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We examine the value relevance of intangibles reported by technology firms in electronics industries and any regional difference between Southern and non-Southern firms in the relative importance of how value relevance is reported. For technology firms, the essential asset in their valuation is intellectual property, which idiosyncratic accounting practices could have either capitalized or expensed. We are interested in the intangible assets and goodwill on balance sheets and amortization expenses from income statements, which together capture the magnitude of a firm’s intellectual property. We present evidence that the market value of a firm is negatively associated with the size of its intangibles but positively associated with the size of goodwill and amortization expenses. We find that this relationship between the market value of a firm and measures of intangibles is statistically stronger for Southern firms than for non-Southern firms. We interpret this finding as a manifestation of stronger accounting conservatism among Southern firms due to regional cultural differences. We find that the value relevance of intangibles weakened significantly during the 2008 financial crisis, and we interpret the intertemporal difference as a spillover effect of the stringent application of the fair value accounting standard (SFAS 157) to financial assets.

The crux of bank accounting is how to measure and disclose ex ante credit risk, as loan yields and cost of funds are determined by managerial effectiveness and the financial market. This paper examines how the practice of setting up provisions for loan losses by bank managers had changed to preserve regulatory capitals around the 2008 financial crisis. This paper examines the empirical relationship between ex ante credit loss, which is proxied by loan losses provisions, and realized credit loss, which is measured by net charge-off. The empirical relations are examined before, during, and after the 2008 financial crisis to find the patterns of prediction errors of the incurred loss model. This paper obtains evidence that the empirical relation between non-performing assets and provisions for loan losses weakened at the time of a financial crisis. The relations of net charge-offs and allowance for loan losses on provisions for loan losses amplified during a financial crisis by accounting design. After the financial crisis is over, the empirical relation between non-performing assets and provisions for loan losses does not return back to the pre-crisis relation, but to a different, new post-crisis relation. This paper obtains evidence that financially stable banks in terms of the tier 1 capital ratio, return on assets, market-to-book ratio, or dividend payout ratio tend to adjust provisions for loan losses in a larger scale in response to a financial crisis than less stable banks.

We examine the value relevance of intangibles reported by technology firms in electronics industries and any regional difference between Southern and non-Southern firms in the relative importance of how value relevance is reported. For technology firms, the essential asset in their valuation is intellectual property, which idiosyncratic accounting practices could have either capitalized or expensed. We are interested in the intangible assets and goodwill on balance sheets and amortization expenses from income statements, which together capture the magnitude of a firm’s intellectual property. We present evidence that the market value of a firm is negatively associated with the size of its intangibles but positively associated with the size of goodwill and amortization expenses. We find that this relationship between the market value of a firm and measures of intangibles is statistically stronger for Southern firms than for non-Southern firms. We interpret this finding as a manifestation of stronger accounting conservatism among Southern firms due to regional cultural differences. We find that the value relevance of intangibles weakened significantly during the 2008 financial crisis, and we interpret the intertemporal difference as a spillover effect of the stringent application of the fair value accounting standard (SFAS 157) to financial assets.

The crux of bank accounting is how to measure and disclose ex ante credit risk, as loan yields and cost of funds are determined by managerial effectiveness and the financial market. This paper examines how the practice of setting up provisions for loan losses by bank managers had changed to preserve regulatory capitals around the 2008 financial crisis. This paper examines the empirical relationship between ex ante credit loss, which is proxied by loan losses provisions, and realized credit loss, which is measured by net charge-off. The empirical relations are examined before, during, and after the 2008 financial crisis to find the patterns of prediction errors of the incurred loss model. This paper obtains evidence that the empirical relation between non-performing assets and provisions for loan losses weakened at the time of a financial crisis. The relations of net charge-offs and allowance for loan losses on provisions for loan losses amplified during a financial crisis by accounting design. After the financial crisis is over, the empirical relation between non-performing assets and provisions for loan losses does not return back to the pre-crisis relation, but to a different, new post-crisis relation. This paper obtains evidence that financially stable banks in terms of the tier 1 capital ratio, return on assets, market-to-book ratio, or dividend payout ratio tend to adjust provisions for loan losses in a larger scale in response to a financial crisis than less stable banks.