Abstract:
Previous studies suggested that goodwill impairment is associated with an increase in the cost of equity, however little attention has been paid to the influence of institutional environments on this association. In this study, we investigated this association in different institutional settings. Using Capital IQ, we collected data from financial statements released between 2010 and 2019 from 18,905 companies based in 42 countries. These countries were classified into two groups: those with a high level of enforcement and audit and those with a low level of enforcement and audit. An association model was developed between the cost of equity and goodwill impairment, tested using the panel data. Regression coefficients were estimated individually for each group and compared using the Wald test. Based on the results, we concluded that the increase in the cost of equity associated with goodwill impairment is observed more intensely in countries with low levels of enforcement and auditing. This reveals that the application of IAS 36 in different environments can entail different economic consequences, which need to be taken into account when discussing the quality of standards.
Keywords:
Impairment of goodwill; Cost of equity; Institutional environments
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Source: own elaboration.