国际会计第七版课后答案第五章 作者弗雷德里克综述.docx

国际会计第七版课后答案第五章 作者弗雷德里克综述.docx

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国际会计第七版课后答案第五章作者弗雷德里克综述

Chapter5

ReportingandDisclosure

DiscussionQuestions

1.Accountingmeasurementistheprocessofassigningnumericalsymbolstoeventsorobjects.Disclosure,ontheotherhand,isthecommunicationofaccountingmeasurementstointendedusers.Advancesinfinancialdisclosurearelikelytooutpacethoserelatedtoaccountingmeasurementforanumberofreasons.First,manywouldarguethatfinancialdisclosureisalesscontroversialareathanaccountingmeasurement.Second,changesindisclosurerequirementsaremorerapidlyimplementedthanchangesinaccountingmeasurementrules.Finally,whereasasinglesetofaccountingmeasurementrulesmaynotserveusersequallywellunderdifferentsocial,economicandlegalsystems,acompanycandisclosewithoutnecessarilysacrificingitsaccountingmeasurementsystem.

2.Fourreasonswhymultinationalcorporationsareincreasinglybeingheldaccountabletoconstituenciesotherthantraditionalinvestorgroups:

a.Thedevelopmentandgrowthoftheinfluenceoftradeunions.

b.Thegrowingrecognitionoftheviewthatthosewhoaresignificantlyaffectedbydecisionsmadebyinstitutionsingeneralmustbegiventheopportunitytoinfluencethosedecisions.

c.Therejectionbymanygovernmentsofclassicaleconomicpremisessuchasthebeliefthattheregulatedpursuitofprivategainmaximizessociety’swelfare.

d.Theincreasingconcernoverthesocialandeconomicimpactofmultinationalcorporationsinhostcountries.

3.Argumentsinfavorofequaldisclosureinclude:

a.TheabsenceofequaldisclosurewouldcreateanunfairplayingfieldforU.S.companies.Non-U.S.companieswouldhaveacompetitiveadvantageinthattheywouldnothavetodisclosethesameinformationandsowouldnotincurthecostsinvolvedingeneratingandpublishingit.

b.Investorsinnon-U.S.companieshavethesameinformationneedsasthosewhoinvestinU.S.companies.Amarketconcernedwithinvestorprotectionwouldmakesurethatinvestorshavetimelyandmaterialinformationonalllistedcompanies,notjustthosedomiciledintheUnitedStates.

c.Unequaldisclosuremightimpedecross-companycomparisonsinvolvingU.S.andnon-U.S.companies.

Possiblereasonsagainstequaldisclosureinclude:

a.ThehighcostofmeetingequaldisclosurerequirementsmaydeterforeignissuersfromlistingintheUnitedStates.

b.Theextracostsinvolvedworkagainstthebenefitsoflistingtotheforeigncompanies.

Evaluationofarguments:

Alloftheseargumentshavemerit.Thereisnounambiguouslycorrectanswerastowhatdisclosurerequirementsshouldbeimposedonforeignissuers,andtherehasbeenacontentiousdebateonthissubjectintheU.S.inrecentyears.Inpractice,fairnessargumentsoftencarrygreatweightinpublicdebate,evenwhenobjectiveeconomicanalysisdoesnotsupportthem.

4.ManagersinContinentalEuropeandinJapanhaveformanyyearsstronglyobjectedtodisclosinginformationaboutbusinesssegmentfinancialresults.Thesemanagershavearguedthattheinformationcanbeusedbytheircompetitors.Inaddition,ContinentalEuropeandJapanhavehadtraditionsoflowdisclosure.

RequirementsfordisclosureaboutsegmentresultshavebecomemorestringentinJapan,France,andGermanyinresponsetostronginvestorandanalystdemandfortheinformation.Moregenerally,thethreecountriesarestrivingtoimprovethequalityoftheirfinancialreportingstandardsinordertoimprovethereputationandcredibilityoftheircapitalmarkets.

5.Thesimpleansweristhatmandatorydisclosuresarecorporatedisclosuresmadeinresponsetoregulatoryrequirements（forexample,rulesissuedbynationalregulatorsorstockexchanges）,andthatvoluntarydisclosuresarepurelydiscretionaryinnature.Thedistinctionbetweenmandatoryandvoluntarydisclosurescanbeambiguousinsomesettings,however.Forexample,therequirementthatU.S.companiesmustfileForm10-KswiththeU.S.SecuritiesandExchangeCommissionisstraightforward.However,measurementanddisclosureapproachesforsomeoftheitemsintheForm10-Karenot.Similarly,therearewidelydivergentviewsconcerningwhattypesofpressannouncementsaremandatoryversusvoluntary.

Twopossibleexplanationsfordifferencesinmanagers’voluntarydisclosurepracticesare:

（1）Managersinhighlycompetitiveindustriesmaybelessforthcomingthanmanagersinlesscompetitiveindustriesduetotheexpectedcostofreleasinginformationofpotentialusetotheircompetitors.

（2）Managersareexpectedtobemoreforthcomingwhenthereisgoodnewstodisclose,thanwhenthereisbadnews,particularlywhenthenewscanbeexpectedtoaffectshareprices.

Twoexplanationsfordifferencesinmanagers’mandatorydisclosurepracticesare:

（1）Cross-jurisdictionaldifferencesindisclosurerequirements.

（2）Differencesintheextentofcompliancewithdisclosurerulesduetocross-jurisdictionaldifferencesinenforcement.

6.Triplebottomlinereportingreferstoreportingonacompany’seconomic,social,andenvironmentalperformance.Itisaformofsocialresponsibilityreportingdesignedtodemonstrategoodcorporatecitizenship.So-called“sustainability”reportsareanincreasinglypopularmeansoftriplebottomlinereporting.Thereissubstantialvariationinsocialreportingtoday.Moreregulationwouldimprovecomparability,butitmightalsostiflereportinginnovations.Theusefulnessofsocialreportingtooutsideparties,particularlyinvestors,needstobedemonstratedbeforeimplementingmoreregulationforit.

6.Oftenweexpecttoobservelessvoluntarydisclosurebycompaniesinemergingmarketcountriesthanbythoseindevelopedcountries:

a.Equitymarketsarerelativelylessdevelopedinmanyemergingmarketcountries,resultinginlowertotaldemandforcompanyinformationbyinvestorsandanalysts.

b.Inmanyemergingmarketcountries,mostfinancingissuppliedbybanksandinsiderssuchasfamilygroups.Thisalsoleadstolessdemandfortimely,crediblepublicdisclosure,andinthesemarketsenhanceddisclosuremayhavelimitedbenefits.

8.Ingeneral,forthesamereasonsasinDiscussionQuestion7,weexpecttoobservefewerregulatorydisclosurerequirementsinemergingmarketcountriesthanindevelopedcountries.Theequitymarketsanddisclosurerequirementsinmanyemergingmarketcountriesarenotyetwelldeveloped,andaccountingandauditingsystemsinemergingmarketcountriesarelesswelldevelopedthaninmoredevelopedmarketcountries.

9.Thetwobroadobjectivesofinvestor-orientedequitymarketsareinvestorprotectionandmarketquality.Intheabsenceofinvestorprotection,investorswillnotbewillingtoparticipateinamarket.However,intheabsenceofmarketquality,marketswillnotfunctionsatisfactorily.Manywouldconsidertheobjectivesequallyimportant.

10.Itcertainlyispossiblethatmorerequireddisclosurewillfurtherencourageinvestorparticipationincapitalmarketsbyprovidingmoreandbetterinformationonwhichtobaseinvestmentdecisions.Benefitsofincreasedinvestorparticipationincludeincreasedliquidity,reducedtransactioncosts,andmoreaccurateandefficientmarketpricing.However,itcanalsobearguedthatinsomesituationsdisclosurerequirementsareexcessive.Inmarketswheredisclosurerequirementsareconsideredtoostringent,companiesmaybedeterredfrompubliclylistingtheirshares,andmaychoosetousesecondarymarkets（suchastheover-the-countermarketintheUnitedStates）thatlacktheinvestorprotectionsofregulatedstockexchanges,andwhichprovideinvestorswithlowerliquidityandhighertransactioncosts.Thus,morerequireddisclosureisnotnecessarilybetterthanless.

11.Forecastsofrevenuesandincomearerelativelyuncommonbecausetherecanbelegalrepercussionsifforecastsarenotmet.Forecastsrelyonsubjectiveestimatesofuncertainfutureevents,makingthemunreliableinmanysituations.Vaguerformsofforwardlookinginformationaremorecommonthanpreciseforecasts.Forexample,directionalforecasts（upordown）ofrevenuesandincomearemorecommonthanrangeforecastswhichare,inturn,morecommonthanpreciseforecastsoftheseamounts.

12.Corporategovernancereferstothestructureofrelationshipsandresponsibilitiesamongshareholders,boardmembers,andcorporatemanagers.Investorsandfinancialanalystsuseinformationaboutacompany’scorporategovernance（forexample,whetheranauditcommittee’smembersareindependent,andresponsibilitiesandremunerationofboardmembers）tobetterassessthelevelofinvestorprotection（andtherefore,expectedcashflowstoinvestors）atthecompany.

Exercises

1.a.Transparentfinancialreportingmeansthattimelyandaccuratedisclosuresaremadeonallimportantmattersaffectingacompany’sfinancialpositionandperformance.Itimpliesopenness,communication,andaccountability.

b.Transparentfinancialreportingprotectsinvestorsbecausenothingishiddenfromthem.Investorscanbetterassesstherisksofowningsecuritieswheninformationistruthfulandcomplete.Transparentfinancialreportingalsoimprovesmarketquality.Itenhancesinvestorconfidence.Opencommunicationcreatesmarketsthatarefair,orderly,efficient,andfreefromabuseandmisconduct.

c.ThefinancialreportingrequirementsontheHongKongExchangepromotetransparentfinancialreportingandtheyprotectinvestorsandpromotemarketquality.Forexample,theyrequireacompletesetofauditedfinancialstatements,includingabalancesheet,incomestatement,cashflowstatement,andexplanatorynotes.Substantialdisclosuresarealsorequired,includingsegmentsandforwardlookinginformationdiscussedinthe