我國企業盈餘穩健特性之研究

An Investigation of Conservatism Accounting in Taiwan

在運用Basu（1997）的盈餘時效性不對稱模型，同時也利用了跨國性的研究資料之後，會計學者認為法律制度分類（習慣法vs. 成文法）與誘因環境，是造成盈餘穩健程度影響的二項決定性因素。參照相同的研究模式，本研究探討我國企業盈餘的穩健特性。研究結果顯示，我國企業早期（1981年～1994年）的會計盈餘的確並未具備穩健特性，這個結果與過去傳統文獻上依法律制度分類與誘因環境對盈餘穩健程度影響的主張相同。換言之，屬於成文法體系且基本上強調人際關係網路的我國，企業的會計盈餘並不具備穩健特性。然而，隨著我國資本市場的成熟與發展，本研究發現，臺灣企業近期的會計盈餘已經具備了穩健原則的特性。本研究相信，藉由臺灣的現象與證據，過去會計學者進行跨國性比較的主張與結論，可能會隨著各個國家資本市場的成熟而有明顯的改變。此外，我們也利用Beaver and Ryan （2000）的模型進行額外的測試，也得到一致的證據。最後，在控制企業的經營績效後，本研究發現衡量債權人與股東潛在利益衝突的代理變數中，營運不確定性及股利支付水準與盈餘穩健程度的變化具顯著關聯性，但負債比率的解釋力並不顯著。

The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether accounting earningsof Taiwanese firms possess the conservatism property, where conservatism isoperationalized using Basu’s (1997) model. In addition, this study also examineswhether accounting conservatism could mitigate potential conflicts betweenbondholders and shareholders. The empirical results indicate that during thesample period of 1981-2003, accounting earnings did not show the property ofconservatism in early years, but they become conservative from 1994 on. That meansthe traditional view on the effect of law dichotomous (i.e., common law versuscode law) and incentives on earnings conservatism around the world might not beproper for the emerging market that are evolving to a well-developed one. As to theeffect of bondholder-shareholder conflict, this study finds that, after controlling forfirm performance, accounting conservatism plays a role in mitigating bondholdershareholderconflicts even in a country with code law and guanxi-based networks, suchas Taiwan.