Effect of human resource investments in internal controls on goodwill impairment

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the impact of human resource investment in internal controls (hereinafter, IC personnel) on managers’ goodwill impairment decisions. Design/methodology/approach - The authors use the ratio of IC personnel to the number of employees in the firm and the average work experience of IC personnel as quantitative and qualitative measures for IC personnel, respectively. Findings - The authors find that the relationship between the likelihood of impairment and the expected impairment is not associated with the ratio of IC personnel. However, the average experience of IC personnel increases the likelihood that a company will record an impairment when there are market and financial indicators of impairment. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of IC is determined by practical proficiency rather than size. Furthermore, our analyses demonstrate that the greater the experience of the IC personnel in the accounting/finance or IT departments, the more likely the manager will record an expected impairment. Overall, our findings emphasize the importance of IC personnel expertise to enhance the effectiveness of IC for financial reporting. Originality/value - Using unique data available only in Korea, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to show the effect of human resource investment in IC on goodwill impairment.