Management Science · 2026 · Petrus Ferreira、Wayne R. Landsman、Brian Rountree
中文摘要
本研究发现，《会计准则汇编》（ASC）842要求企业自2019年起在财务报表中将经营租赁资本化，这使得受该准则影响的企业相对于未受影响的企业，平均将对既有债务（即与经营租赁资本化无关的债务）的依赖降低了7%–10%。我们发现，因实施ASC 842而导致经营租赁资本化规模更大的企业，对既有债务依赖的降幅最大。此外，与采用该准则相关的既有债务相对下降，集中在以下企业：其债务合同较不可能以某一固定会计准则集为基础的企业、违约贷款契约可能性较高的企业，以及其资本结构相对于同行业其他企业受该准则影响更大的企业。综合来看，这些发现表明，在ASC 842实施后企业既有债务的相对下降中，契约成本发挥了显著作用。关于ASC 842的相关文献大多记录了企业在采用前为减轻租赁准则影响所做的努力。相比之下，我们的发现表明，企业未能完全抵消采用该准则所带来的杠杆效应上升，导致受影响企业进一步降低了对既有债务的依赖。
Abstract
This study finds that the requirement of Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) 842 for firms to capitalize operating leases in financial statements beginning in 2019 resulted in firms affected by the standard reducing the reliance on existing debt (debt not associated with the capitalization of operating leases) by 7%–10% on average relative to unaffected firms. We find that firms with greater operating lease capitalization as a result of implementation of ASC 842 have the largest reductions in the reliance on existing debt. In addition, the relative decrease in existing debt associated with adoption of the standard is concentrated among firms whose debt contracts are less likely to be based on a fixed set of accounting standards, those with a higher likelihood of violating loan covenants, and those whose capital structures are more affected by the standard relative to other firms in their industry. Taken together, these findings suggest that contracting costs play a significant role in firms’ relative decrease in existing debt following implementation of ASC 842. Much of the related literature on ASC 842 documents efforts to reduce the impact of the lease standard prior to adoption. In contrast, our findings suggest that firms were unable to offset completely the increased leverage effects from the adoption of the standard, resulting in affected firms additionally reducing their reliance on existing debt.