國際財務報告準則第16號對財務報表可比較性的影響

The Effect of IFRS 16 on Financial Statement Comparability

本研究旨在探討國際財務報告準則第16號的實施對財務報表可比較性的影響。國際財務報告準則第16號刪除了以往允許承租人在符合營業租賃的情況下不需將相關租賃資產與租賃負債認列於資產負債表之規定。國際財務會計準則委員會預期在消除資產負債表外融資行為後，新準則的實施將可改善資訊透明度、提升財務報表可比較性。本研究首先針對全體市場財務報表可比較性是否因國際財務報告準則第16號的實施而有所提升進行測試；其次，將樣本進一步區分為受準則影響之公司及未受準則影響之公司，探討不同類別之公司財務報表可比較性是否因國際財務報告準則第16號的實施而有所提升。實證結果顯示，受新準則影響之公司財務報表可比較性在準則實施後確實較未受影響之公司有所提升。

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of International Financial Reporting Standard 16 (hereafter IFRS 16) on financial statement comparability. IFRS 16 removes the classification of leases as operating leases for the lessee. This classification allows the lessee need not recognize a leased asset and associated liability on its financial statement. International Accounting Standards Board expects IFRS 16 may increase information transparency and improve financial statement comparability by prohibiting off-balance sheet financing. This study first examines whether the adoption of IFRS 16 effectively improves financial statement comparability. Next, the sample is further divided into companies affected by the standard and companies not affected by the standard, and explores whether financial statement comparability of different types of companies has been improved due to the implementation of IFRS 16. Empirical results show that financial statement comparability of companies affected by the new standards has indeed improved compared with unaffected companies after the implementation of IFRS 16.