경영전략에 따른 연구개발지출 자본화 회계처리가 기업가치에 미치는 영향

IFRS allows for the recognition of intangible assets for R&D expenditures that meet the requirements. However, because the requirements for recognition as an intangible asset are ambiguous and difficult to determine objectively, the capitalization of R&D expenditures leaves much room for management discretion. Therefore, we expected that business strategy, which is the comprehensive contextual information of a firm, can explain the discretionary accounting choices related to R&D expenditures. This study analyzes firms listed on the Korean Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2021. To test the first hypothesis, which is whether the capitalization choice of R&D expenditures differs depending on the business strategy, we found that the capitalization rate of R&D expenditures is higher in the case of a leading strategy, and that Prospectors recognize more R&D expenditures as assets. The second hypothesis is whether the relationship between accounting choices for R&D expenditures and firm value varies by business strategy. The results show that for Prospector, recognizing more R&D expenditures as assets has a negative impact on firm value. The contribution of this study is to provide evidence that managers' discretionary accounting choices regarding the capitalization of R&D expenditures depend on business strategy and affect firm value.