횡령발생기업의 재무제표 비교가능성에 대한 연구

[Purpose]This study aimed to identify the relationship between companies that experienced asset embezzlement incidents and the quality of their financial statements. In particular, it focused on comparability, one of the qualitative characteristics of financial statements. [Methodology]This study analyzed companies listed on the stock market from 2016 to 2022. The comparability of companies was measured using the method of De Franco et al.(2011), which has been used in most previous studies, to observe whether companies that committed embezzlement showed differences in the comparability of their financial statements. [Findings]The empirical analysis results of this study showed that the level of comparability of financial statements of embezzlement－incurred companies was relatively low. This means that companies that have committed embezzlement disclose financial statements with low quality. In addition, the level of comparability with the amount of embezzlement was found to have a significant negative (－) relationship. In other words, embezzling companies disclose opaque financial statements in order to conceal embezzlement cases, and the larger the amount, the more diverse the accounting treatments are attempted, which lowers the quality of the reported financial statements. [Policy Implications]It is significant that corporate embezzlement can have a negative impact on the entire capital market due to opaque financial statements. Through this study, we hope to make a capital market that protects investors by establishing legal and institutional devices to prevent financial misconduct such as embezzlement.