臺灣上市櫃公司英文財報之可讀性研究

Abstract

隨著全球資本市場的日益國際化，為提升臺灣企業財務資訊的國際可及性，並進一步吸引外國投資者，金融監督管理委員會自2018年起，依據企業實收資本額與外國投資人比例，分三階段要求臺灣上市櫃公司提供英文版財務資訊。本研究旨在探討企業於法規發布前是否已自願揭露英文財務報導，以及被強制納入揭露規範的時間點，與英文財報可讀性之間的關聯性。 實證結果顯示，相較於法規實施後才被強制要求揭露英文財報的公司，法規公布前即已自願揭露英文財報的公司，其英文財報可讀性顯著較高，反映這類公司具備較強的誘因去確保英文財報的語意品質與翻譯準確性。另一方面，在強制揭露的框架下，愈晚被納入規範的公司，其英文財報的可讀性則相對較低，推測此類公司多為資本規模較小或外國投資人比例較低之企業，可能難以承擔額外翻譯成本，或缺乏提升翻譯品質的誘因。此外，本研究亦進一步分析法規適用起始時間對分析師追蹤程度與外國投資人比例之影響，結果顯示，法規發布前即已自願揭露英文財報的公司有較多的分析師追蹤與更高的外國投資人比例；而愈晚被納入強制揭露規範的公司，其分析師追蹤與外國投資人比例則顯著較低。

With the increasing globalization of capital markets, Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission has mandated listed and over-the-counter companies to disclose English financial reports in three stages since 2018, determined by firms' paid-in capital and foreign ownership percentage, aiming to enhance the international accessibility of Taiwanese corporate information and attract foreign investors. This study investigates whether companies disclosed English financial reports prior to regulation and how the timing of mandatory compliance relates to the readability of these reports. Empirical results indicate that companies disclosing English financial reports before the regulation exhibit significantly higher readability compared to those mandated to disclose subsequently, suggesting stronger incentives to maintain semantic and translation quality. Conversely, among firms mandated to disclose under the new regulation, those incorporated at later stages show relatively lower readability, possibly due to smaller capital size or lower foreign ownership proportions, leading to higher burdens of translation costs or weaker motivation to enhance report quality. Additionally, this study further examines the impact of the timing of regulatory compliance on analyst coverage and foreign ownership. Results show that firms disclosing English financial reports prior to the regulation attract more analyst attention and higher foreign ownership, whereas firms compelled to comply at later stages exhibit lower analyst coverage and foreign ownership percentages.