This research project aims to empirically test if the faithful managements of listed companies and the faithful financial reporting of their outcome yield the improvement of their enterprise value.Within the project period, we conduct several empirical researches. Our empirical results showed that the firms with more active shareholders meetings, lower carbon emissions, and higher employee costs enjoy higher enterprise value. Even though these activities may reduce the earnings of current and/or near-future years, an implication of our results is that the shareholders focuses not on short-term earnings but on medium- and long-term earnings. We also suggested that information on these activities should be disclosed through the IR (Integrated Reporting)

平成25年度の研究実績は5点にまとめることができる。まず第1に、企業経営者の動機について先行研究を調査し、企業の目的論、経営者の行動の説明理論にもとづき、多様な企業の実体、企業の目的や経営者の行動の存在が多様な報告利益管理行動につながることを明らかにした。また、(1) モデル分析、(2) 実際の市場観察、(3) コーポレート・ガバナンス (企業統治) 研究という3つの視点から先行研究の研究成果を調査した。
第2に、経営者による会計政策を、(i)採用する会計基準の選択、(ii)新会計基準の適用時期の選択、(iii)一般に公正妥当と認められた会計方針から採用するものの選択、(iv)資産及び負債や収益及び費用等の額に不確実性がある場合における合理的金額の算定、(v)一般に公正妥当と認められた表示方法からの選択、という5つに分類する体系を提示し、それらに関する先行研究について検討を加えた。
第3に、利益平準化で利用される項目と利益平準化の目標となる利益について考察し、動機・誘因、株式市場の評価に関する先行研究について整理し、平準化の指標の精度向上や平準化された利益に対する株式市場の評価の検証などが今後の課題であることを明らかにした。
第4に、報告利益管理の実施方法に焦点を当て、発生主義会計に基づく会計的な項目を用いた裁量的な行動である (1) 会計的裁量行動と、実際の企業の実体を用いて裁量的な行動を行う (2) 実体的裁量行動に分けて先行研究を整理した。
第5に、報告利益管理の検出方法について先行研究の検討を行い、会計方針の選択や変更等、特定の処理に着目する方法から、回帰式等を用いて総額を推定する方向へと研究が進んでいることが示された。さらに、報告利益管理の検出方法はそれぞれ問題点を抱えているものの、問題点を緩和する方法を絶えず追求することにより研究が発展していることが明らかとなった。

In this research, we first have put in place the infrastructure necessary for financial reporting and surrounding area, discussed issues on disclosure diversification and overload, and finally considered what accounting should do on various issues on financial reporting. We have published our findings both in Japanese and in English, and have organized six symposiums and three round tables in 70th JAA annual meetings.

In the first year, we compared "Nikkei NEEDS Database" with "Standards & Poor's Research Insight", in its contents, usage, and usability. Nikkei NEEDS database has a relatively simple interface, with its search criteria limited to some important variables. Research Insight offers a variety of methods, and its search method is categorized with customers' purposes. They offer a "portal", featuring four types of search methods: (1) research, (2) report, (3) graph, and (4) company information. In the meanwhile, we studied the theoretical background of implementation. In the implementation phase, we have to remind the usability. Usability consists of interface and semantics. We adopted XML technology and Relational Database Management System to solve these two challenges. In expressing accounting data with XML, we have to analyze account items carefully. We broke Nikkei NEEDS financial file data into tree structure.
In the second year, we deployed accounting items into XBRL (Extensive Business Reporting Language) and put those data into the relational database. We also implemented necessary interface (front-end) for this database, and offered to the users at Waseda University.
Performance of this database is quite fast. Usual usage, such as searching 10 variables for 2,000 companies ends within 10 seconds. We also used this system for several empirical studies. We are continuing to work to improve the system with the feed back from users.

This research tried to figure out the meanings and functions of annual general meetings of shareholders in publicly held corporations, through both theoretical and empirical analysis of factors which activate shareholders' meetings. To do so, we first made a database of information on annual shareholders' meetings for 16 years. And then, we empirically analyzed the economic effects of active meetings. We found that the companies with active meeting will show improved profitability, will increase information they publish, and will attract individual shareholders. In addition, we confirmed the activation of shareholders' meetings is induced not by the shareholders, but by managements who changed their mind to do so.As a conclusion, it is now clear that the annual general meetings of shareholders in publicly held corporations have meanings, as a place where managements state their companies' philosophies and ask their shareholders to approve them, even in ordinary situations. Thus, the activations of shareholders' meetings show that the managements try to attract and maintain individual shareholders as their long-term, loyal shareholders, as well as that the managements have and perform reasonable companies' philosophies.Also, empirical results showed that companies with active shareholders' meetings publish better managerial forecasts, and those improvements were not managed through discretional accruals. Finally we found that the stock market response positively to the improvements of managerial forecasts

本研究の目的は,企業の経営者が前年度の決算情報とともに公表する,当年度の予想利益について,経営者の株主への意識がその精度に与える影響と,公表された予想利益に対する株式市場の反応を実証的に分析することを通じて,経営者予想利益の存在意義を確認することにあった.経営者の意識を推し量るための代理変数として,定時株主総会の所要時間を利用した.定時株主総会は,企業経営者が株主に対し,経営方針などを直接説明することができる稀有の場であることから,安定株主を獲得しようとする経営者はより丁寧な株主総会運営を心がけるであろうし,そのことは,少なからず所要時間の差となって現れるものと考えたからである.とりわけ,企業間の株式持合いの解消が進行するにつれ,安定的な個人株主の獲得に迫られる企業が増加する中で,株主総会の重要性は益々高まっているものと思われる.実証分析の結果,株主総会が活性化した企業においては,他の企業と比べ,また活性化する以前の年度と比べ,経営者予想利益の精度が向上していることが確認された.しかし,この結果に対し,予想利益と実際利益との差を以って予想利益の精度を測定する場合,実際利益を何らかの方法で予想利益に近づけようとする経営者が存在する可能性が指摘された.これに対し,裁量的会計発生項目額の変化を観察したところ,そのような懸念はまったく不要であり,純粋に予想利益の精度が向上していることを確認した.また,株主総会の活性化と経営者予想利益の精度向上が観察された企業に対し,株式市場が好意的に反応すること,そしてそれらの企業の公表する予想利益の価値関連性が高いことも合わせて確認された

This research first tried to empirically find out market reactions when Japanese companies implement anti-takeover measures. Due to the market situation, however, I have slightly changed the research questions to find out the relations between qualities of annual shareholders' meetings and qualities of disclosure before and after the meetings, as well as the logics behind the relations

Climate change remains a global challenge and so it is important to reduce rapidly the CO2 emissions to achieve the goals set by the Kyoto Protocol. In this research, first, CO2 emissions reduction effortsfrom Japanese companies' environmental reports are indicated. And next, we investigate the correlation between CO2 emissions and corporate value, and the correlation between corporate measures to reduce their emissions and its disclosure, and corporate value. The results suggest that the decision-making of investors incorporates firm's CO2 emissions and their countermeasures and disclosure