Does foreign ownership impact accounting conservatism adoption in Vietnam?

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of foreign ownership on accounting conservatism adoption in Vietnam. Although foreign ownership is found to have a positive relationship with accounting conservatism in Korea (An, 2015), there is still no general agreement on it. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to shed more light on the association between foreign ownership and accounting conservatism. Using data from Vietnamese firms listed on stock exchanges, the study finds that in contrast to the findings of An, foreign ownership is negatively associated with accounting conservatism. This result supports the transient hypothesis of foreign ownership, indicating that foreign investors with the low level of ownership do not have significant incentives to oversee managers, thus not influencing financial reporting quality. © 2017 Prague Development Center.