拟制性盈余管理员工股票选择权为例

Managementofproformaearnings:evidencefromemployeestockoptionsABSTRACTThisstudyexaminesthemanagementofproformaearningsinthecontextofSFAS123.Thecentralissueliesintheassumptionthatfirmsmakedecisionsonemployeestockoptionandproformearningssimultaneously.UsingasamplefromFortune1000withdisclosuresforthe1995-1998periodandthree-stageleast-squares,weprovideevidenceconsistentwithourhypothesisonfirms’decisionprocessregardingESOs.Specifically,conditionalonreportedearnings,firmsdecidethelevelofESOandproformaearningssimultaneously.OncethelevelofESOisdecided,firmsinturnschooseasetofvaluationparametersbasedonthemodifiedBlack-Scholesoptionpricingmode,maintainingproformaearningsatanacceptablelevel.OurempiricalfindingsalsoshowthatinchoosingahighESOvalue,firmstendtouseshortoptionlifeandlowexerciseprice.Keywords:Earningsmanagement,proformaearnings,employeestockoption,SFAS123.:10001995199811.IntroductionForlong,managementofreportedearningshasbeenaheatedresearchtopicinaccountingandanimportantissueforpractitioners,andstandardsetters(DechowandSkinner,2000;HealyandWahlen,1999;McNichols,2000;ThomasandZhang,2000).Respondingtothisissue,theSEChasformedanearningsmanagementtaskforcetocrackdownonfirmsthatmanageearnings.Ontheotherhand,managementofproformaearningsisrelativelyanewissuebuthasdrawnmuchattentioninthepractitioners’community.Researchershavealsobeguntoconsiderthevaluerelevanceandmanagementofproformaearnings.Unlikepreviousworkonearningsmanagement,whichfocusesonreportedearnings,thisstudyisfocusedonproformaearningsinthecontextofSFAS123.Ourstudyismotivatedtherecentmajordevelopmentinfinancialreportingthatfirmsareincreasinglyprovidingproformaearningsandtheanalysisofthisnumberisanimportantactivityintheinvestmentcommunity.Proformaearningsaredesignedtogiveinvestorsaclearerviewofacompany'soperationsandarepresentedasasupplementarynumbertotheGAAPearnings.ThereportingofthisnumberismostlyvoluntarythroughapressleaseandismandatoryinafewcasesundertherequirementsofGAAPorSECfilings(e.g.,inthecaseofemployeestockoptionsandaccountingchanges).Startlingly,arecentacademicstudyshowthatthemanagement’sproformaearningsprovidebetterguidetostockvaluethantheearningsnumbersunderGAAP(BrownandSivahuma,2001).Onetheotherhand,opponentsofproformaearningsarguethatsincethereisn'tmuchregulationforproformaearnings,companiesareincreasinglyabusingrulestomaketheirearningslookbetter.1Inresponsetothisissue,theSEChasbeguntoinvestigate1Withtradersandbrokersfocusingsocloselyonwhetherornotthecompanybeatsormeetsexpectations,theheadlinesareeverything.“Ifacompanycanreleaseaheadlinethattheybeatexpectationsproforma(evenwhentheyactuallymissedexpectationsnonproforma)thentheirstockpricewillnotreactasbadly,anditmightevengoup.”(TheInvestingGuys,2001)2manipulationsonproformaearnings.2Theacademicresearchappearstolaginthisissue.Weinvestigatethemanagementofproformaearningsbasedontheevidencefromthedisclosuresonemployeestockoptions(ESO)underSFAS123.Inspiteofthehigherdifficultiesforfirmstomanagemandatorydisclosuresonproformaearningsrelativetothosevoluntaryones,theincentiveformanagingthisnumbershouldnotbeignored,giventhepervasiveuseofproformaearningsintheinvestmentcommunity.Ourinvestigationsaremotivatedbythefollowingreasons.First,itisacommonbeliefsharedbythecompaniesandtheinvestmentcommunitythatproformaearningsinfluencestockprices.Managersbeingrationalwealthmaximizers,thisinturnsimplieslikelihoodofmanagementofproformaearnings.TheevidenceofBrownandSivahuma(2001)andtheinvestigationsoftheSECprovideasupportforthisargument.Second,SFAS123encouragestheuseoffairvalueaccountingforalltheemployeecompensationplans.Atthesametime,itallowsthereportingentitytomeasurecompensationcostsusingintrinsicvalueaccountingprescribedbyAPB25,merelywiththerequirementthatthereportingentityprovidesproformaearningsdisclosuresofnetincomeandearningspershare,asiffairvalueaccountingwereapplied.Inpractice,essentiallyallthecompaniescontinuetouseintrinsicvaluemethodanddiscloseproformaearnings,providinganopportunityforresearchonthissubject.Finally,thevaguenessofSFAS123inspecifyingthedeterminationoffairvaluesforemployeestockoptions(ColleranHiggs,1997)leavesamplediscretionarydecisionsforfirmstomanageproformaearnings.Asaconsequence,reportingofproformaearningscanbesimplycharacterizedas2Considerthefollowingquote:TheU.S.SecuritiesandExchangeCommissionisinvestigatingseveralcompaniesforpossibledeceptionthroughtheuseofproformafinancialresults,theSEC'schiefaccountantsaidthisweek.ThebigquestioniswhethertheSECcanmakeadentintheproformapractice.…ithasbeenmonitoringtheissueforsometime,andthatthenumberofcompaniesunderinvestigationchangesbytheday....Whatbeganasawayforcompaniesandanalyststodiscountaberranteventshascomeunderfireasamethodusedtodeceivethepublicaboutwhat'sreallygoingonwithacompany'sbottomline.(Kane,2001)3thefollowingrelations.Proformaearningsbydefinitionareequaltoreportedearingsminustheestimatedfairvalueofemployeestockoptions.Tomaintainproformaearningsatacceptablelevels,firmsmakedecisionsonproformaearningsandthevalueofemployeestockoptionssimultan