Anmerkungen:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments April 4, 2019 erstellt
Beschreibung:
This paper aims to test and to assess if a change in accounting standards affecting the definition of equity and liability in cooperatives matters, as well as to shed light on the possible determinant factors. In face of the new accounting standards, cooperatives had to reclassify members' shares from equity to liability or to modify their articles of association changing the terms of the members' shares in order to retain the accounting equity classification. Based on a sample of Spanish cooperatives extracted from SABI, results show that cooperatives perceived important effects and a big majority chose to modify articles of association. Results reject the “information approach” and support the “contracting approach”, therefore accounting change matters even if there is not a change in the cash flows. In order to determine the main factors that can affect the decision of the cooperative, a mixed logit model is proposed. The results showed that cooperatives with higher share capital, debts ratio and non current assets are more prone to modify their articles of association in order to retain the accounting equity classification. The paper contributes to literature on the economics effects of accounting standards, providing additional evidence in a different and particular setting. Where, the accounting change affects to a core characteristic of the organizational form. Members' shares are not subject to structuring opportunities. The firms affected are nonlisted. There is not tax effect and the change only affects balance sheet not the net income