Financial covenants and financial reporting conservatism: French evidence

  • Authors

    • Raja Hached faculté des sciences économiques et de gestion SFAX
    2014-07-09
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbas.v3i3.2791
  • We examine the relation between the use of financial covenants in private debt contract and financial reporting conservatism for a sample of French firms. More specifically, we seek to know if the existence of financial covenants on private debt contracts leads managers to exhibit more timely loss recognition. Using a sample of 488 French firms operating in various sector during the period going from 2003 to 2009, we found that the reliance on financial covenants in private lending agreements is positively associated with the demand of timely loss recognition.

    Keywords: Accouting Conservatism, Agency Problems, Accounting Quality. Financial Covenants, Private Debt Contracts.

  • References

    1. C. Smith, J. Warner, On financial contracting: An analysis of bond covenants, Journal of Financial Economics 7 (1979): 117-161.
    2. R. Watts, J. Zimmerman, Positive Accounting Theory, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc. Englewood Cliffs, 1986.
    3. R.L. Watts, Conservatism in Accounting, Part1: explanations and implications, Accounting Horizons 17(2003a) 207-221.
    4. S.Basu, The conservatism principle and the asymmetric timeliness of earnings, Journal of Accounting Economics 24 (1997) 3-37.
    5. J. Zhang, The contracting benefits of accounting conservatism to lenders and borrowers, Journal of Accounting Economics 45 (2008) 27–54.
    6. V.V. Nikolaev, Debt Covenants and Accounting Conservatism, Journal of Accounting Research 48(2010) 137-176.
    7. H. Chen, Q.Tang, Y.Yiang, Z. Lin, The role of international financial reporting standards in accounting quality: Evidence from the European Union, Journal of International Financial. Management and Accounting 21(2010) 220-278.
    8. S. Ryan, Identifying conditional conservatism, European Accounting Review 4 (2006) 511-525.
    9. R. Ball, L.Shivakumar, Earnings quality in UK private firms: comparative loss recognition timeliness, Journal of Accounting and Economics 34 (2005) 83-128.
    10. W. Guay, R. Verrechia, Discussion of an economic framework for conservative accounting, Journal of Accounting and Economics 42 (2006)149-165
    11. A.S. Ahmed, B. Billings, M.S. Harris, R.M. Morton, The Role of Accounting Conservatism in Mitigating Bondholders-Shareholders Conflicts over Dividend Policy and in Reducing Debt Cost, Accounting Review 77 (2002) 867-890.
    12. R. Wittenberg-Moerman, The role of information asymmetry and financial reporting quality in debt contracting: Evidence from the secondary loan market, Journal of Accounting and Economics 46 (2008) 240-260
    13. F. Vasvari, Managerial incentives structures, conservatism and the pricing of syndicated loans, Working Paper (2006).
    14. R.M. Frankel, L.P.Litov, Financial Accounting Characteristics and debt covenants.(2007) Available online: http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=978711.
    15. J.Begley, S. Chamberlain, The use of debt covenants in public debt agreements: An empirical investigation.Working Paper. University of British Columbia2009.
    16. E. Gutierrez, Evidence on the role of accounting conservatism in debt contracting. Working Paper. University of California, Los Angeles 2011.
    17. M. Jensen, W. Meckling, Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure, Journal of Financial Economics 3 (1976) 305-360.
    18. R.C.Nash, J.M. Netter, A.B. Poulsen, Determinants of contractual relations between shareholders and bondholders: investment opportunities and restrictive covenants, Journal of Corporate Finance 9 (2003)201-232.
    19. J. Begley, Restrictive covenants included in public debt agreements: An empirical investigation. Working Paper. University of British Columbia1994.
    20. C. Levine, J. Hughes, Management compensation and earnings based covenants as signaling devices in credit markets, Journal of Corporate Finance 11( 2005) 832- 850.
    21. H.A. Hong, M. Hung, J. Zhang, The use of debt covenants worldwide: institutional Determinants and implications on financial reporting2011. Available online: http://www.ssrn.com/abstract:1496611.
    22. R. Ball, S.P Kothari, A. Robin, The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings. Journal of Accounting Economics 29 (2000) 1-51.
    23. R. Ball, A. Robin, G. Sadka, Is Accounting Conservatism Due to Debt or Equity Markets? An International Test of “Contracting” and “Value Relevance” Theories of Accounting. Working paper series 2005.
    24. A. Beatty, J. Weber, J.J. Yu, Conservatism and Debt, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 45 (2008) 154– 174.
    25. R. LaFond, R.L. Watts, The information role of conservative financial statements. The Accounting Review 83 (2008) 447-478.
    26. S.Roychowdhury, R.L. Watts, Asymmetric timeliness of earnings, market to book and conservatism in financial reporting, Journal of Accounting and Economics 44 (2007) 2- 31.
    27. D. Easley, S. Hvidkjaer, M. O’Harra, Is information risk a determinant of asset returns, Journal of Finance 57 (2002) 2185-2221.
    28. R. LaFond, S. Roychowdhury, Managerial ownership and accounting conservatism, Journal of Accounting Research 46 (2008) 101- 135.
    29. R.M. Frankel, S. Roychowdhury, Testing the clientele effect: an explanation for non GAAP earnings adjustements used to compute I/B/E/S earnings. Working Paper, 2005, MIT.
    30. R. Watts, A proposal for research on conservatism. Working paper 1993.
    31. H. Christensen, E. Lee, M. Walker, Incentives or Standards: what determines accounting quality changes around IFRS adoption? Working Paper. 2008 University of Minnesota.
    32. A.S. Ahmed, M. Neel, D. Wang, Does Mandatory adoption of IFRS improves Accounting quality? Preliminary evidence. Working Paper. 2012 Texas A&M University and University of Houston.
    33. V. Capkun, A.J. Cazavan, T. Jeanjean, L.A. Weiss,. Earnings management and value relevance during the mandatory transition from local GAAPs to IFRS in Europe. Working Paper. (2008), Avaialable on line: http://ssrn.com/abstract:1125716.
    34. D.F. Groebner, P.W. Shannon., P.C. Fry, K.D. Smith, Business statistics: a decision- making approach (7ème edition, Pertinence Hall). New Jersey, 2008; 696.
    35. M. Khan, R.L. Watts, Estimation and empirical properties of a firm- year measure of accounting conservatism. Journal of Accounting and Economics 48 (2009) 132-150.
  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Hached, R. (2014). Financial covenants and financial reporting conservatism: French evidence. International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 3(3), 245-253. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbas.v3i3.2791