IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/advacc/v34y2016icp41-54.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do firms follow GAAP when they record share repurchases?

Author

Listed:
  • Banyi, Monica
  • Caplan, Dennis

Abstract

This paper examines U.S. firms' accounting for share repurchases and the accounting choice provided to Delaware-incorporated firms between the treasury and retirement methods. This accounting choice does not affect income, cash flows, or net assets, but it nevertheless affects financial reporting transparency and the allocation of equity between retained earnings and contributed capital. According to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the accounting choice to record share repurchases should reflect management's intended disposition of the repurchased shares. We compare characteristics of Delaware-incorporated treasury and retirement firms and find that the choice between the two accounting methods is not always consistent with GAAP, but neither is it random; rather, this choice is related to a number of firm characteristics including firm growth, industry membership, trading exchange, and price–earnings ratio. We also find that a firm's accounting method for share repurchases is associated with a firm's propensity to make future share repurchases.

Suggested Citation

  • Banyi, Monica & Caplan, Dennis, 2016. "Do firms follow GAAP when they record share repurchases?," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 41-54.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:advacc:v:34:y:2016:i:c:p:41-54
    DOI: 10.1016/j.adiac.2016.07.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0882611016300992
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.adiac.2016.07.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2001. "Disappearing Dividends: Changing Firm Characteristics Or Lower Propensity To Pay?," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 14(1), pages 67-79, March.
    2. Gerard Hoberg & Nagpurnanand R. Prabhala, 2009. "Disappearing Dividends, Catering, and Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 79-116, January.
    3. Thomas W. Bates & Kathleen M. Kahle & René M. Stulz, 2009. "Why Do U.S. Firms Hold So Much More Cash than They Used To?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(5), pages 1985-2021, October.
    4. Clifford P. Stephens & Michael S. Weisbach, 1998. "Actual Share Reacquisitions in Open-Market Repurchase Programs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(1), pages 313-333, February.
    5. Min Teng & Toyohiko Hachiya, 2011. "The Impact of Regulatory Reform on Stock Repurchases: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 1(3), pages 1-11.
    6. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    7. Laurie Simon Bagwell & John B. Shoven, 1988. "Share Repurchases and Acquisitions: An Analysis of Which Firms Participate," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Takeovers: Causes and Consequences, pages 191-220, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Edward C. Norton & Hua Wang & Chunrong Ai, 2004. "Computing interaction effects and standard errors in logit and probit models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(2), pages 154-167, June.
    9. Holthausen, Robert W. & Leftwich, Richard W., 1983. "The economic consequences of accounting choice implications of costly contracting and monitoring," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 77-117, April.
    10. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J., 2009. "Corporate Payout Policy," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 3(2–3), pages 95-287, April.
    11. Hribar, Paul & Jenkins, Nicole Thorne & Johnson, W. Bruce, 2006. "Stock repurchases as an earnings management device," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1-2), pages 3-27, April.
    12. Grinblatt, Mark S. & Masulis, Ronald W. & Titman, Sheridan, 1984. "The valuation effects of stock splits and stock dividends," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 461-490, December.
    13. Banyi, Monica L. & Dyl, Edward A. & Kahle, Kathleen M., 2008. "Errors in estimating share repurchases," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 460-474, September.
    14. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, Rene M., 2006. "Dividend policy and the earned/contributed capital mix: a test of the life-cycle theory," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 227-254, August.
    15. Brav, Alon & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Michaely, Roni, 2005. "Payout policy in the 21st century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 483-527, September.
    16. Lakonishok, Josef & Lev, Baruch, 1987. "Stock Splits and Stock Dividends: Why, Who, and When," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 42(4), pages 913-932, September.
    17. Ikenberry, David & Lakonishok, Josef & Vermaelen, Theo, 1995. "Market underreaction to open market share repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 181-208.
    18. Fields, Thomas D. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Vincent, Linda, 2001. "Empirical research on accounting choice," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 255-307, September.
    19. Jiang, Zhan & Kim, Kenneth A. & Lie, Erik & Yang, Sean, 2013. "Share repurchases, catering, and dividend substitution," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 36-50.
    20. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J., 2004. "Are dividends disappearing? Dividend concentration and the consolidation of earnings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 425-456, June.
    21. Yaniv Grinstein & Roni Michaely, 2005. "Institutional Holdings and Payout Policy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1389-1426, June.
    22. Dittmar, Amy K, 2000. "Why Do Firms Repurchase Stock?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(3), pages 331-355, July.
    23. Bens, Daniel A. & Nagar, Venky & Skinner, Douglas J. & Wong, M. H. Franco, 2003. "Employee stock options, EPS dilution, and stock repurchases," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-3), pages 51-90, December.
    24. Cuny, Charles J. & Martin, Gerald S. & Puthenpurackal, John J., 2009. "Stock Options and Total Payout," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 391-410, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Grey, Colette & Flynn, Antoinette & Donnelly, Ray, 2020. "Management compensation contracts and distribution policies in the US technology sector," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    2. Szládek, Dániel, 2024. "Osztalékfizetés helyett részvény-visszavásárlás?. A részvény-visszavásárlások népszerűségének lehetséges okai [Share repurchases instead of dividend payments?. The evolution of payout policies and ," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(2), pages 154-175.
    3. Yuan‐Teng Hsu & Chia‐Wei Huang, 2020. "Why do stock repurchases change over time?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 26(4), pages 938-957, September.
    4. Banyi, Monica L. & Kahle, Kathleen M., 2014. "Declining propensity to pay? A re-examination of the lifecycle theory," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 345-366.
    5. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Uddin, Mohammad Riaz, 2022. "Do intangibles matter for corporate policies? Evidence from organization capital and corporate payout choices," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    6. Hussein Abedi Shamsabadi & Byung-Seong Min & Richard Chung, 2016. "Corporate governance and dividend strategy: lessons from Australia," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 583-610, October.
    7. Paul Tanyi & David B. Smith & Xiaoyan Cheng, 2021. "Does firm payout policy affect shareholders’ dissatisfaction with directors?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 279-320, July.
    8. Kulchania, Manoj, 2013. "Catering driven substitution in corporate payouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 180-195.
    9. Moore, David, 2023. "Strategic repurchases and equity sales: Evidence from equity vesting schedules," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    10. Brav, Alon & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Michaely, Roni, 2005. "Payout policy in the 21st century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 483-527, September.
    11. Andriosopoulos, Dimitris & Hoque, Hafiz, 2013. "The determinants of share repurchases in Europe," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 65-76.
    12. Gerald J. Lobo & Ashok Robin & Kean Wu, 2020. "Share repurchases and accounting conservatism," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 699-733, February.
    13. Amy Dittmar, 2008. "Corporate Cash Policy and How to Manage it with Stock Repurchases," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 20(3), pages 22-34, June.
    14. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Habib, Ahsan, 2020. "Social capital and payout policies," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    15. Jian Cao & Yun Cheng & Joanna Golden & Joseph H. Zhang, 2019. "Managerial ability, forecasting quality, and open-market repurchase program completion," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 871-894, October.
    16. Haw, In-Mu & Ho, Simon S.M. & Hu, Bingbing & Zhang, Xu, 2013. "Legal Institutions, Ownership Concentration, and Stock Repurchases Around the World: Signal Mimicking?," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 427-458.
    17. Liu, Harrison & Swanson, Edward P., 2016. "Is price support a motive for increasing share repurchases?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 77-91.
    18. Cook, Douglas O. & Zhang, Weiwei, 2022. "CEO option incentives and corporate share repurchases," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 355-376.
    19. Harrison Liu & Edward P. Swanson, 2015. "Is Price Support for Overvalued Equity a Motive for Increasing Share Repurchases?," Working Papers 0171acc, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    20. Unsal, Omer & Brodmann, Jennifer, 2019. "Workplace environment and payout policy," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).

    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:eee:advacc:v:34:y:2016:i:c:p:41-54. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/advances-in-accounting/ .

    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.