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Conservatism, disclosure and the cost of equity capital

Author

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  • Tracy C Artiach

    (School of Accountancy, QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia)

  • Peter M Clarkson

    (UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada)

Abstract

This study seeks insights into the economic consequences of accounting conservatism by examining the relation between conservatism and cost of equity capital. Appealing to the analytical and empirical literatures, we posit an inverse relation. Importantly, we also posit that the strength of the relation is conditional on the firm’s information environment, being the strongest for firms with high information asymmetry and the weakest (potentially negligible) for firms with low information asymmetry. Based on a sample of US-listed entities, we find, as predicted, an inverse relation between conservatism and the cost of equity capital, but further, that this relation is diminished for firms with low information asymmetry environments. This evidence indicates that there are economic benefits associated with the adoption of conservative reporting practices and leads us to conclude that conservatism has a positive role in accounting principles and practices, despite its increasing rejection by accounting standard setters.

Suggested Citation

  • Tracy C Artiach & Peter M Clarkson, 2014. "Conservatism, disclosure and the cost of equity capital," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 39(2), pages 293-314, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:39:y:2014:i:2:p:293-314
    DOI: 10.1177/0312896213481367
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. 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.
    3. Schreder, Max, 2018. "Idiosyncratic information and the cost of equity capital: A meta-analytic review of the literature," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 142-172.
    4. Khalifa, Maha & Othman, Hakim Ben & Hussainey, Khaled, 2018. "The effect of ex ante and ex post conservatism on the cost of equity capital: A quantile regression approach for MENA countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 239-255.
    5. Stacey Beaumont & Raluca Ratiu & David Reeb & Glenn Boyle & Philip Brown & Alexander Szimayer & Raymond Silva Rosa & David Hillier & Patrick McColgan & Athanasios Tsekeris & Bryan Howieson & Zoltan Ma, 2016. "Comments on Shan and Walter: ‘Towards a Set of Design Principles for Executive Compensation Contracts’," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 52(4), pages 685-771, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Conservatism; cost of equity capital; disclosure; information risk; signalling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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