紀要論文

関連会社投資の特質と資本市場における評価

Characteristics of Investment in Associates and Relevance in Capital Market

jpn

13493043

https://doi.org/10.15002/00004308

法政大学キャリアデザイン学部

4

43

68

2007-03

Version of Record

An increasing number of recent accounting studies have verified that there are certain significant relations among share price, book values, and earnings. The objective of this study is to focus on consolidated financial statements, compare the assets under the full control of parent companies with the assets outside the full control of parent companies, and elucidate the relations among their book values, earnings, and share prices. Consolidated financial statements include the two contents of "subsidiaries," which are controlled by a parent company, and of "associates," which are not under the full control of the parent company but are significantly influenced by the parent company. Between the two, there are the following differences, with respect to the features of each company and financial reporting methods, etc.(1) A parent company fully controls its subsidiaries. Meanwhile, a parent company merely can make a significant influence on its associates. Accordingly, the uncertainty of investment in associates is higher than that for subsidiaries. (2) Associates are composed of mainly small-sized and cloistered firms, as exemplified by the fact that associates include joint ventures (JVs), which are established through the tie-up with other companies． (3) Subsidiaries' assets and debuts, etc., are described in a consolidated financial statement，but with regard to associates，the equity equivalent values with respect to earnings are just added up. Therefore, it is difficult for financial statement users to grasp the actual situations of associates． From these facts, it is inferred that capital market players, including investors, evaluate the investment in associates and the resultant equity method earnings differently from other consolidated assets and earnings. In this study, the author hypothesized that "the investment in associates and the equity method earnings are valuated in the same manner as other consolidated assets and earnings," and conducted an analysis based on the financial statement data in the past 20 years, in order to verify the above inference. As a result, it was found that capital market players conduct valuations, emphasizing book values rather than the earnings of associates. In Japan, the information on the earnings of associates can be grasped through equity method earnings only, and most companies do not disclose their actual situations; accordingly, it can be considered that capital market players cannot trust the earning information and so tend to refer to the book value information of associates. At present, from the global perspective, there is a tendency to promote the disclosure of the information on associates including JVs. It can be said that the empirical results of this study support its appropriateness.

Article

AA11961954