Macroeconomic Factors and Financial Statements: Asset Writedowns During Recessions*

44 Pages Posted: 14 Sep 2007 Last revised: 9 Mar 2010

See all articles by Rachna Prakash

Rachna Prakash

University of Mississippi - Patterson School of Accountancy

Date Written: February 2010

Abstract

I examine the asset write-down decisions of firms during recessions. These decisions are jointly determined by a decline in asset value and by managers’ reporting incentives, both of which are affected in recessions. The two sources of asset value, value in use and value in exchange, decline simultaneously in recessions. Consequently, for a given decline in sales the probability of writing down assets in recessions increases by an additional one and a half times that of writing down in expansions. Managers with ‘bloated balance sheets’ that is, who have used their accounting discretion to report higher earnings in past are at least two times more likely to write down in recessions than in expansions. I do not find that asset write-downs by industry leaders in the previous quarter are more likely to lead to asset write-downs in recessions as compared to expansions. I also find that while the probability of write-downs decreases for highly levered, weak firms in recessions–firms that are less likely to get covenant violations waived – it increases for highly levered, strong firms. The key implication of my results is that it is essential to incorporate the broader context in which accounting choices are made when evaluating managers’ reporting decisions.

Keywords: Asset Impairments, Business Cycles, Value in use, Value in exchange

JEL Classification: M41, M43, E32, G12, G32, G33

Suggested Citation

Prakash, Rachna, Macroeconomic Factors and Financial Statements: Asset Writedowns During Recessions* (February 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1014746 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1014746

Rachna Prakash (Contact Author)

University of Mississippi - Patterson School of Accountancy ( email )

200 Conner Hall
University, MS 38677
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
416
Abstract Views
2,588
Rank
129,268
PlumX Metrics