IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ebg/essewp/dr-03021.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Value Relevance of R&D Reporting : A Signaling Interpretation

Author

Abstract

Accounting for research and development (R&D) costs is an open issue. SFAS N°2 mandates that all R&D costs are immediately expensed. International standards prescribe a capitalization of R&D costs if they meet certain criteria (IAS 38). Recent research papers (Healy et al., 2002; Lev and Sougiannis, 1996, 1999; Aboody and Lev, 1998, Zhao, 2002) show that capitalization of R&D costs and software development costs is value relevant. However critics can be leveled at previous research because prior empirical tests are based on simulated or partial data. Our purpose is to test empically R&D accounting issues on a sample of 95 French firms on a three years period (1998-2000). French context provides an experimental field for studying the value relevance of R&D capitalization, because both accounting treatments of R&D costs (expensing and capitalization) are allowed. We find that capitalized R&D is positively associated with stock returns and stock prices, whereas expensed R&D is negatively related to stock prices and stock returns. R&D accounting reduces the information asymmetry on the successfulness of R&D projects: it acts as a signal to investors. This paper extends previous literature by using real data on capitalized R&D, instead of estimated data. Moreover, we show not only that capitalized R&D is value relevant but also that expensing of R&D projects conveys a negative signal.

Suggested Citation

  • Cazavan-Jeny , Anne & Jeanjean, Thomas, 2003. "Value Relevance of R&D Reporting : A Signaling Interpretation," ESSEC Working Papers DR 03021, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebg:essewp:dr-03021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.essec.fr/faculty/showDeclFileRes.do?declId=640&key=__workpaper__
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1992. "The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 427-465, June.
    2. Baruch Lev & Theodore Sougiannis, 1999. "Penetrating the Book-to-Market Black Box: The R&D Effect," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3-4), pages 419-449.
    3. Boone, Jeff P. & Raman, K. K., 2001. "Off-balance sheet R&D assets and market liquidity," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 97-128.
    4. Pope, PF & Walker, M, 1999. "International differences in the timeliness, conservatism, and classification of earnings," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37, pages 53-87.
    5. Aboody, D & Lev, B, 1998. "The value relevance of intangibles: The case of software capitalization," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36, pages 161-191.
    6. Barth, Mary E. & Beaver, William H. & Landsman, Wayne R., 2001. "The relevance of the value relevance literature for financial accounting standard setting: another view," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 77-104, September.
    7. Ali, A & Hwang, LS, 2000. "Country-specific factors related to financial reporting and the value relevance of accounting data," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 1-21.
    8. Hirschey, Mark, 1982. "Intangible Capital Aspects of Advertising and R&D Expenditures," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 375-390, June.
    9. Holthausen, Robert W. & Watts, Ross L., 2001. "The relevance of the value-relevance literature for financial accounting standard setting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 3-75, September.
    10. Louis K. C. Chan & Josef Lakonishok & Theodore Sougiannis, 2001. "The Stock Market Valuation of Research and Development Expenditures," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(6), pages 2431-2456, December.
    11. Francis, J & Schipper, K, 1999. "Have financial statements lost their relevance?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 319-352.
    12. Yuan Ding & Hervé Stolowy, 2003. "" Capitalisation " Des Frais De R&D En France : Determinants Et Pertinence," Post-Print halshs-00582768, HAL.
    13. Lev, Baruch & Sougiannis, Theodore, 1996. "The capitalization, amortization, and value-relevance of R&D," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 107-138, February.
    14. Lev, B & Zarowin, P, 1999. "The boundaries of financial reporting and how to extend them," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 353-385.
    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. Gamal Atallah & Massoud Khazabi, 2005. "A Model of R&D Capitalization," International Journal of Business and Economics, School of Management Development, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, vol. 4(2), pages 107-121, August.
    2. Yasean A. Tahat & Ahmed H. Ahmed & Mohammad M. Alhadab, 2018. "The impact of intangibles on firms’ financial and market performance: UK evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1147-1168, May.
    3. Brettschneider, Carina, 2019. "R&D Accounting Discretion as an Income Smoothing Tool: An Empirical Analysis of German Listed Companies," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 4(2), pages 151-172.
    4. Георгиева, Даниела, 2020. "По Някои Въпроси Относно Непубликуването На Оповестявания За Научноизследователската И Развойна Дейност Като Част От Финансовите Отчети На Български Иновативни Предприятия [On some issues regarding," MPRA Paper 106717, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2020.
    5. Salma Loulou & Mohamed Triki, 2008. "Déterminants et pertinence de l'activation des dépenses de recherche & développement dans le contexte des entreprises françaises," Post-Print halshs-00525992, HAL.
    6. Riccardo Cimini & Alessandro Gaetano & Alessandra Pagani, 2014. "The relation between R&D accounting treatment and the risk of the firm: Evidence from the Italian market," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 33-54.
    7. Schmidt, Gabriela & Trofimenko, Natalia, 2010. "Linkages between technology choice and exporting: Evidence from Argentina," Kiel Working Papers 1620, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Георгиева, Даниела, 2020. "Предизвикателства Пред Отчитането На Научноизследователската И Развойна Дейност В България [Reporting of R&D in Bulgaria - challenges]," MPRA Paper 105321, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Gjerde, Øystein & Knivsflå, Kjell & Sættem, Frode, 2011. "The value relevance of financial reporting in Norway 1965-2004," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 113-128, March.
    2. Lorena Mitrione & George Tanewski & Jacqueline Birt, 2014. "The relevance to firm valuation of research and development expenditure in the Australian health-care industry," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 39(3), pages 425-452, August.
    3. Atoche, Teresa duarte & Pérez lópez, José ángel & Camúñez ruiz, Jose antonio, 2012. "La relevancia de los gastos de I+D. Estudio empírico en el sector del automóvil," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 257-286.
    4. Saida Dammak, 2014. "An Analysis of the Relationship between the Voluntary Disclosure of the Intellectual Capital and the Firm Value," International Journal of Management Sciences, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 4(11), pages 546-566.
    5. Gjerde, Øystein & Knivsflå, Kjell Henry & Sættem, Frode, 2005. "The Value Relevance of Financial Reporting on the Oslo Stock Exchange over the Period 1964-2003," Discussion Papers 2005/23, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    6. Gjerde, Øystein & Knivsflå, Kjell & Sættem, Frode, 2008. "The value-relevance of adopting IFRS: Evidence from 145 NGAAP restatements," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 92-112.
    7. Gaëlle Lenormand & Lionel Touchais, 2008. "The Value Relevance Of Intangible Assets With Ifrs [La Pertinence Des Actifs Incorporels Avec Les Ifrs]," Post-Print hal-03125514, HAL.
    8. Jean-Michael Sahut & Sandrine Boulerne, 2010. "Have Ias (International Accounting Standards)/Ifrs Improved The Information Content Of Intangibles In France ?," Post-Print hal-02104906, HAL.
    9. Mustafa Ciftci & Masako Darrough, 2015. "What Explains the Valuation Difference between Intangible-intensive Profit and Loss Firms?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1-2), pages 138-166, January.
    10. Howard Chan & Robert Faff & Philip Gharghori & Yew Ho, 2007. "The relation between R&D intensity and future market returns: does expensing versus capitalization matter?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 25-51, July.
    11. Hyuna Park, 2019. "Intangible assets and the book‐to‐market effect," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 25(1), pages 207-236, January.
    12. Oliveira, Lídia & Rodrigues, Lúcia Lima & Craig, Russell, 2010. "Intangible assets and value relevance: Evidence from the Portuguese stock exchange," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 241-252.
    13. Veith, Stefan & Werner, Jörg R., 2014. "Comparative Value Relevance Studies: Country Differences Versus Specification Effects," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 301-330.
    14. Ciftci, Mustafa & Cready, William M., 2011. "Scale effects of R&D as reflected in earnings and returns," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 62-80, June.
    15. Devalle, Alain & Magarini, Riccardo & Onali, Enrico, 2009. "Assessing the Value Relevance of Accounting Data After the Introduction of IFRS in Europe," MPRA Paper 56174, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 Oct 2009.
    16. Tami Dinh Thi & Wolfgang Schultze, 2011. "Capitalizing research & development and ‘other information’: the incremental information content of accruals versus cash flows," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 241-278, November.
    17. Gaëlle Lenormand & Lionel Touchais, 2008. "La pertinence des actifs incorporels avec les IFRS," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 11(2), pages 173-201, June.
    18. Douglas Skinner, 2008. "Accounting for intangibles – a critical review of policy recommendations," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 191-204.
    19. Jean-Michel Sahut & Sandrine Boulerne, 2008. "Les normes IFRS ont-elles améliorées le contenu informationnel des immatériels ? : le cas des entreprises françaises cotées," Post-Print halshs-00525967, HAL.
    20. Dennis Oswald & Paul Zarowin, 2007. "Capitalization of R&D and the Informativeness of Stock Prices," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 703-726.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Value relevance; R&D; France; Financial reporting; Capital markets; Accounting choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ebg:essewp:dr-03021. 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: Sophie Magnanou (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/essecfr.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.