Managing the economic impact of accounting regulation: the Spanish case

Company financial managers, when confronted with a change in accounting regulations, may face a change in their economic environment as a result of the reaction of users to the reported accounting information. In 1990 a requirement for lessees to capitalize finance leases was introduced in Spain. Reports the results of a survey in Spain of two key groups, company financial managers and bank financial analysts. The study concludes that leasing companies successfully lobbied for changes in the accounting rules which actually proved adverse to their economic interests; and company managers and bank analysts misunderstand each other′s reactions to the capitalization of finance leases. Indicates that managers can benefit from studying research on economic impact issues before determining their own response.