IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jaecon/v48y2009i1p54-68.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic consequences of firms' depreciation method choice: Evidence from capital investments

Author

Listed:
  • Jackson, Scott B.
  • (Kelvin) Liu, Xiaotao
  • Cecchini, Mark

Abstract

This study identifies several interrelated reasons why firms' depreciation method choice is likely to influence managers' capital investment decisions. We find that firms that use accelerated depreciation make significantly larger capital investments than firms that use straight-line depreciation. Further, we find that there has been a migration away from accelerated depreciation to straight-line depreciation over the past two decades. Firms that make such accounting changes make smaller capital investments in the post-change periods than in the pre-change periods. These results suggest that a choice made for external financial reporting purposes influences managers' capital investment decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jackson, Scott B. & (Kelvin) Liu, Xiaotao & Cecchini, Mark, 2009. "Economic consequences of firms' depreciation method choice: Evidence from capital investments," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 54-68, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaecon:v:48:y:2009:i:1:p:54-68
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165-4101(09)00031-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Holthausen, Robert W., 1981. "Evidence on the effect of bond covenants and management compensation contracts on the choice of accounting techniques: The case of the depreciation switch-back," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 73-109, March.
    2. Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman, 1991. "Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1039-1061.
    3. Leftwich, Richard, 1981. "Evidence of the impact of mandatory changes in accounting principles on corporate loan agreements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 3-36, March.
    4. Leuz, C & Verrecchia, RE, 2000. "The economic consequences of increased disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38, pages 91-124.
    5. Holthausen, Robert W. & Leftwich, Richard W., 1983. "The economic consequences of accounting choice implications of costly contracting and monitoring," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 77-117, April.
    6. Bowen, Robert M. & DuCharme, Larry & Shores, D., 1995. "Stakeholders' implicit claims and accounting method choice," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 255-295, December.
    7. Dechow, Patricia M. & Sloan, Richard G., 1991. "Executive incentives and the horizon problem : An empirical investigation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 51-89, March.
    8. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Patrick Puhani, 2000. "The Heckman Correction for Sample Selection and Its Critique," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 53-68, February.
    10. Jeong†Bon Kim & Richard Chung & Michael Firth, 2003. "Auditor Conservatism, Asymmetric Monitoring, and Earnings Management," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 323-359, June.
    11. Shin, Hyun-Han & Kim, Yong H., 2002. "Agency costs and efficiency of business capital investment: evidence from quarterly capital expenditures," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 139-158, March.
    12. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    13. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2005. "The economic implications of corporate financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 3-73, December.
    14. Kimberly Moreno & Thomas Kida & James F. Smith, 2002. "The Impact of Affective Reactions on Risky Decision Making in Accounting Contexts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 1331-1349, December.
    15. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1996. "The Capital Budgeting Process: Incentives and Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(4), pages 1139-1174, September.
    16. Schall, Lawrence D & Sundem, Gary L & Geijsbeek, William R, Jr, 1978. "Survey and Analysis of Capital Budgeting Methods," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 33(1), pages 281-287, March.
    17. Barro, Robert J, 1990. "The Stock Market and Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 3(1), pages 115-131.
    18. Fields, Thomas D. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Vincent, Linda, 2001. "Empirical research on accounting choice," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 255-307, September.
    19. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2001. "The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 187-243, May.
    20. McConnell, John J. & Muscarella, Chris J., 1985. "Corporate capital expenditure decisions and the market value of the firm," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 399-422, September.
    21. Heath, Chip & Fennema, M. G., 1996. "Mental Depreciation and Marginal Decision Making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 95-108, November.
    22. Okada, Erica Mina, 2001. "Trade-Ins, Mental Accounting, and Product Replacement Decisions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 27(4), pages 433-446, March.
    23. Lang, M & Lundholm, R, 1993. "Cross-Sectional Determinants Of Analyst Ratings Of Corporate Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 246-271.
    24. Kaplan, Robert S & Roll, Richard, 1972. "Investor Evaluation of Accounting Information: Some Empirical Evidence," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(2), pages 225-257, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Li-jun Zhao & Zheng-wei Wang, 2016. "The Dark Side of the Chinese Stock Market: Managerial Rent-Seeking through Equity Incentives," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(4), pages 156-165, April.
    2. Buso, Marco & Marty, Frederic & Tran, Phuong Tra, 2017. "Public-private partnerships from budget constraints: Looking for debt hiding?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 56-84.
    3. Ackermann, Hagen & Fochmann, Martin, 2014. "The effect of straight-line and accelerated depreciation rules on risky investment decisions: An experimental study," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 158, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    4. Morteza Doosti Seyyed Shekari & Babak Jamshidinavid, 2017. "Study of Information Asymmetry Effect on Price Synchronism in Tehran Stock Exchange," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(4), pages 343-346.
    5. Araceli Mora & Martin Walker, 2015. "The implications of research on accounting conservatism for accounting standard setting," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(5), pages 620-650, August.
    6. García Lara, Juan Manuel & García Osma, Beatriz & Penalva, Fernando, 2016. "Accounting conservatism and firm investment efficiency," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 221-238.
    7. Liu, Sun, 2019. "The impact of ownership structure on conditional and unconditional conservatism in China: Some new evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 49-68.
    8. repec:mth:ijafr8:v:9:y:2019:i:1:p:89-121 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. John R. Graham & Michelle Hanlon & Terry Shevlin, 2011. "Real Effects of Accounting Rules: Evidence from Multinational Firms’ Investment Location and Profit Repatriation Decisions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 137-185, March.
    10. Thomas G. Canace & Scott B. Jackson & Tao Ma, 2018. "R&D investments, capital expenditures, and earnings thresholds," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 265-295, March.
    11. Tang, Meili & Wang, Yu, 2022. "Tax incentives and corporate social responsibility: The role of cash savings from accelerated depreciation policy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    12. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    13. Beatriz García & Juan M. Garcia Lara & Fenando Penalva, 2010. "Accounting Conservatism and Firm Investment Efficiency," Working Papers 1004, Departament Empresa, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, revised Jan 2010.
    14. Roychowdhury, Sugata & Shroff, Nemit & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2019. "The effects of financial reporting and disclosure on corporate investment: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2).
    15. Zeng, Jing & Chan, Kam C., 2023. "The tax incentives and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of an accelerated depreciation tax policy for fixed assets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    16. Jackson, Scott B. & Rodgers, Theodore C. & Tuttle, Brad, 2010. "The effect of depreciation method choice on asset selling prices," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 757-774, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:mth:ijafr8:v:9:y:2019:i:1:p:89-121 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Jackson, Scott B. & Rodgers, Theodore C. & Tuttle, Brad, 2010. "The effect of depreciation method choice on asset selling prices," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 757-774, November.
    3. Jackson, Scott B. & Keune, Timothy M. & Salzsieder, Leigh, 2013. "Debt, equity, and capital investment," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 291-310.
    4. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    5. Malcolm Baker & Richard S. Ruback & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2004. "Behavioral Corporate Finance: A Survey," NBER Working Papers 10863, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Roychowdhury, Sugata, 2006. "Earnings management through real activities manipulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 335-370, December.
    7. Richard Chung & Bryan Byung-Hee Lee & Woo-Jong Lee & Byungcherl Charlie Sohn, 2016. "Do Managers Withhold Good News from Labor Unions?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(1), pages 46-68, January.
    8. Boone, Jeff P. & Khurana, Inder K. & Raman, K.K., 2009. "Litigation reform, accounting discretion, and the cost of equity," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 80-94.
    9. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, December.
    10. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2005. "The economic implications of corporate financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 3-73, December.
    11. Sureka, Riya & Kumar, Satish & Colombage, Sisira & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul, 2022. "Five decades of research on capital budgeting – A systematic review and future research agenda," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    12. Chu, Hsunchi & Liao, Shuling, 2010. "Buying while expecting to sell: The economic psychology of online resale," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(9-10), pages 1073-1078, September.
    13. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    14. C. Benetti, 2010. "Economic implications of corporate financial reporting in brazilian and european financial markets," Post-Print halshs-00534767, HAL.
    15. Godsell, David & Huang, Kelly & Lao, Brent, 2023. "Managers’ rank & file employee coordination costs and real activities manipulation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    16. S. P. Kothari & Charles Wasley, 2019. "Commemorating the 50‐Year Anniversary of Ball and Brown (1968): The Evolution of Capital Market Research over the Past 50 Years," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 1117-1159, December.
    17. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    18. Roychowdhury, Sugata & Shroff, Nemit & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2019. "The effects of financial reporting and disclosure on corporate investment: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2).
    19. Iatridis, George Emmanuel, 2016. "Financial reporting language in financial statements: Does pessimism restrict the potential for managerial opportunism?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-17.
    20. Nemit Shroff, 2017. "Corporate investment and changes in GAAP," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 1-63, March.
    21. Frank D. Hodge & Roger D. Martin & Jamie H. Pratt, 2006. "Audit Qualifications of Income†Decreasing Accounting Choices," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(2), pages 369-394, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jaecon:v:48:y:2009:i:1:p:54-68. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jae .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.