COVID-19 위기와 회계정보의 가치관련성

This study analyzes the value relevance of accounting information for Korean firms pre and post-spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 brought a new form of fear and uncertainty to firms, which drastically increased the volatility of capital markets and exacerbated the financial predicament of companies. A firm's financial distress increases the value relevance of net assets that provide liquidation value and asset abandonment value, while lowering the value relevance of net income, which indicates growth and profitability. However, the crisis in the capital market caused by COVID-19 differs from the 1997 financial crisis in Korea and the 2008 global economic crisis in that it emerged due to an external element of the economy called an epidemic. The results of this study are as follows. First, after the spread of COVID-19, the value relevance of net income declined significantly, and the value relevance of net assets also declined. This suggests that COVID-19 negatively affected the value of net assets, which means liquidation value. Second, the decline in the value relevance of net income is found to be a decline in the value relevance of accruals rather than operating cash flows. This result implies that stakeholders in the capital market prefer information of operating cash flows to accruals under the COVID-19 crisis. Our findings can help various information users in decision making in the era of COVID-19.