IT산업에서의 연구개발비 자본화와 이익관리에 관한 연구

Abstract

This study examines the impacts of capitalization of research and development(R&D) expenditures on earnings management in intelligence technology(IT) firms. Prior studies have shown R&D expenditures are classified into expensed R&D expenditures or capitalized R&D expenditure. Researchers compared these two categories according to the strength of associations between capitalized or expensed R&D expenditures and the uncertainty of subsequent performances such as future earnings and stock returns. In addition, there is much evidence that when R&D costs are expensed, firms manage earnings by real transactions, cutting R&D expenditures to meet earnings thresholds, such as avoiding losses or negative earnings changes. There also general evidence (i.e., not related to R&D transactions) that firms manage earnings thru accruals to meet earnings benchmarks. However, there is no research on what kinds of firms’ accounting choices affect their subsequent earnings management decisions, and in particular, their decisions to use real vs accrual earnings management. This study examines limited IT industry, because the competitiveness of IT firms depends on their R&D performances. Earnings management is proxied by discretionary accruals(DA) estimated using the version of modified Jones(Dechow et al. 1995) and Kothari et al.(2005) reflecting performance. The test sample consists of 174 firm-year data with R&D expenditures, selected from the KOSPI listed companies of the fiscal year during 2007-2014. The results of the correlation and multi regression analysis show that the capitalization of R&D has significantly positive influence on DA. This means that the capitalization of R&D in IT firms is related to the increasing earnings. This study can contribute to suggesting the intention of boosting earnings through the capitalization of R&D in medical firms that are greatly influenced by R&D activities.