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Foreign Currency Exposure of Multinational Firms: Accounting Measures and Market Valuation

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  • ELI BARTOV

Abstract

. The accounting method in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 8 for restatement of a foreign operation's financial statements denominated in a foreign currency into the parent's currency equivalents for inclusion in the parent company's financial statements was severely criticized by market participants and managers. Its replacement, SFAS No. 52, represented an attempt to improve on the methods of SFAS No. 8. This study examines two questions: did SFAS No. 8 produce relevant information for valuing US multinational firms, and are the results reported under SFAS No. 52 more valuation relevant than those reported under SFAS No. 8? Valuation relevance is studied because the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has stated that relevance is an important criterion for choosing among alternative accounting methods. Considered collectively, the results suggest that the rules in SFAS No. 8 produced a poor accounting measure for valuing US multinational firms, and that the introduction of SFAS No. 52 has resulted in a significant improvement in the valuation relevance of the accounting numbers associated with the restatement of a foreign operation's financial statements. However, this improvement applies only to the subset of firms that designated a foreign currency as their functional currency (i.e., switched to the current†rate method) and not to firms that designated the dollar as their functional currency (i.e., as if they still reported under SFAS No. 8).

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  • Eli Bartov, 1997. "Foreign Currency Exposure of Multinational Firms: Accounting Measures and Market Valuation," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 623-652, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:coacre:v:14:y:1997:i:4:p:623-652
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1911-3846.1997.tb00544.x
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    2. Paul E. Holt, 2013. "Critical Elements of Foreign Currency Translation: A Worldwide Informational and Accounting Problem," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 5(2), pages 56-64, November.
    3. Leslie A. Robinson & Phillip C. Stocken, 2013. "Location of Decision Rights Within Multinational Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 1261-1297, December.
    4. Takashi Obinata, 2002. "Concept and Relevance of Income," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-171, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    5. Wendy Rotenberg, 2013. "Mitigation of U.S. Home Bias in the Valuation of Canadian Natural Resource Firms: Choice of Reporting and Transaction Currency," Multinational Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, vol. 17(3-4), pages 201-241, September.
    6. Radhakrishnan, Suresh & Tsang, Albert, 2011. "The valuation-relevance of the foreign translation adjustment: The effect of barriers to entry," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 431-458.
    7. Mohammad S. Bazaz & David L. Senteney, 2001. "Value Relevance of Unrealized Foreign Currency Translation: Gains and Losses," American Journal of Business, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 16(2), pages 55-62.
    8. Chung Y. Peter & Zhou Zhong-guo, 2012. "The Pricing of Time-Varying Exchange Rate Risk in the Stock Market: A Nonparametric Approach," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 1-33, January.
    9. Svetalna Vlady, 2008. "The value relevance of the foreign currency translation differences : a study of multinational oil and gas companies in Australia," Revista Tinerilor Economisti (The Young Economists Journal), University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 1(10), pages 52-63, April.
    10. Paul E. Holt, 2012. "Some Effects of Alternative Foreign Currency Translation Methodologies on two Short-Term Liquidity Ratios," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 3(4), pages 645-651, March.
    11. Marisa Agostini, 2014. "Presentation of Other Comprehensive Income: Is there a relationship with the total amount, the sign and the volatility of such accounting items?," Working Papers 16, Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    12. John Hughes & Jing Liu & Mingshan Zhang, 2004. "Valuation and Accounting for Inflation and Foreign Exchange," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 731-754, September.

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