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Liu Feng
Empirical research methods of contact norms in China's accounting field: From the middle and late 1980s, some scholars at that time tried to introduce the research methods and achievements of empirical accounting to China, including the translation of the book "Empirical Accounting Theory" co-authored by Watts and Zigeley. But; Until the mid-1990s, it was still mainly about introduction. The earliest paper that can be called empirical research should be Zhao Yulong's article "Information Content of Accounting Earnings Disclosure" published in Economic Research No.7 1998. The publication of this paper marks that the empirical accounting research in China has entered the practical application from the method introduction.
It's only been more than three years since July. 1998. From the perspective of time dimension, review seems to span too short; It is difficult to form a meaningful conclusion; However, judging from the number of published empirical research papers, the research problems involved and the increasing speed, summarizing and evaluating the past not only has sufficient paper basis, but also has certain reference value for the future direction of empirical accounting research in China.
In view of the fact that some domestic scholars have summarized the results of empirical accounting research, this paper will not repeat this work. I hope in this article. This paper makes some comments and discussions on the achievements and phenomena of empirical accounting research in China.
If we summarize and evaluate the empirical accounting research in China in the past three years, I personally think that all the research on selling securities accounting is still in the imitation stage, that is, using the mature empirical accounting research methods in the West and using the data of China's capital market to verify the assumptions of the existing empirical accounting research in the West, and even some research questions are imitative. For example, Zhao Yulong's paper (1998) imitates Bauer and Brown (1968), which is the first empirical accounting study in China, but so are many subsequent studies.
Theory is the core of inherited empirical research, which verifies or corrects predecessors' theories and assumptions through a lot of empirical evidence. Using the data of China's capital market to verify the existing achievements in the west, some are suitable and some are not. But; The important role of theory is to provide a reasonable and well-founded explanation for the phenomenon, so as to provide a reasonable and well-founded prediction for the future development of the phenomenon. In this way, it is obviously impossible to form a theory and hypothesis based on China's market environment, and thus it is impossible to form a theory with the ability to explain and predict China's economic phenomena, just by verifying the existing theories in the West. Unfortunately, because the empirical accounting research in China in recent three years is mainly imitation, most of the research problems are' imported goods', and there are few theories and assumptions based on the market environment in China. 10% phenomenon is the most prominent assumption.
10% phenomenon refers to the earnings management of listed companies, so that their return on net assets reaches 10% required by the passing line of rights issue. The emergence of this phenomenon is related to the unique institutional environment of China's capital market, namely; Starting from 1996, China Securities Regulatory Commission requires listed companies to have a return on net assets of not less than 10% for three consecutive years before they can apply for rights issue. Some scholars have found that after the introduction of this system, the distribution of return on net assets of listed companies is concentrated in the range of 10%, and the proportion slightly greater than 10% is obviously higher than in previous years. The phenomenon of 10% can not only explain the practice well, but also predict the future behavior of listed companies: those listed companies not far from the passing line of rights issue; Always trying to do it in various ways; Return on net assets increased to10%; In order to achieve the purpose of allotment. The policy significance of this study is also obvious. China Securities Regulatory Commission accepted about 65,438+00% of scholars' research results and gradually lowered the threshold requirements for rights issue (such as minimum 6%). Even basically cancel this requirement (issuing new shares).
The enlightenment of the research results of 10% phenomenon is that empirical accounting research needs not only standardized research methods, but also the system behind theories and methods. One of the main goals of economic research is to provide reasonable and effective explanations for phenomena, and all kinds of phenomena in the real world are inseparable from the corresponding institutional environment. If we don't pay attention to the system and institutional environment behind the phenomenon, it is difficult to explain it fully and effectively. According to the author's observation of the existing empirical accounting research literature, the institutional factors that should be paid special attention to in some empirical accounting research at present include the following aspects:
Efficient market hypothesis is the premise of empirical accounting research, because the research on the usefulness of accounting earnings must be based on a relatively efficient capital market. Otherwise, in an invalid capital market, even if there is a statistical correlation between accounting earnings and stock price returns, it cannot be considered that accounting earnings data have been effectively used by the market. However, many phenomena in China's capital market show that the effectiveness of China's capital market is simply tested by methods; Ignoring the corresponding institutional environment, its conclusion will be doubtful and even misleading. The special institutional environment of China's capital market includes: the main body of listed companies is state-owned enterprises, and a large amount of funds in the capital market come from state-owned capital; The scale and capacity of the capital market are limited, and the transaction mode is single; Capital has no other profit channels, no way back; Whether it is a listed company; Or institutional investors; They do not bear legal responsibility in the capital market, or bear little legal responsibility; This encourages its irrational behavior or market manipulation. Based on this institutional environment, or, do not discuss the possible impact of the above-mentioned special institutional environment on the efficiency of the capital market; However, it is doubtful to directly test the efficiency of China's capital market with the formulas of event method, random walk and open information.
Some cases in China's capital market can provide some support for the above speculation, such as the' 5. 19' market that appeared on19 May 1999; The share price of Ji 'an Science and Technology broke through 100 yuan in early 2000; 200 1 at the beginning of the year, the startup event of zhongke; Such as the false listing events of Hong Guang Industry and Zhengzhou Bai Wen, and so on. How much impact these events have on the efficiency of the capital market, and whether it is enough to damage the efficiency of the capital market; Lack of effective research. In addition, under almost zero legal liability; Some listed companies cooperate with institutional investors to manipulate stock prices, including using false accounting profit information. Whether the correlation between accounting earnings information and excess market returns is "functional locking" or "effective" still needs rigorous and scientific research.
With regard to capital structure, the research on capital structure has been one of the hot topics since MM theorem came into being. And formed many theoretical hypotheses; Such as signal transmission, financing priority and so on. However, the premise of this theory is: a mature capital market; So that enterprises can choose financing methods relatively freely; Effective market supervision and governance mechanism makes enterprises have to choose financing methods carefully. However, almost all enterprises in China, including listed companies, are not free to choose financing methods; The cost and uncertainty of the financing system are high. In this way, the choice of capital structure itself loses its signal transmission function, and financial institutions, including the four major state-owned commercial banks, have not solved their own agency problems well, so the financial institutions' supervision ability to enterprises is not strong; Except for a few listed companies with good efficiency and strong endogenous financing ability, most listed companies are relatively inefficient; Lack of endogenous financing ability. In the future, the research on the capital structure of China enterprises should pay full attention to this difference in institutional background, and put forward the capital structure theory that truly belongs to the institutional environment of China.
The agency cost theory and its further development of "contract cost" theory have spawned a wealth of empirical research results, among which the empirical research on accounting policy choice is developed on the basis of agency cost theory. At present, traces of agency theory can be found in many empirical accounting research results. In China, agency cost is obviously applicable, but its manifestation will be obviously different from that of the United States. For example, the "political cost" hypothesis, one of the three hypotheses of empirical accounting based on contract cost theory, holds that the bigger the enterprise, the more motivated it is to reduce profits. In China; Only when the enterprise grows bigger can it attract the attention of the government and get various policy support. The previous government-led enterprise merger and the "Top 500" complex fully illustrated this point. At this point, simply applying western assumptions will be inaccurate. For another example, western agency theory mainly focuses on the inconsistency of interests between managers and shareholders. In China, when most state-owned listed companies are reorganized and listed; Everyone has a state-controlled parent company with the same name, so there is also a phenomenon that the interests of large and small shareholders are inconsistent. When discussing dividend policy, corporate governance and other issues, we must pay attention to this special institutional arrangement of China.
Paying attention to the system and institutional environment will lead us to study the problems that really belong to China's economic environment, so we should adopt some appropriate research methods. For example; China's capital market has a short history and insufficient public information disclosure; Therefore; For some specific problems; Tracking cases through case studies will be more effective than trying to make empirical analysis with a large amount of data. For another example, it is an effective method to provide individual case explanations and explanations for various phenomena in the process of institutional change in China by constructing accurate theories. Only by analyzing and discussing China's economic phenomenon from the perspective of China's institutional environment can we form an empirical theory and hypothesis based on China's economic environment, which should be the fundamental significance of empirical research.
About the author: Liu Feng, male, 19 6 6 was born in Wuwei County, Anhui Province in February. 1994 graduated from the accounting department of Xiamen university with a doctorate in economics (accounting), and 1997 was promoted to professor. At present, he is distinguished professor, doctoral supervisor of Sun Yat-sen University, and director of Modern Accounting and Finance Research Center of Sun Yat-sen University.
1986 Up to now, he has published many papers in the World of Accounting Research and Management, and nearly 20 books and teaching materials such as Accounting Standards Research and Accounting Standards Reform. Presided over 2 scientific research projects of the National Social Science Fund and other level projects; The research results of basic accounting theory and accounting standards have certain influence in domestic academic circles. At present, the research directions are: the verification of the formulation and implementation effect of accounting standards in China, the market test of bank supervision policy changes and the corresponding debt structure research, and the survival mode and cost strategy of small and medium-sized enterprises under the regional specialization in the Pearl River Delta.
He has successively won national awards and honors such as the Fok Ying Tung Foundation of the Ministry of Education, Fuzhou and other universities' outstanding young teachers' fund award (1997), the first outstanding young teachers' award of the Ministry of Education (1999), and the special government allowance of the State Council (2000). The thesis won the first prize of outstanding papers of the year of China Accounting Society, the first prize of outstanding social science achievements of the Ministry of Education and the third prize of outstanding social science achievements of Fujian Province.
Special Zone Accounting No.20019