The Role of External Monitoring in Firm Valuation : The Case of R&D Capitalization

We investigate whether the use of a high quality auditor and increased regulatory monitoring of Ramp;D reporting influence both the level of Ramp;D expenditure capitalized by Australian companies from 1992 to 2002 and the market's perception of the reliability of these figures. The results indicate that firms with a higher quality auditor capitalize lower levels of Ramp;D costs and that in the period following increased regulatory monitoring, firms capitalize fewer Ramp;D costs. Analysis of the value relevance of Ramp;D expenditure indicates that the market positively values Ramp;D costs when expensed as incurred. These results are consistent using both price and returns models. Results are less persistent for capitalized Ramp;D amounts. The finding from the returns model indicates that the quality of the auditor appears to enhance the reliability of capitalized Ramp;D costs while the price model suggests that the cumulative Ramp;D asset is less relevant in the period following ASC monitoring