The Effect of Blockchain Related Disclosure on Accounting Transparency

Abstract

[Purpose] Currently, in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, public interest in blockchain is high as a way to compensate for the transparency issues of the existing accounting system. In this study, we analyze the accounting transparency of the firms that have voluntarily disclosed the adoption of blockchain technology. In addition, we verify if the blockchain technology in fact improves the accounting transparency of companies. [Methodology] Three different discretionary accruals were used as proxies for measuring accounting transparency. The subj ect of the study i s a group of 764 f irms selected from the Fortune 500 firms in the United States. The analyses performed in this study were difference analysis and regression analysis. [Findings] The results of our analyses showed that blockchain disclosure firms had lower discretionary accruals than the firms with no disclosure. These results confirm that blockchain related voluntary disclosures increase the accounting transparency of the firms. [Implications] This study verified that blockchain technology has a positive effect on decreasing the earnings management behavior of the firms. It is also confirmed that the blockchain－based accounting system and accounting transparency are positively correlated as it has a monitoring effect on corporate managers.