Fair value complexity and financial statement comparability

초록

This study examines whether fair value accounting and its complexity influence financial statement comparability. Using quarterly US bank holding company data from 2008 to 2014, I find that the proportion of assets and liabilities that are fair valued is negatively associated with financial statement comparability and that this negative relation appears to be driven by the less v erifiable (lower-level) fair value estimates. Under the three-level hierarchy of SFAS 157, the financial statements of a bank become less comparable with those of other banks as the complexity of its fair value estimates increases. Overall, these results indicate that fair value complexity has a negative influence on comparability.

키워드