Accruals quality and corporate cash holdings: an empirical study of Taiwan listed companies

本研究主要採用Francis et al.（2005）所提出之應計品質衡量模型作為應計品質的衡量指標，以2003-2007國內上市櫃公司為研究對象，探討應計品質與公司現金持有間之關聯性。本研究另將應計品質拆為裁量性應計品質與非裁量性應計品質，分別探討其對公司現金持有之影響。 本研究實證結果顯示，應計品質與公司現金持有率呈顯著負相關。亦即公司應計品質越高，越能有效降低公司及投資者之間的資訊不對稱，進而使公司籌資成本降低，而可持有較少的現金。此外，裁量性應計品質、非裁量性應計品質與公司現金持有率之間均呈顯著負相關，且非裁量性應計品質對公司現金持有率之影響大於裁量性應計品質。 根據上述結果，本研究建議管理階層應重視公司之應計品質，並利用裁量性應計項目來提升盈餘數字的品質，以作為公司績效的適當指標。亦即管理階層應使盈餘數字更能可靠、更即時的反映公司的經營績效，並避免以投機目的使用裁量性應計項目。換言之，公司可藉由應計品質之提升，降低資訊不對稱的程度，進而改善公司的現金管理、減少資源閒置及增進投資的效果。This study mainly uses the accruals quality measurement model proposed by Francis et al. (2005) to empirically examine the effect of accruals quality on cash holdings of the sampled listed companies at the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) and the Gre Tai Securities Market (GTSM) from 2003 to 2007. This study also distinguishes between accruals quality driven by economic fundamentals (Innate AQ) versus management choices (discretionary AQ) and assesses their individual effects on corporate cash holdings. The empirical results show that accruals quality is negatively associated with cash holdings. That is, the firms with good accruals quality may reduce the negative effect of information asymmetry and adverse selection and, therefore, reduce their level of cash holdings as a result of lower cost of raising capital. In addition, discretionary accruals quality and innate accruals quality are significantly negatively related to cash holdings, and, on average, the innate component of accruals quality has a significantly larger effect on cash holdings than the discretionary component of accruals quality. Our findings suggest that management should be concerned about accruals quality because a higher accruals quality may help firms to improve their cash management, reduce unproductive cash levels, and increase their investment effectiveness