기업지배구조와 회계정보의 질이 기업의 현금보유수준에 미치는 영향

In this study, we analyze the effect of information asymmetry on firm’s cash holdings. For this analysis, two variables, accounting information quality and corporate governance, were used as proxy variables for information asymmetry. The quality of accounting information is measured by the three methods; the quality of accruals of Dechow and Dichev (2002), the abnormal current accruals of Teoh et al. (1998) and the abnormal accruals of Dechow et al. (1995). Corporate governance was measured using corporate governance scores of Korean Corporate Governance Service(KCGS). The corporate governance scores were divided by the factor analysis into the governance structure based on the contractual governance theory and the governance structure based on the agent theory. We use governance measures based on contractual governance theory as a proxy for information asymmetry. An empirical analysis was conducted for the companies listed on the KOSPI from 2011 to 2014(2,079 firm-year in total). As a result, the AQ variables measured by the three methods and GovCGT variable showed a significant negative relationship with the cash holding level of the company at 1% level. This result implies that firms with low information asymmetry (firms with good accounting information quality and good governance structure) are increasing their investment efficiency by reducing their cash holdings. In addition, the results of the interaction term generated by the AQ variable and the GovCGT variable seem to be synergistic at the 10% and 5% levels when measured the AQ variables by the abnormal current accruals and the abnormal accruals. The results of this study are meaningful because it shows that firms can improve the investment efficiency by reducing the information asymmetry by building high quality accounting reports and good corporate governance.