Goodwill Impairment
An Empirical Investigation of Write-Offs under SFAS 142
©2004
Thesis
XXVIII,
330 Pages
Open Access
Series:
Bochumer Beiträge zur Unternehmensführung, Volume 70
Summary
In 2001, goodwill amortization in the US was eliminated in favor of an impairment-only approach, which, according to critics, gives managers vast discretion and opportunities for earnings management. Prior research suggests that discretionary asset write-offs are associated with economic factors and managers’ financial reporting objectives. Based on a systematic literature review, this study investigates for a comprehensive sample of US firms the determinants of goodwill write-off behavior. Regression analysis shows that write-off behavior is significantly explained by firms’ economic properties. Only in large, high-profile firms, incentives appear to be significant determinants. These findings suggest that the impairment-only approach does capture goodwill impairment at least to some extent.
Details
- Pages
- XXVIII, 330
- Year
- 2004
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9783631754986
- ISBN (Softcover)
- 9783631527078
- DOI
- 10.3726/b14014
- Open Access
- CC-BY
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2018 (September)
- Keywords
- Goodwill Wertberichtigung Generally Accepted Accounting Principles USA Bilanzpolitik US-GAAP Firmenwert Geschäftswert Impairment
- Published
- Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien, 2004. XXVIII, 330 pp., 14 fig., 24 tables
