초록 열기/닫기 버튼
본 연구는 신용평가회사로부터 최초로 신용등급 평가를 받게 된 기업이 우호적인 등급 획득을 위해 재량적회계선택에 의한 이익조정을 하는지 살펴본다. 신용등급의 정확성만큼 안정성을 중시하는 신용평가회사는등급을 지속적으로 조정하지 않기 때문에 최초 신용등급은 일정 기간 동안 자본시장에서 중요한 정보로 고려되며, 특히 향후 등급 재평가 시 벤치마크가 된다. 따라서 최초 신용등급 평가 시 기업은 최상의 등급 획득목적 하에 일반적으로 인정된 회계원칙(Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, GAAP)이 허용하는 범위내에서 발생액 이익조정을 시도할 것으로 예상된다. 2002년부터 2019년까지 국내 상장기업(KOSPI + KOSDAQ)을 대상으로 최초 신용등급 평가 시점 전후±2 회계기간 동안의 재량적 발생액의 크기 차이에 대해 분석한 결과 최초 신용등급 평가 시점의 재량적 발생액이 전·후 기간 대비 큰 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 기업은 최초 신용등급 평가 시 이익의 상향보고 목적 하에재량적 발생액을 활용한 이익조정을 한다고 할 수 있다. 본 연구는 국내 상장기업을 대상으로 최초 신용등급 평가 시 기업의 이익조정 유인이 존재한다는 실증의결과를 제시함으로써 신용정보와 회계정보 간의 유의한 상관성을 밝힌다. 특히 기업의 의사결정과 관련하여선행연구에서 주로 논의되어 온 신용등급 정보에서 더 나아가 평가 시기에 관심을 가지는 계기를 마련한다.
This study focuses on the effect of corporate incentives related to credit ratings on the disclosure behavior of accounting information. A credit rating is an index that represents the credit risk (default risk) of a firm (debtor) or a specific debt (corporate bond). And it is a criterion for determining the expenses (interest rate) incurred when using capital from others in the capital market. As an important indicator when issuing corporate bonds or borrowing funds, it affects a firm’s cash flow and firm value. Therefore, firms are interested in and sensitive to credit rating adjustments. In particular, firms have an incentive to obtain favorable ratings in the process of being evaluated by credit rating agencies (CRAs). Meanwhile, CRAs give initial credit ratings at the time of issuing bonds. After that, CRAs continually monitor the default risk (credit risk) and present an opinion on upgrade or downgrade of credit ratings. However, since CRAs that consider stability as much as the accuracy of their credit ratings do not continuously adjust their ratings. Thus, initial ratings become the benchmark for the ratings of future debt issues, and the ratings are potentially sticky. Accordingly, issuing firms may have a greater incentives to raise their earnings by exercising discretion within the limits allowed by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to obtain the favorable credit ratings at the time of the initial credit rating evaluation. In this regard, we examine that whether a company that first received a credit rating from reputable credit rating agencies (CRAs) manages earnings based on discretionary accounting choices in order to obtain a favorable rating. In specific, the size of discretionary accruals for ±2 accounting periods before and after initial credit ratings is empirically analyzed. Our empirical analysis is based on a sample of public companies listed on the Korean Exchange (KOSPI and KOSDAQ) from 2002 to 2019. We find that discretionary accruals at the time of initial credit rating evaluation are larger than before and after ± 2 accounting periods. And there are the chnges in discretionary accruals before and after initial credit ratings. Dividing into a subsample of initial rating firms and non-initial rating firms, discretionary accruals in initial rating firms are more significantly higher than non-initial rating firms. Those results suggest that companies use discretionary accruals to report high earnings, when they are first evaluated for credit ratings. While various studies have examined the association between the credit ratings and accounting information, this study is differentiated from prior studies by focussing on initial credit ratings. This is important, as initial credit rating is essentially the benchmark for the ratings of future debt issues. In particular, it can provide an opportunity to take an interest in the evaluation timing further than the credit rating topic (grade level, grade change, borderline credit rating) that has been mainly discussed in previous studies.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Initial Credit Ratings, Credit Rating Agency, Accrual Earnings Management, Reversal of Abnormal Accruals
