A Study on Financial Reporting of Interests in Joint Ventures

The objective of this paper is to clarify what kind of information is demanded by the users of financial statements with regard to the financial reporting of interests in joint ventures(JVs),and to discuss the ideal method for the said financial reporting. In this study,an interview survey was conducted targeing financial analysts,who are considered to be the most experienced users of financial statements. As a result,the following two points became clear: (1)Rather than (a) iformation on the total amount of a venturer\u27s share of each of the assets,liabilities,income and expenses of a jointly controlled entity. What is strongly demanded is (b) the disclosure of individual financial statements of important JVs. (2)However,in the case of large-scale investment in JVs,as in trading firms,etc.,the disclosure of (a) is also demanded. The results of this survey show that at present,there is a global trend for the disclosure of the above-mentioned (a) to be made obligatory,but what the users of financial statements primarily want is (b);and,if present trends continue,there is a possibility that ineffective disclosure will become obligatory. The finding that (b)is primarily required is consistent with other previous studies,and therefore the disclosure of (b) should be prioritized. However,this does not mean that the disclosure of (a) is unnecessary. By disclosing (a),firms that make investments in JVs one of their important investement strategies,especially trading companies,will be able to make explicit the investment efficiency of their entire JV strategy,and useful information will be yielded