The Effects of Hybrid Financial Instruments Under the Market-Based Accounting Research Perspective: Empirical Evidence from a Cross-Country Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of hybrid financial instruments in market-based accounting research. Thus, value relevance and timeliness models were used to determine how the accounting figures are assimilated by stock prices and returns (Ohlson, 1995; Aboody et al., 1999; Lopes & Walker, 2012). Additionally, the relationships between these bonds and the cost of capital, financial leverage, and the effective tax rate were observed, all of which are crucial to this fundraising tool (Lee & Figlewicz, 1999). The methodological approach was composed of two samples: (1) the interest group, formed by 39 companies that issued hybrid instruments in 10 different jurisdictions; and (2) the control group, comprised of 107 organizations domiciled in the same jurisdictions and having a similar equity composition to the interest group. The observations, collected quarterly from December 2005 to December 2015, totaled 3,386. The findings indicated that the hybrid financial instruments affected the stock prices and returns of the issuers in a positive and statistically significant way, much like other equity elements (e.g., book value per share and earnings per share). Concerning the determinant factors for the issuance of these bonds, it was found that the issuers had a higher cost of capital, more financial leverage, and a lower effective tax rate than the non-issuers. Therefore, it can be concluded that, while new forms of contracts for obtaining resources, such as hybrid financial instruments, are relevant for the financing of business activities, it is essential that accounting models faithfully represent the economic nature of these instruments in order to prevent biases from occurring among the users of financial statements.