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Effects of accounting conservatism on investment efficiency and innovation

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  • Laux, Volker
  • Ray, Korok

Abstract

We study how biases in financial reporting affect managers' incentives to develop innovative projects and to make appropriate investment decisions. Conservative reporting practices impose stricter verification standards for recognizing good news, and reduce the chance that risky innovations will lead to favorable future earnings reports. Holding all else constant, more conservative reporting therefore weakens the manager's incentive to work on innovative ideas, consistent with informal arguments in the extant literature. However, all else does not stay constant because the manager's pay plan will change in response to changes in the accounting system. We show that under optimal contracting, more conservative accounting does not stifle innovation in organizations, but rather increases incentives for innovation, as long as conservatism reduces the risk of an overstatement.

Suggested Citation

  • Laux, Volker & Ray, Korok, 2020. "Effects of accounting conservatism on investment efficiency and innovation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaecon:v:70:y:2020:i:1:s0165410120300215
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2020.101319
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ilona Babenko & Benjamin Bennett & John M Bizjak & Jeffrey L Coles & Jason J Sandvik, 2023. "Clawback Provisions and Firm Risk," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 191-239.
    2. Dongying Du & Xiaojian Tang & Huaiming Wang & Joseph H. Zhang & Stephanie Tsui & Dongjie Lin, 2022. "CEO organizational identification and corporate innovation investment," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 4185-4217, September.
    3. Yi Shen & Qingsong Ruan, 2022. "Accounting Conservatism, R&D Manipulation, and Corporate Innovation: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-25, July.
    4. Felix Zhiyu Feng & Wenyu Wang & Yufeng Wu & Gaoqing Zhang, 2023. "Ignorance Is Bliss: The Screening Effect of (Noisy) Information," Papers 2302.11128, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2023.
    5. Sumiyana Sumiyana & Ainun Na’im & Firdaus Kurniawan & Albertus H. L. Nugroho, 2023. "Earnings management and financial distress or soundness determining CEOs’ future over- and under-investment decisions," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Chao Chin-Fang & Yi-Mien Lin & Teng-Shih Wang, 2023. "Effects of financial flexibility value and accounting conservatism on investment: evidence from mispricing," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 47(3), pages 690-706, September.
    7. Gong, Cynthia M. & Gong, Pu & Jiang, Mengting, 2023. "Corporate financialization and investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

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