본 연구는 우리나라에서 한국채택회계기준(K-IFRS)을 도입한 2011년도 이전과 이후 3년간(2008년부터 2013년까지)의 자료를 이용하여, 기업의 영업활동과 관련된 가장 핵심적인 성과측정치인 영업이익에 대해 연결재무제표와 별도재무제표 간의 상대적 가치관련성에 어떠한 차이가 있는지를 검증하였다. 나아가 K-IFRS 도입 전후에서 연결재무제표 및 별도재무제표에서 산출된 각 영업이익의 가치관련성에 변화가 있는지에 대해서도 검증하였다. 이를 위하여 Ohlson(1995)의 주가수준 모형을 이용하였다. 표본은 연결재무제표를 작성한 유가증권상장과 코스닥상장기업을 대상으로 하였다. 분석에 이용된 최종표본은 5,520개 기업/연 자료이다(Pre-IFRS:2,210개 vs Post-IFRS:3,310개).
본 연구의 주요 실증 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, K-IFRS를 도입하기 이전에는 연결재무제표의 영업이익보다 개별재무제표의 영업이익의 가치관련성이 상대적으로 더 높게 나타난 반면, K-IFRS 도입 이후에서도 연결영업이익보다 별도영업이익의 가치관련성이 상대적으로 더 높게 나타났다. 특히 K-IFRS 도입 이후에 대한 결과는 감독당국과 한국회계기준원이 2011년도부터 모든 상장기업에 대하여 연결재무제표를 주재무제표로 작성․공시하도록 한 취지와는 다른 결과라고 할 수 있다. 둘째,K-IFRS 도입 전에 비해 도입 후 연결재무제표뿐만 아니라 별도재무제표에서 산출된 각 영업이익의 가치관련성은 모두 유의하게 향상된 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 새로운 회계기준인 K-IFRS의 의무도입이 종전 K-GAAP 기준과 비교하여 영업이익의 가치관련성 측면에서는 회계정보의 질 개선에 효과성이 있다는 것을 시사한다. 하지만 전체 표본을 시장유형별(유가증권상장기업 표본 vs 코스닥상장기업 표본)로 다시 나누어서 분석한 결과에 따르면, 앞서의 두 번째 결과는 주로 유가증권 상장기업에서 나타났다. 반면, 코스닥상장기업의 경우 별도재무제표는 K-IFRS 도입이후 영업이익의 가치관련성이 향상되었으나, 연결영업이익의 가치관련성은 K-IFRS 도입 전후기간에 별다른 차이가 없는 것으로 나타났다.
이러한 본 연구의 발견은 K-IFRS 도입의 효과를 살펴본 관련연구들에 추가적인 실증적 증거를 제공함으로써 회계학계에 공헌할 것으로 기대되며, 또한 본 연구 결과는 학계뿐 아니라 회계기준 제정기관 및 정책입안자들에게도 K-IFRS 의무도입과 관련한 실효성을 파악하는 데 있어 유익한 정보를 제공해 줄 것으로 예상된다.
This study investigates the changes in the relative value relevance of operating income in the consolidated financial statements and that in the individual (or separate) financial statements around the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) in 2011 in Korea. While the individual financial statements are prepared by each individual company as a legal entity, the consolidated financial statements are prepared by a parent company to present the financial position, the financial performance, and the cash flows of the parent company and its subsidiaries as a single economic entity. Before the adoption of the IFRS, the individual financial statements were the primary financial statements while the consolidated financial statements were complementary. The status of these two statements has reversed with the adoption of the IFRS:the consolidated financial statements are now disclosed as the primary ones, and the individual financial statements of the parent company, termed “the separate financial statements”, as complementary ones.
Based on these changes in the reporting environment, we raise the following two research questions. First, is there a difference in the relative value relevance of operating income from the two types of financial statements? Second, has the relative value relevance of operating income from the two types of financial statements increased or decreased after the adoption of the IFRS? To address these questions, we examine all listed firms either on the Korean Stock Exchange(KOSPI sample) or on the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations(KOSDAQ sample) that disclose the consolidated financial statements for 6 years (2008~2013) around the adoption of the IFRS. The total sample size is 5,520 firm year observations:2,210 observations from the Pre-IFRS period (2008~2010) and 3,310 observations from the Post-IFRS period (2011~2013). To estimate the operating income, the price level model of Ohlson (1995) is used.
Our major findings are as follows. First, the value of operating income reported in the individual (or separate) financial statements is more relevant than that in the consolidated financial statements in both the Pre-IFRS and the Post-IFRS periods. This result implies that the investors in the capital market, who are familiar with the individual financial statements, still make investment decisions mainly based on the separate financial statements in the Post-IFRS period, which is contrary to the intended purpose of the supervisory body such as the Korea Accounting Standards Board (KASB). This finding can help the KASB and the supervisory body to make decisions on amending the accounting standards or policy related to the IFRS in which the consolidated financial statements are disclosed as the primary accounting information.
Second, results based on the full sample indicate that the value relevance of operating income from the consolidated financial statements as well as from the individual financial statements has significantly improved in the Post-IFRS period, revealing that accounting information after the mandatory adoption of the IFRS is more useful from the perspective of the investors in the capital market. Thus, compared to the old accounting standards (K-GAAP), the IFRS has been more effective in conveying useful information on a firm’s operating activities.
However, we find that this result holds only for the KOSPI sample when we test the KOSPI sample and KOSDAQ sample separately;for KOSDAQ firms, we observe that the value relevance of operating income from separate financial statements has increased in the post-IFRS period while there is no significant difference in the value relevance of consolidated operating income between the Pre-IFRS and the Post-IFRS period. Overall, the results of this study may provide additional empirical evidence to the related research on the effect of the IFRS adoption in Korea and contribute to the academia as well as to standard setters and policy makers for evaluating the effectiveness of the IFRS adoption.