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Journal of Accounting and Economics Vol. 10 No. 4 1988

Economic consequences of accounting standards

Eugene A. Imhoff1,2; Jacob K. Thomas1,2

1 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor · 2 Columbia University

Abstract

We examine capital structure changes to investigate the impact of SFAS No. 13 on lessees. While this accounting standard essentially rearranged capital lease disclosures (from footnotes to the balance sheet), mandated capitalization substantially altered key accounting ratios. Our results document a systematic substitution from capital leases to operating leases and nonleases sources of financing. In addition, lessees appear to reduce book leverage by increasing equity and reducing conventional debt. The magnitudes of these responses are cross-sectionally related to preadoption levels of footnoted capital leases.

DOI
10.1016/0165-4101(88)90006-7
Volume
10
Issue
4
Pages
277-310
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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