研发费用资本化和盈余管理 英文

Garen Markarian,Lorenzo Pozza,Annalisa Prencipe,International Jou rnal of Accounting2008-3 爱思唯尔期刊

Capitalization of R&D Costs and Earnings Management：Eviden ce from Italian Listed Companies

ABSTRACT: The capitalization of research and development (R&D) costs is a controversial accounting issue because of th e contention that such capitalization is motivated by incenti ves to manipulate earnings. Based on a sample of Italian list ed companies, this study examines whether companies' decision s to capitalize R&D costs are affected by earnings-management motivations. Italy provides a natural context for testing ou r hypothesized relationships because Italian GAAP allows for the capitalization of R&D costs. Using a Tobit regression mod el to test our hypotheses, we show that companies tend to use cost capitalization for earnings-smoothing purposes. The hyp othesis that firms capitalize R&D costs to reduce the risk of violating debt covenants is not supported. KEY WORDS: Earnin gs management, Cost capitalization, R&D accounting, Earnings smoothing, Debt covenants, Italian companies

1 Introduction In the current era of globalization, a high ly relevant issue facing regulators, academics, and practitio

ners is the determination of an appropriate accounting treatm ent for research and development (R&D) costs. International A ccounting Standards discuss accounting for R&D costs in IAS N o. 38 “Intangible Assets” (IASB, 2004; IASB, 2004). Paragrap h 54 of this standard states that no intangible asset arising from research (or from the research phase of an internal pro ject) shall be recognized as an asset; and that research expe nses shall be expensed in the income statement when they are incurred. Concerning development costs, paragraph 57 states t hat an intangible asset arising from development (or from the development phase of an internal project) shall be recognize d if, and only if, an entity can demonstrate all of the follo wing: (a) the technical feasibility of completing the intangi ble asset so that it will be available for use or sale; (b) i ts intention to complete the intangible asset and use or sell it; (c) its ability to use or sell the intangible asset; (d) how the intangible asset will generate probable future econo mic benefits; (e) the availability of adequate technical, fin ancial, and other resources to complete the development and t o use or sell the intangible asset; (f) its ability to measur e reliably the expenditure attributable to the intangible ass et during its development. Although IAS 38 allows companies t