Measurement under IAS 40: Fair value model? Evidence from Indonesia

Type of the article: Research Article AbstractThis study examines the effect of contractual, asset pricing, and opportunistic motivations on choosing a fair value or cost model for investment properties, as well as how institutional ownership moderates the influence of these three motivations. This study was conducted on 100 companies with investment property accounts in ten sectors listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2018 to 2022, including 500 firm-year data observations. The study used logistic regression and moderated regression analysis to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that the three motivations explain the choice between fair value and cost models. However, institutional ownership plays an important moderating role. Contractual motivation and firm size as a proxy are positively related to fair value choice, contradicting political costs, as fair value can enhance asset value, potentially increasing opportunities for third-party financing. Asset pricing incentives and the ratio of market to book value as proxies for information asymmetries do not affect the choice because Indonesia is a developing country where investors tend to exhibit herding bias, meaning their information sources rely on issues rather than financial reports. As for opportunistic motivation, the gain arising from changes in the fair value of investment property for the bonus plan proxy is positively related to the fair value choice. In addition, institutional ownership can strengthen the influence of contractual and opportunistic motivations and weaken the influence of asset pricing motivation on selecting a fair value model.