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.

In 1982, the Financial Accounting Board (FASB) issued Statment of Financial Accounting Standards No. 69 (SFAS No. 69) which required oil and gas producing companies to disclose supplementary information to the basic financial statements. These disclosures include, costs incurred, capitalized costs, reserve quantities, and a standardized measure of discounted cash flows. The FASB considered these disclosures to be necessary to compensate for the deficiencies in historical cost financial statements. The usefulness of the new signals created by SFAS No. 69, however, is an empirical question and research regarding that objective is lacking. The objective of the study is to test the usefulness of SFAS No. 69. The research strategy used to achieve that objective is to compare the discriminant and predictive power of SFAS No. 69 signals or SFAS No. 69 signals combined with financial signals to that of financial signals alone. The research hypothesized that SFAS No. 69 signals by themselves or as supplmentary to financial signals have more discriminant and predictive ability for business failure in oil and gas industry than do financial signals alone. In order to test that hypothesis, the study used the multiple discriminant analysis technique (MDA) to develop three equations. The first is based on SFAS NO. 69 signals, the second on financial statement signals, and the third on joint financial and SFAS No. 69 signals. Data were collected from the 10-K's arid the annual reports of 28 oil and gas companies (14 failed and 14 nonfailed). The analysis was repeated for four time bases, one year before failure, two years before failure, three years before failure, and the average of the three years immediately before failure. After assessing the discriminant and predictive ability of each equation in the four time bases, a t-test was used to determine a significant difference in the discriminant and predictive power existed between SFAS No. 69 signals or SFAS No. 69 signals combined with financial signals and financial signals alone. The study concluded that SFAS No. 69 signals by themselves or as supplementary to financial statements have more discriminant and predictive power for business failure than financial signals alone in the analyses of the third year before failure and of the average of three years before failure. The study, however, found no significant difference in the discriminant and predictive ability in the analyses of one year and two years before failure. The results indicated that SFAS No. 69 signals are useful for financial report users in detecting the deterioration of the financial position of an oil and gas company before failure.

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.

This study uses both basic and self-selection regression models to test three hypotheses about the effect of SFAS 87 disclosures on information asymmetry during 1985- 1987. Both types of models test the hypotheses after controlling for changes in the inventory holding and order processing costs of the spread, while the self-selection models also control for potential self-selection bias.

Dans un contexte d’harmonisation comptable internationale visant à améliorer la qualité de l’information financière publiée par les groupes internationaux afin d’en assurer l’utilité, notre recherche doctorale a pour objet d’apporter une contribution à l’évaluation de l’utilité et de la comparabilité de l’information sectorielle. Cette recherche adopte une approche qualitative mono-sectorielle à travers l’étude du contenu des rapports de recommandation des analystes et des rapports annuels des grands groupes hôteliers internationaux, et une approche internationale à travers la comparaison des référentiels IAS/IFRS et US GAAP. Nous proposons en premier lieu d’étudier l’utilité de l’information sectorielle pour les analystes financiers à travers l’utilisation qu’ils en font dans leurs rapports et le lien de cette utilisation avec l’exactitude des prévisions qu’ils réalisent. Nous analysons ensuite l’évolution de la comparabilité de l’information sectorielle « normée » publiée par les groupes et la comparabilité de leurs pratiques de publication hors annexe. En raison de la diversité des pratiques de publication des firmes, l’utilité et la comparabilité de l’information sectorielle publiée par les groupes hôteliers internationaux demeurent perfectibles. / International accounting harmonization aims to improve financial reporting quality in order to enhance its usefulness. In this context, we study the usefulness and the comparability of segment information. Our research is mainly qualitative – analysis of annual reports and analysts’ reports contents - , hotel industry based and IAS/IFRS versus US GAAP focused. First, we address whether segment information is useful for financial analysts assessing usefulness through its use and its link with forecasts’ precision. Second, the research deals with the evolution of normalized segment information comparability and with the comparability of segment voluntary disclosures reported by international hotel groups. We find that, mainly because of the heterogeneity of disclosure practices, both usefulness and comparability of segment information remains incomplete and perfectible in the international hotel industry.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the United States Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) have reaffirmed their commitment to accomplishing the convergence of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and US Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (US GAAP), following their March 2010 progress report. Among the standards subject to this convergence project, is IAS 23 - Borrowing Costs. Taken at face value, the convergence of IAS 23 (IFRS) and SFAS 34 (US GAAP), and looking at convergence in general, the idea is productive and beneficial. It will lead to more comparative information as it eliminates the differences. The downside, however, could very easily be that convergence might just be taking place for the sake of convergence, and that the end result might not necessarily lead to more comparative and cost effective information. When specifically considering the convergence of the two borrowing costs standards (SFAS 34 and IAS 23), it is clear that differences remain even after their convergence, and therefore it does not promote comparability. The revision of IAS 23 might actually have been more costly and less beneficial, rather than the other way around. The first article in this dissertation claims that the mandatory capitalisation of borrowing costs is more costly than not, and that the IASB did not adequately consider the cost implications in their decision to change IAS 23, as well as that the benefits obtained from the capitalisation of borrowing costs are not that noticeable in practice. Participants in this study also seemed to agree that the application of IAS 23 is fairly difficult. Delving deeper into the technical aspects of IAS 23, a number of questions also arise relating to its application. This appears to be substantiated by the findings in the second article where instances were identified where the opinions of the participants relating to, for instance, what would be regarded as a 'substantial period of time', were divided. Differences relating to the above above viii may lead to one person capitalising borrowing costs, while another in the same situation would not. On the upside, a few instances were identified where participants were not as divided in their views. Therefore, although there appear to be some uncertainties within IAS 23, there are fewer than one would have expected. In summary, the revised IAS 23, in other words, the mandatory capitalisation of borrowing costs on qualifying assets, was viewed by participants as being more costly and difficult to apply than not and they felt that some technical uncertainties do exist within IAS 23. Recommendations have been made in this dissertation based on the useful information obtained. / Thesis (M.Com. (Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the United States Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) have reaffirmed their commitment to accomplishing the convergence of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and US Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (US GAAP), following their March 2010 progress report. Among the standards subject to this convergence project, is IAS 23 - Borrowing Costs. Taken at face value, the convergence of IAS 23 (IFRS) and SFAS 34 (US GAAP), and looking at convergence in general, the idea is productive and beneficial. It will lead to more comparative information as it eliminates the differences. The downside, however, could very easily be that convergence might just be taking place for the sake of convergence, and that the end result might not necessarily lead to more comparative and cost effective information. When specifically considering the convergence of the two borrowing costs standards (SFAS 34 and IAS 23), it is clear that differences remain even after their convergence, and therefore it does not promote comparability. The revision of IAS 23 might actually have been more costly and less beneficial, rather than the other way around. The first article in this dissertation claims that the mandatory capitalisation of borrowing costs is more costly than not, and that the IASB did not adequately consider the cost implications in their decision to change IAS 23, as well as that the benefits obtained from the capitalisation of borrowing costs are not that noticeable in practice. Participants in this study also seemed to agree that the application of IAS 23 is fairly difficult. Delving deeper into the technical aspects of IAS 23, a number of questions also arise relating to its application. This appears to be substantiated by the findings in the second article where instances were identified where the opinions of the participants relating to, for instance, what would be regarded as a 'substantial period of time', were divided. Differences relating to the above above viii may lead to one person capitalising borrowing costs, while another in the same situation would not. On the upside, a few instances were identified where participants were not as divided in their views. Therefore, although there appear to be some uncertainties within IAS 23, there are fewer than one would have expected. In summary, the revised IAS 23, in other words, the mandatory capitalisation of borrowing costs on qualifying assets, was viewed by participants as being more costly and difficult to apply than not and they felt that some technical uncertainties do exist within IAS 23. Recommendations have been made in this dissertation based on the useful information obtained. / Thesis (M.Com. (Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

美國次級房貸風暴自2007年7月爆發以來，除重創金融市場外，亦導致相關會計準則之修訂。本研究以我國金融業為對象，探討：（1）以公平價值認列之金融商品及相關金融資產負債之損益，其財務報導是否具有價值攸關性；（2）金融資產減損損失對投資人之影響是否重大；（3）可能產生減損損失之金融資產其財務報導是否具有價值攸關性；以及（4）財務會計準則第34號公報第二次修訂對投資人之影響為何。 / 本研究之主要發現如下：（1）以公平價值認列之金融商品具有價值攸關性，亦即其對投資人具有參考價值；（2）金融資產減損損失及無活絡市場之債券投資具有價值攸關性，金融資產減損損失增加時，會降低公司之價值，而影響投資人決策；以及（3）第34號公報第二次修訂之內容，對股價具有負向之解釋能力，亦即投資人並不認為金融商品重分類規定之放寬，有助於降低金融風暴對於金融業可能帶來的衝擊。 / Since the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis broke out in July, 2007, it not only inflicted heavy losses to global financial markets, but also caused changes in accounting standards. Using the financial industry in Taiwan as research sample, this study examines: (1) whether financial instruments measured at fair value and their reported gains and losses in the financial statements have value-relevance; (2) the influence of impairment losses of financial assets; (3) whether the financial instruments related to impairment losses of financial assets are value-relevant; and (3) the influence to investors before and after the Statements of Financial Account Standard (SFAS) No. 34 second revised. / This study’s major findings are as follows. The financial instruments measured at fair value are value-relevant and can provide incremental information to investors. Impairment losses on financial assets and non-active market investments also have value-relevance. If a company has more impairment losses on its financial assets, it may negatively affect the firm’s value and change investors’ decisions. As for the second revision of SFAS No. 34, it did not reverse investors’ expectations of the negative effect of the aforementioned financial crisis on the financial industry in Taiwan.

Dans un contexte d'harmonisation comptable internationale visant à améliorer la qualité de l'information financière publiée par les groupes internationaux afin d'en assurer l'utilité, notre recherche doctorale a pour objet d'apporter une contribution à l'évaluation de l'utilité et de la comparabilité de l'information sectorielle. Cette recherche adopte une approche qualitative mono-sectorielle à travers l'étude du contenu des rapports de recommandation des analystes et des rapports annuels des grands groupes hôteliers internationaux, et une approche internationale à travers la comparaison des référentiels IAS/IFRS et US GAAP. Nous proposons en premier lieu d'étudier l'utilité de l'information sectorielle pour les analystes financiers à travers l'utilisation qu'ils en font dans leurs rapports et le lien de cette utilisation avec l'exactitude des prévisions qu'ils réalisent. Nous analysons ensuite l'évolution de la comparabilité de l'information sectorielle " normée " publiée par les groupes et la comparabilité de leurs pratiques de publication hors annexe. En raison de la diversité des pratiques de publication des firmes, l'utilité et la comparabilité de l'information sectorielle publiée par les groupes hôteliers internationaux demeurent perfectibles.