Goodwill Impairment Losses, Economic Impairment, Earnings Management and Corporate Governance

Abstract

This paper investigates the association between goodwill impairment losses and proxies of economic impairment, earnings management incentives and corporate governance mechanisms. The results demonstrate significant associations between proxies of economic impairment and goodwill impairment losses, suggesting that impairment losses in goodwill to some extent reflect economic impairment. Some evidence, however, suggests that impairment losses are associated with earnings management incentives. Corporate governance mechanisms are not found to play a significant role in accounting for impairment losses in goodwill. The empirical results are based on observations from the 288 largest firms listed at the London Stock Exchange over the fiscal years 2005 to 2009.