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Fair value accounting for liabilities: Presentation format of credit risk changes and individual information processing

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  • Lachmann, Maik
  • Stefani, Ulrike
  • Wöhrmann, Arnt

Abstract

International Accounting Standard 39 (IAS 39) and the Statement of Financial Accounting Standard 159 (SFAS 159) both require a firm to include adjustments to the fair values of its liabilities resulting from changes in its own credit risk in net income. Previous research confirms that including these gains and losses in net income can confuse financial statement users. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) therefore issued a revised standard for financial instruments, International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9. It requires that credit risk effects be presented in other comprehensive income (OCI) instead of net income. We use an experiment to investigate whether this difference in presentation affects knowledgeable nonprofessional investors and whether the presentation format effect depends on firm profitability. We find that participants are more likely to acquire the information on changes in credit risk if that information is included in OCI. The perceived importance of credit risk information for the evaluation of firm performance is only slightly lower under the OCI presentation format, and the risk of misinterpreting a credit risk gain is unaffected by the presentation format. However, the evaluation of overall firm performance is less biased if fair value gains are included in OCI. Moreover, information acquisition and the interaction of weighting and credit risk evaluation mediate the effect of presentation format on firm performance evaluation. Furthermore, we identify firm profitability as an important factor that influences the processing of information on credit risk changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Lachmann, Maik & Stefani, Ulrike & Wöhrmann, Arnt, 2015. "Fair value accounting for liabilities: Presentation format of credit risk changes and individual information processing," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 21-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:aosoci:v:41:y:2015:i:c:p:21-38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.aos.2014.08.001
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    1. Sebastian Kaumanns, 2019. "“Some fuzzy math”: relational information on debt value adjustments by managers and the financial press," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 12(2), pages 755-794, December.
    2. Martin Schmidt, 2018. "A Note on the Proprietary and Entity Perspectives in Financial Statements: The Implications for two Current Controversial Issues," Accounting in Europe, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 134-147, January.
    3. Pennington, Robin R. & Kelton, Andrea Seaton, 2016. "How much is enough? An investigation of nonprofessional investors information search and stopping rule use," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 47-62.
    4. Kelton, Andrea Seaton & Montague, Norma R., 2018. "The unintended consequences of uncertainty disclosures made by auditors and managers on nonprofessional investor judgments," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 44-55.
    5. Johannes Thesing & Patrick Velte, 2021. "Do fair value measurements affect accounting-based earnings quality? A literature review with a focus on corporate governance as moderator," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(7), pages 965-1004, September.
    6. Martin, Rachel, 2019. "Examination and implications of experimental research on investor perceptions," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 145-169.

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