The Value Relevance of Operating Lease Liabilities: Economic Effects of IFRS 16
The new IASB and FASB models for leases aim to improve the quality of financial reporting. To this end, both standard setters impose the recognition of assets and liabilities for operating leases. Meanwhile, preparers have been strongly lobbying against these changes, as in their view the new treatment will lead to negative economic consequences. We undertake a value‐relevance study to examine whether as‐if capitalised operating leases are priced by market users in a relatively unexplored setting. We consider Spanish listed firms, and employ hand‐collected data on operating leases disclosed in the notes to the financial statements to constructively capitalise the assets and liabilities. Our…
Operating lease decision and the impact of capitalization in a bank-oriented country
ABSTRACTThis article explores the reasons why firms engage in operating leases and examines the potential impact of a change in the related accounting rules. We focus on the accounting advantage of off-balance financing, which does not affect the typical accounting-based covenants especially important in bank-oriented countries. However, we also consider other economically based arguments. Using manually collected operating lease data for Spanish listed firms, we use the constructive capitalization method to measure as-if liabilities. The results confirm that not only size and industry affect the decision but that firms closer to breaching their covenants are also more inclined to choose op…
Assessing the impact of operating lease capitalization with dynamic Monte Carlo simulation
Abstract The European Commission has recently adopted a new accounting standard for leases that will be implemented in 2019, which requires operating lease contracts to be included in the balance sheet, affecting key ratios, leverage and profitability. We simulate the impact of IFRS 16 using Monte Carlo method, which incorporates the uncertainty of the future value of variables when making predictions. Unlike prior studies based on historical data, our study considers a five-year forecast horizon and, more importantly, contemplates several probable scenarios. Based on the STOXX All Europe 100, our results confirm that, in 2019, liability maturity, liquidity and return on assets will decreas…
Do Spanish IPO firms fit the continental European model for going public?
Este trabajo analiza los determinantes de la decisión de salir a bolsa en el mercado español de una muestra de empresas no financieras que llevaron a cabo una oferta pública inicial (OPI) de acciones en el período 1997-2013. Para ello, empleamos una serie de características relacionadas con las empresas y el entorno económico y los métodos de regresión logit para obtener el modelo que mejor se ajusta a nuestros datos, utilizando como muestra de control las empresas que podrían haber salido a bolsa en el mismo período, pero optaron por no hacerlo. En España, las empresas que salieron a bolsa se caracterizaron por ser relativamente más grandes y más arriesgadas que las que no lo hicieron. Ade…
La capitalización de los arrendamientos operativos: Análisis del impacto en las empresas del IBEX 35
Purpose: This paper analyzes the consequences of the change in the accounting rules about operating leases in the companies and users of financial information. Design/methodology: We use the constructive capitalization method to estimate the liabilities and leased assets and perform an ex ante analysis of the regulatory impact in the IBEX 35 non-financial companies. Non-parametric tests are employed to examine the effect on certain ratios, and through a multivariate regression we investigate the business characteristics that explain the variation of EBITDA. Findings: The ratios under study are significantly affected by the capitalization of operating leases. The explanatory analysis shows t…
Implementation of IFRS in Japan: An Analysis of Voluntary Adoption by Listed Firms
Since 2010 Japanese listed firms can voluntarily use international financial reporting standards for their consolidated financial statements. Using financial and non-financial data, we carry out a comprehensive research into the adopters’ determinants. We employ a multi-period logit model that considers every annual decision made along the period 2010-2019. We find that the having outside networks through subsidiaries and a strong internal corporate governance system are key factors. We also confirm a contagion effect. Finally, our results suggest that goodwill is also relevant, since only Japanese accounting standards require annual amortization.