Study On The Influence Factors Of Accounting Policy Choice Of Listed Companies

The choice of accounting policy is one of the most important subjects in the field of empirical accounting study in the west. In recent years, along with the western empirical accounting research methods widely accepted by Chinese scholars, the influence factors of accounting policy choice has become the core research question in Chinese accounting fields. Domestic scholars usually select the choice of asset impairment policy and fixed assets depreciation method as well as the choice of inventory valuation method as the research objects, further to examine the remuneration contract hypothesis, debt contract hypothesis and political cost hypothesis, which is put forward by Watt and Zimmerman on the basis of contract theory in 1986. However, as the change of our economic environment and the revision of accounting standards, the behaviors of enterprise accounting policy choice have also changed profoundly. The fair value measurement attribute is widely introduced in the new accounting standards for enterprises, which is implemented on January 1,2007 for the listed companies, among which the fair value measurement attributes is also partly applied to the financial assets measurement, and provisions on financial assets classification is not so clear, which provides space for the listed companies to make opportunistic accounting policy choice through the classification of financial assets, and provides the new opportunities for scholars to study the influence factors of accounting policy choice among the listed companies.First of all, the paper defines the relevant concepts of accounting policy choice and introduces three theories:contract theory, principle-agent theory, empirical accounting theory. Secondly, on the basis of the "three contract hypothesis", which belongs to the empirical accounting theory in the west, considering the particularity of China’s economic environment, this paper carries on the theoretical analysis on the six factors that may affect accounting policy choice in the listed companies, and further to put forwards the relevant hypothesis. Besides, taking the financial assets classified accounting policy choice as the research object, this paper selects A-share listed companies as the study sample during the periods of 2009-2011 and makes an empirical study on the influence factors of accounting policy choice by means of descriptive statistics, independent samples T test, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis method. The regression analysis results show that the compensation contract, political cost, securities regulation and auditing supervision are the most important influence factors of the accounting policy choice in listed companies, but debt contract and operating conditions are not. Finally, based on the empirical conclusions and combined with our country’s actual situation, the paper proposes four relevant suggestions which will restrain the behaviors of accounting policy choice in the listed companies, such as consummate the accounting regulations, improve the securities regulatory policy, optimize the structure of corporate governance, increase the legal penalties.