頻繁變動資產減損認列對盈餘品質之影響：論公司治理的角色

Do Rapid Reversals of Prior-Quarter Asset Impairment Recognition and the Strength of Corporate Governance Influence Earnings Quality?

本研究探討企業頻繁變動資產減損認列對盈餘品質之影響。首先，檢測同一年度不同季別同時有認列減損及迴轉（視為變動組）的公司其盈餘品質是否高於同一年度中僅認列資產減損或減損迴轉（視為未變動組）的公司。其次，進一步將公司按照治理機制好壞劃分兩組，探討前述頻繁變動資產減損認列對盈餘品質的影響，在不同的公司治理條件是否有所不同。本研究以裁決性應計數絕對值作為盈餘品質的衡量，實證結果發現，頻繁變動前期資產減損的公司（變動組），相較於同一年度僅認列減損或迴轉之公司（未變動組），有較高的盈餘品質。此外，前述變動組有較佳盈餘品質的結論僅存在公司治理較佳的樣本，而在公司治理較差的樣本，變動組與未變動組的盈餘品質並無顯著差異。

This study primarily explores the influence of rapid and frequent reversals ofprior-quarter asset impairment recognition on the earnings quality of firms. Firmsthat recognize asset impairment losses in a quarter and reverse them in thesubsequent quarters of the same year and firms that recognize impairment reversalsin a quarter and recognize impairment losses in the subsequent quarters areexamined.We use the absolute level of abnormal accruals as a proxy for earnings qualityand compare the earnings quality of firms that reverse asset impairment losses orloss reversals recognized in the prior quarter of the year (the changed group) withthe earnings quality of firms that do not (the unchanged group). The empiricalresults reveal that the changed group has lower abnormal accruals than those of the unchanged group, implying that rapid and frequent reversals of prior-quarter assetimpairment recognition are used for reflecting changes in asset values rather thanearnings manipulation. The changed group has higher earnings quality relative tothe unchanged group.We classified the sample firms into two subgroups according to the strength oftheir corporate governance. We find that the aforementioned higher earningsquality in the changed group exists only in the strong governance subgroup. Thisfinding supports the hypothesis that strong corporate governance guarantees rapidand frequent reversals of prior-quarter asset impairment recognition for timelyreflection of asset value changes.