研發支出的黑暗面：以費用分類移轉規避商譽減損之證據

The Dark Side of R&D: Evidence of Classification Shifting to Avoid Goodwill Impairments

現行會計準則允許企業將外購商譽與內部自行產生無形資產相關支出共同反映於財務報表，因而可能提供管理階層進行盈餘管理之誘因。本研究發現，持有外購商譽之企業，會策略性地將部分核心營業費用，包括銷貨成本及銷售、一般與管理費用，重分類為研究發展支出，以規避商譽減損之認列。然而，此種分類移轉並未提升外購商譽之經濟價值，亦未實質降低企業之營業成本。進一步分析顯示，外購商譽與研發支出揭露呈顯著正向關聯，且揭露研發支出的企業，其商譽減損認列時間較為延後。此外，疑似由核心費用重分類而成之研發支出，相較於一般研發支出，未來績效波動性較低，且市場給予較低之評價。整體而言，本研究顯示，企業透過將核心營業費用分類為研發支出，雖可在會計上延後商譽減損之認列，但無法改變商譽之經濟實質。

Current accounting standards allow purchased goodwill to be offset by expenses related to internally generated intangible assets. We find that firms with purchased goodwill strategically misclassify core expenses—specifically cost of goods sold (COGS) and selling, general, and administrative expenses (SG&A)—as research and development (R&D) spending to avoid recognizing goodwill impairments. However, this misclassification does not preserve the economic asset quality of purchased goodwill nor reduce operating expenses effectively. Further analysis reveals a positive association between purchased goodwill and the disclosure of R&D spending. Firms disclosing R&D expenditures exhibit more delayed recognition of goodwill impairments. Additionally, R&D spending that is likely misclassified shows lower variability in future performance and commands a lower market valuation compared to ordinary R&D spending. Overall, our findings suggest that shifting core expenses to R&D can delay goodwill impairment recognition in accounting terms but fails to reflect the underlying economic reality.