IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/117182.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Accounting for leases and corporate investment

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Ciao-Wei
  • Correia, Maria
  • Urcan, Oktay

Abstract

We examine the real effects of lease capitalization rules (i.e., standards that require firms to capitalize finance leases) on corporate investment. We show that the introduction of these rules leads to a decrease in investment, which is more pronounced for firms with high reliance on leases. We posit and find that lease capitalization affects investment via a learning channel and a contracting channel. Regarding the first channel, we argue that managers identify areas of overinvestment and activities that should be discontinued or downsized because of the information they collect and analyze to comply with lease capitalization rules. Accordingly, we find that the effect of lease capitalization is stronger when learning opportunities are higher. Regarding the second channel, we argue that lease capitalization affects investment via its effect on contracts. Accordingly, we document an increase in the likelihood of covenant breaches and a stronger decline in investment for financially constrained firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Ciao-Wei & Correia, Maria & Urcan, Oktay, 2023. "Accounting for leases and corporate investment," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117182, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:117182
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/117182/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hart, Oliver D & Moore, John, 1988. "Incomplete Contracts and Renegotiation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(4), pages 755-785, July.
    2. Ely, Km, 1995. "Operating Lease Accounting And The Markets Assessment Of Equity Risk," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 397-415.
    3. Gallemore, John & Labro, Eva, 2015. "The importance of the internal information environment for tax avoidance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 149-167.
    4. Jennifer Altamuro & Rick Johnston & Shailendra (Shail) Pandit & Haiwen (Helen) Zhang, 2014. "Operating Leases and Credit Assessments," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(2), pages 551-580, June.
    5. 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).
    6. Dichev, Ilia D. & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2013. "Earnings quality: Evidence from the field," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 1-33.
    7. Bottasso, Anna & Conti, Maurizio & Sulis, Giovanni, 2017. "Firm dynamics and employment protection: Evidence from sectoral data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 35-53.
    8. Hans B. Christensen & Valeri V. Nikolaev, 2012. "Capital Versus Performance Covenants in Debt Contracts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 75-116, March.
    9. Bena, Jan & Ferreira, Miguel A & Matos, Pedro & Pires, Pedro, 2017. "Are foreign investors locusts? The long-term effects of foreign institutional ownership," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 122-146.
    10. Kausar, Asad & Shroff, Nemit & White, Hal, 2016. "Real effects of the audit choice," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 157-181.
    11. Aboody, D, 1996. "Recognition versus disclosure in the oil and gas industry," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34, pages 21-32.
    12. Badertscher, Brad & Shroff, Nemit & White, Hal D., 2013. "Externalities of public firm presence: Evidence from private firms' investment decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 682-706.
    13. Bushman, Robert & Chen, Qi & Engel, Ellen & Smith, Abbie, 2004. "Financial accounting information, organizational complexity and corporate governance systems," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 167-201, June.
    14. Lang, Larry & Ofek, Eli & Stulz, Rene M., 1996. "Leverage, investment, and firm growth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 3-29, January.
    15. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    16. Myerson, Roger B., 1982. "Optimal coordination mechanisms in generalized principal-agent problems," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 67-81, June.
    17. M. Harris & C. H. Kriebel & A. Raviv, 1982. "Asymmetric Information, Incentives and Intrafirm Resource Allocation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(6), pages 604-620, June.
    18. Nini, Greg & Smith, David C. & Sufi, Amir, 2009. "Creditor control rights and firm investment policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 400-420, June.
    19. Asquith, Paul & Beatty, Anne & Weber, Joseph, 2005. "Performance pricing in bank debt contracts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 101-128, December.
    20. Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2010. "The real effects of financial constraints: Evidence from a financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 470-487, September.
    21. Rajan, Raghuram G, 1992. "Insiders and Outsiders: The Choice between Informed and Arm's-Length Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1367-1400, September.
    22. Ryan Ball & Robert M. Bushman & Florin P. Vasvari, 2008. "The Debt‐Contracting Value of Accounting Information and Loan Syndicate Structure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 247-287, May.
    23. Haltiwanger, John & Scarpetta, Stefano & Schweiger, Helena, 2014. "Cross country differences in job reallocation: The role of industry, firm size and regulations," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 11-25.
    24. Nemit Shroff, 2017. "Corporate investment and changes in GAAP," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 1-63, March.
    25. Philippe Aghion & Patrick Bolton, 1992. "An Incomplete Contracts Approach to Financial Contracting," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 59(3), pages 473-494.
    26. Almeida, Heitor & Fos, Vyacheslav & Kronlund, Mathias, 2016. "The real effects of share repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(1), pages 168-185.
    27. Cascino, Stefano & Gassen, Joachim, 2015. "What drives the comparability effect of mandatory IFRS adoption?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57682, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    28. Lim, Steve C. & Mann, Steven C. & Mihov, Vassil T., 2017. "Do operating leases expand credit capacity? Evidence from borrowing costs and credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 100-114.
    29. Imhoff, E.A. & Thomas, J.K., 1988. "Economic Consequences Of Accounting Standards: The Lease Disclosure Rule Change," Papers fb-_88-36, Columbia - Graduate School of Business.
    30. DeFond, Mark & Hu, Xuesong & Hung, Mingyi & Li, Siqi, 2011. "The impact of mandatory IFRS adoption on foreign mutual fund ownership: The role of comparability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 240-258, April.
    31. Jorgenson, Dale W, 1971. "Econometric Studies of Investment Behavior: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 1111-1147, December.
    32. Lys, Thomas, 1984. "Mandated accounting changes and debt covenants : The case of oil and gas accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 39-65, April.
    33. John Asker & Joan Farre-Mensa & Alexander Ljungqvist, 2015. "Corporate Investment and Stock Market Listing: A Puzzle?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 342-390.
    34. Vicentiu M. Covrig & Mark L. Defond & Mingyi Hung, 2007. "Home Bias, Foreign Mutual Fund Holdings, and the Voluntary Adoption of International Accounting Standards," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 41-70, March.
    35. Banker, Rajiv D. & Byzalov, Dmitri & Chen, Lei (Tony), 2013. "Employment protection legislation, adjustment costs and cross-country differences in cost behavior," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 111-127.
    36. Imhoff, Eugene Jr. & Thomas, Jacob K., 1988. "Economic consequences of accounting standards : The lease disclosure rule change," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 277-310, December.
    37. Christopher Polk & Paola Sapienza, 2009. "The Stock Market and Corporate Investment: A Test of Catering Theory," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 187-217, January.
    38. Huseyin Gulen & Mihai Ion, 2016. "Editor's Choice Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 523-564.
    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. Sehwa Kim & Seil Kim & Anya V. Kleymenova & Rongchen Li, 2023. "Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL) Standard and Banks' Information Production," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-063, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

    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. Nemit Shroff, 2017. "Corporate investment and changes in GAAP," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 1-63, March.
    2. Lee, Edward & Pappas, Kostas & Xu, Alice Liang, 2020. "Foreign Lenders’ adoption of performance pricing provisions in syndicated loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    3. Kim, Tae-Nyun & Xie, Yutong, 2023. "Off-balance sheet disclosure and leverage adjustment speed," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    4. Dean Hanlon, 2019. "Mandatory accounting change and debt covenant violation: Additional evidence from SFAS 150," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 44(3), pages 355-387, August.
    5. Begoña Giner & Francisca Pardo, 2018. "The Value Relevance of Operating Lease Liabilities: Economic Effects of IFRS 16," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 28(4), pages 496-511, December.
    6. Anne Beatty & Lin Cheng & Tzachi Zach, 2019. "Nonrecurring Items in Debt Contracts," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 139-167, March.
    7. Michael R. Roberts, 2014. "The Role of Dynamic Renegotiation and Asymmetric Information in Financial Contracting," NBER Working Papers 20484, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Baylis, Richard M. & Burnap, Peter & Clatworthy, Mark A. & Gad, Mahmoud A. & Pong, Christopher K.M., 2017. "Private lenders’ demand for audit," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 78-97.
    9. Ma, Zhiming & Stice, Derrald & Williams, Christopher, 2019. "The effect of bank monitoring on public bond terms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(2), pages 379-396.
    10. Freudenberg, Felix & Imbierowicz, Björn & Saunders, Anthony & Steffen, Sascha, 2017. "Covenant violations and dynamic loan contracting," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 540-565.
    11. Nikolaev, Valeri V., 2018. "Scope for renegotiation in private debt contracts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 270-301.
    12. 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.
    13. De George, Emmanuel T. & Li, Xi & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2016. "A review of the IFRS adoption literature," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 67599, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Emmanuel T. De George & Xi Li & Lakshmanan Shivakumar, 2016. "A review of the IFRS adoption literature," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 898-1004, September.
    15. Roberts, Michael R. & Sufi, Amir, 2009. "Renegotiation of financial contracts: Evidence from private credit agreements," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 159-184, August.
    16. Ma, Mark (Shuai) & Thomas, Wayne B., 2023. "Economic consequences of operating lease recognition," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2).
    17. Jung Koo Kang & Christopher D. Williams & Regina Wittenberg-Moerman, 2021. "CDS trading and nonrelationship lending dynamics," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 258-292, March.
    18. Kusano, Masaki, 2020. "Does recognition versus disclosure affect risk relevance? Evidence from finance leases in Japan," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    19. Kusano, Masaki & Sakuma, Yoshihiro & Tsunogaya, Noriyuki, 2016. "Economic consequences of changes in the lease accounting standard: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 73-88.
    20. Christensen, Hans B. & Macciocchi, Daniele & Morris, Arthur & Nikolaev, Valeri V., 2022. "Financial shocks to lenders and the composition of financial covenants," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    lease; investment; disclosure; real effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ehl:lserod:117182. 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: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    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.