기업설명회와 재무제표 비교가능성

[Purpose] This study analyzes the characteristics of accounting information of firms that hold investor relations (IR) meetings by examining the relationship between IR meetings and the financial statement comparability, which is one of the qualitative characteristics of accounting information. Managers who hold IR meetings are fundamentally incentivized to reduce information asymmetry. In doing so, they are more likely to prepare financial statements with high comparability, enabling external information users to better understand the company's performance. Since comparability is also one of the qualitative characteristics of financial information, firms that hold IR meetings are more likely to enhance the comparability of their financial statements to improve the quality of accounting information and thereby gain the trust of investors. However, if managers believe that IR meetings have already sufficiently mitigated information asymmetry, they may have less incentive to prepare highly comparable financial statements, potentially resulting in a negative relationship between IR meetings and financial statement comparability. Given these contrasting predictions, an empirical analysis is necessary to investigate the relationship between IR meetings and financial statement comparability. [Methodology] We conducted empirical analyses using 8,103 firm－year observations from companies listed on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets between 2012 and 2020. The dependent variable, financial statement comparability, is measured using the methodology of De Franco et al. (2011). The main independent variables are the occurrence and frequency of IR meetings. [Findings] The empirical results indicate a significantly positive relationship between the occurrence (frequency) of IR meetings and financial statement comparability. This suggests that managers who hold IR meetings aim to mitigate information asymmetry and improve the information environment by preparing financial statements with high comparability. It also demonstrates that enhancing the credibility of financial performance through IR meetings can lead to improved financial statement comparability. Furthermore, additional analysis reveals that financial statement comparability is higher when IR meetings include non－performance－related disclosures rather than performance announcements alone. This suggests that the content of IR meetings influences financial statement comparability. [Implications] This study extends prior research on the quality of accounting information in firms that hold IR meetings by demonstrating the relationship between IR meetings and financial statement comparability, another qualitative characteristic of accounting information.