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Non-discretionary conservatism: Evidence and implications

Author

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  • Lawrence, Alastair
  • Sloan, Richard
  • Sun, Yuan

Abstract

A large body of accounting research finds that various contracting incentives lead managers to engage in conservative accounting practices. We extend existing research by modeling the impact of extant accounting rules on conservative accounting. Accounting rules typically require assets to be written down when their fair values drop sufficiently below their book values. We document evidence of the resulting non-discretionary conservatism and show that it appears to explain some of the results from previous research on contracting incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Lawrence, Alastair & Sloan, Richard & Sun, Yuan, 2013. "Non-discretionary conservatism: Evidence and implications," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 112-133.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaecon:v:56:y:2013:i:2:p:112-133
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2013.10.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    8. 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.
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    10. James P. Ryans, 2021. "Textual classification of SEC comment letters," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 37-80, March.
    11. Urooj Khan & Alvis K. Lo, 2019. "Bank Lending Standards and Borrower Accounting Conservatism," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(11), pages 5337-5359, November.
    12. Badia, Marc & Duro, Miguel & Penalva, Fernando & Ryan, Stephen, 2017. "Conditionally conservative fair value measurements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 75-98.
    13. Marc Badia & Miguel Duro & Fernando Penalva & Stephen G. Ryan, 2021. "Debiasing the Measurement of Conditional Conservatism," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 1221-1259, September.
    14. Laurion, Henry, 2020. "Implications of Non-GAAP earnings for real activities and accounting choices," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1).
    15. Douglas R. Ayres & John L. Campbell & James A. Chyz & Jonathan E. Shipman, 2019. "Do financial analysts compel firms to make accounting decisions? Evidence from goodwill impairments," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1214-1251, December.
    16. Zhimin (Jimmy) Yu, 2022. "Financial Report Readability and Accounting Conservatism," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-9, October.
    17. Bornemann, Tobias, 2018. "Tax avoidance and accounting conservatism," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 232, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    18. Andrei Filip & Gerald J. Lobo & Luc Paugam, 2021. "Managerial discretion to delay the recognition of goodwill impairment: The role of enforcement," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 36-69, January.
    19. Luc Paugam & Olivier Ramond, 2015. "Effect of Impairment-Testing Disclosures on the Cost of Equity Capital," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5-6), pages 583-618, June.
    20. Walid Guermazi, 2023. "International financial reporting standards adoption in the European Union and earnings conservatism: a review of empirical research," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(2), pages 200-211, June.
    21. Paul André & Andrei Filip & Luc Paugam, 2015. "The Effect of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Conditional Conservatism in Europe," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3-4), pages 482-514, April.
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    24. Andrei Filip & Thomas Jeanjean & Luc Paugam, 2015. "Using Real Activities to Avoid Goodwill Impairment Losses: Evidence and Effect on Future Performance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3-4), pages 515-554, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Non-discretionary conservatism; Conditional conservatism; Book-to-market; Asset impairment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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