可能因放棄可靠性而增大企業報導盈餘的空間。是以實施35號公報對企業財務與營運面資訊揭露上之影響，除資產減損認列項目的正確性，認列金額的適足性，相關揭露報導的適當性外，影響資產減損的因素，以及是否具有公司或產業差異性等，均為值得深入探討的議題。 本論文以2004年報及2005年半年報為研究期間，針對資產減損之認列內容是否符合35號公報之規範內容，本研究發現國內上市櫃公司，將原來規範在1號或5號公報、後來納入35號公報受評之資產，在研究期間內認列並報導的資產減損損失合計約為新台幣203億元，分析結果隱喻國內上市櫃公司在適用35號公報時，確有存在不當認列之可能。本研究同時發現在財務報告資訊品質方面存在財務報告附註揭露「會計變動理由及其影響數」以及會計師查核意見書未對適用35號公報予以適當揭露者計有163家；以及母子公司適用35號公報之時點不同者。 至於認列資產減損金額之決定因素，本研究之實證結果發現，企業認列資產減損之大小受獲利能力、經營績效以及資產使用效能等企業營運因素之影響。在企業特性方面，本研究發現負債比例愈高及企業信用風險愈差之企業，其資產減損金額愈大。規模愈大之公司，認列之資產減損愈小；以及資訊電子業者認列顯著較高之資產減損金額。由於企業在適用35號公報上保有彈性判斷之空間，因此本研究發現企業認列資產減損之大小受到企業本身承受能力及洗大澡動機之影響，隱喻35號公報可能是管理當局可以操弄盈餘之工具之ㄧ。 / The implementation of new accounting standard (SFAS No.35) on assets impaired is a milestone of moving from historical cost principle towards fair value principle. As SFAS No. 35 may enhance the relevance of financial information at the cost of reliability, there exists the flexibility of reported earnings through the new communiqué. Based on the importance of the SFAS No.35 on a company’s financial and operational reporting, this thesis investigate the accuracy and adequateness of asset impairment, the appropriateness of reporting and disclosures of asset impairment, the determinants of asset impairment and the characteristics across industry are worth studying into thoroughly. With the topic of the contents of asset impairment in compliance with SFAS No.35, this study finds that the listed companies in Taiwan recognized and reported as asset impairment in the amount of NT $88,094 million for the study period from December, 2004 to June, 2005, of which approximately amounted to NT $20,300 million should be periodically evaluated in accordance with SFAS No.1 or SFAS No.5 before adoption of SFAS No.35. As a result, it metaphors listed company in Taiwan to use SFAS No.35 as an excuse for written off asset value. We explored the accuracy of asset impairment loss and the appropriateness of reporting for asset impairment for listed companies in Taiwan. When analyzing the reporting quality, we found that there were 163 financial reports of listed companies in Taiwan without footnote of “Accounting change and its effect” or explanationary paragraph for accounting change in auditors’ opinion for the study period from December, 2004 to June, 2005. In addition, we also found that four companies within two consolidated group started to adopt SFAS No.35 at the different timing against the rule of consistency on the adoption of accounting principle among consolidated entities. We explored the determinants of asset impairment for the listed companies in Taiwan for the period from December, 2004 to June, 2005. Our empirical results show the following: (1) The size of asset impairment is associated with operational factors such as profitability, operational performance and effectiveness of asset utilization;(2) In the perspective of company characteristic, the size of asset impairment is associated with the debt ratio and worse credit risk ;(3) The bigger company recognized the smaller impairment loss . Compared to other industries ( excluded financial institutions and securities),the huge impairment had been recognized in electronic industry .Since the evaluation of asset value involved a lot of professional judgments , we found that the size of impairment loss was associated with the management reporting motivation and capability to afford such losses . It metaphors that the SFAS No. is one of the vehicle of earning smoothing to be used.