我國私立綜合大學會計操縱的可能性－從少子化 對學校財務衝擊觀點探討

The Possibility on Accounting Manipulation of Private Universities in Taiwan – Study of the Financial Impact From Low Fertility

少子化是台灣各私立綜合大學近年來面對最嚴峻的挑戰，學生來源減少將直接衝擊其學雜費收入。為維繫學校經營，爭取政府補助款或其他收入，並符合各項評鑑要求以維持一定聲譽，是各私立綜合大學極為重視的財務策略。然而私立綜合大學無論向教育部申請調漲學雜費或爭取補助款等其他收入，皆與學校財務條件極為密切關聯，是否可能為符合相關條件而進行會計操縱？本文以99至104學年度各私立綜合大學為對象，並針對註冊人數顯著減少的後期（102－104學年）與前期（99－101學年）比較，雖未發現少子化因素對私立大學會計操縱的顯著影響，但是為排除其他變數的可能干擾，經額外測試結果發現，在少子化的挑戰下，各私綜合大學會計操縱程度後期與前期有所差別，且就財務條件、監督特性或組織規模而言，後期均較前期顯著，顯示少子化對學校財務仍有一定之衝擊。

Low fertility is the biggest challenge facing Taiwanese private universities in recent years because the tuition revenue is reducing given fewer students. To cope with the challenge, many private universities are urging government subsidies or raising tuition to maintain the operation. One critical factor to win the government subsidies or apply for tuition hikes is the financial condition of the universities. We use discretionary accrual to study whether private universities will take the action of accounting manipulation in response to the reduction in tuition revenues. The test period is the academic year of 2010-2015. Empirical results show that the average of discretionary accrual is different in the academic year of 2013-2015 when registered students significantly decreased, compared to that of 2010-2012. The impact from either financial conditions, supervisory characteristics or organization scale to the possibility of accounting manipulation of private universities are more significant in the academic year of 2013-2015, compared to that of prior period.