Employee issues in accounting and disclosure

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K13638
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 07100:Accounting-related
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Fujiyama Keishi 神戸大学, 経済経営研究所, 准教授 (00756463)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 従業員 / 労使交渉 / 情報開示 / 株価反応 / 利益平準化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigated whether employees have private information about their firms and how employees affect the quality of earnings reported by their firms. More specifically, it conducted an interview about information sharing in the face of employee-firm negotiations and examined market reactions to employee downsizing announcements, labor cost stickiness, and the relationship between employment protection, dividends and income smoothing. This study suggests that employees have a certain amount of private information. It also suggests that labor costs of Japanese firms are not necessarily sticky. Finally, it does not find evidence on a substitutive relationship between dividend smoothing and income smoothing in relation to employment protection.

Free Research Field

会計学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

会計には組織に関わる主体間の利害を調整する機能がある。これまで、日本の企業会計の研究では主に株主・債権者（銀行）・経営者に焦点をあてた研究が行われてきた。一方、バブル崩壊後、日本のコーポレート・ガバナンスのあり方が徐々に変化してきており、銀行・従業員中心から株主中心の社会へとゆっくりと変わってきている。1990年代後半から日本では人員削減が頻繁に行われるようになってきており、雇用だけでなく、雇用形態や給料といった待遇においても変化がみられる。本研究は会計の利害調整機能の観点から企業と従業員の関係性に検討している。