We conduct two experiments with experienced accountants to investigate
how fair value accounting affects managers’ real economic decisions. In experiment
1, we find that participants are more likely to make suboptimal decisions
(e.g., forgo economically sound hedging opportunities) when both the
economic and fair value accounting impact information is presented than
when only the economic impact information is presented, or when both the
economic and historical cost accounting impact information is presented.
This adverse effect of fair value accounting is more likely when the price
volatility of the hedged asset is higher, which is a situation where, paradoxically,
hedging is more beneficial. We find that the effect is mediated by participants’
relative considerations of economic factors versus accounting factors
(e.g., earnings volatility). Experiment 2 shows that enhancing salience of economic
information or separately presenting net income not from fair value
remeasurements reduces the adverse effect of fair value accounting. Our findings
are informative to standard setters in their debate on the efficacy of fair
value accounting.