The Economic Determinants of Conditional Conservatism

60 Pages Posted: 18 Nov 2008

See all articles by Juan M. García Lara

Juan M. García Lara

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Beatriz Garcia Osma

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid ; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Fernando Penalva

IESE Business School - University of Navarra; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Date Written: November 18, 2008

Abstract

We study the economic determinants of conditional conservatism. Consistent with prior literature, we find that contracting induces only conditional conservatism and litigation induces both conditional and unconditional conservatism. We extend prior evidence by Qiang (2007) by showing that taxation and regulation induce not only unconditional conservatism, but conditional conservatism as well. We show that in certain scenarios taxation and regulation create incentives to shift income from periods with high taxation pressure and high public scrutiny to periods with lower taxation pressure and lower public scrutiny. These income shifting strategies are implemented by recognising current economic losses that, given managerial incentives to report aggressively, would not have been recognised otherwise, or by delaying the recognition of current economic gains that would have been recognised had circumstances been different.

Keywords: Conservatism, contracting, taxation, political costs, litigation risk

JEL Classification: M41, M44, D82, G38, H25, H32

Suggested Citation

García Lara, Juan Manuel and Garcia Osma, Beatriz and Penalva, Fernando, The Economic Determinants of Conditional Conservatism (November 18, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1303525 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1303525

Juan Manuel García Lara

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid ( email )

Calle Madrid 126
Getafe, Madrid, Madrid 28903
Spain

Beatriz Garcia Osma

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid ( email )

Calle Madrid 126
Getafe, Madrid, Madrid 28903
Spain

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

Fernando Penalva (Contact Author)

IESE Business School - University of Navarra ( email )

Ave. Pearson 21
Barcelona, Barcelona 08034
Spain
932534200 (Phone)
932534343 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.iese.edu

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

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