This paper analyzes the roles of controlling shareholders as either minority shareholder entrenchers or monitors in the relationship between conservative accounting practices and cash holding value. This issue is especially meaningful in countries such as Taiwan that have large numbers of firms with concentrated shareholdings. Consistent with the findings of Louis et al. (2012), our results indicate that accounting conservatism enhanced the value of cash holdings. In addition, our findings support both hypotheses H2a and H2b depending on the proportion of control-affiliated directors, agency problems, and financial crises. In general, the incentive effect of controlling shareholders, H2b, is supported at a relatively low proportion of control-affiliated directors, whereas the entrenchment effect of controlling shareholders, H2a, is confirmed at a relatively high proportion of control-affiliated directors. Moreover, the entrenchment effect is aggravated when a firm suffers a serious agency problem during a period of financial crisis. This study contributes to the current literature on the influence of accounting conservatism on cash value in the presence or absence of controlling shareholders.

Introduction

This study attempts to clarify the role of controlling shareholders either as an entrenchment of minority shareholders or as a monitor of the relationship between accounting conservatism and the value of a firm’s cash holdings. For reasons related to either higher levels of cash flow volatility or high external financing costs, a growing number of firms are adopting a precautionary approach to cash holdings management (Bernstein, 1994). According to Bates, Kahle, and Stulz (2009), US firms that hold large amounts of cash are increasingly unlikely to invest in projects or distribute them to shareholders, but the greater potential for abuses on the part of CEOs raises questions about the practice of enhancing cash value by holding large amounts of cash. Louis et al. (2012) propose accounting conservatism as a separate and potentially influential factor resulting in increased cash value. According to conservative accounting principles, firms tend to recognize their losses in a timely manner while deferring gains until revenues are verified. This practice, which is known as asymmetric timing, has a conservative effect on earnings. Accounting conservatism in the form of timely loss/delayed gain recognition is one method of mitigating agency problems (Watts, 2003). The practice has the potential effect of preventing managers from hiding losses and evading responsibility by manipulating financial data. As a result, conservative accounting practices are viewed as both helping resolve agency problems and increasing firm value by decreasing the potential for lower cash value tied to overinvestment decisions (Louis et al., 2012).