穩健會計與盈餘持續性－－考慮不同組成的穩健性指標

Accounting Conservatism and Earnings Persistence: A Consideration of Conservatism Index Components

本文以評價攸關的觀點，檢視會計穩健與盈餘持續性的關係。實證結果顯示，公司的盈餘穩健性愈高，盈餘持續性愈低且盈餘回復速度較快。然而，當會計政策較偏向中立者時，不論盈餘持續性或盈餘回復速度均表現最佳。此外，應計項目組成在穩健會計所扮演的角色亦獲得支持，且當應計項目組成的穩健性趨於中立性時，應計項目資訊確實較現金流量表現出較高的盈餘持續性，而隨著穩健程度提升，此關係則會有反轉的現象。最後，目前IASB與FASB共同組成的會計準則調和委員會提到穩健原則與中立性的品質具有衝突，因此在財務會計準則觀念性架構中不再包括穩健性或審慎性的資訊特性，而本文的實證結果與目前準則制定的目標一致。

This paper explores the relationship between accounting conservatism and earnings persistence from the point of view in valuation relevance. The empirical tests generally support our hypothesis that accounting conservatism is negatively related to earnings persistence and positively related to mean reversion. Moreover, we investigate whether earnings persistence can reflect the information about accounting conservatism in the accrual and cash flow components. The empirical results show that accounting conservatism brings about substantial improvements in accrual components, and is negatively related to earnings persistence. The IASB and the FASB recently developed a common Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, conservatism tends to conflict with neutrality. Accordingly, this framework does not include conservatism or prudence as desirable qualities of financial reporting information. This outcome is consistent with the objectives of the joint FASB/IASB projects.