A Comparative Empirical Study for the Different Approaches of the Operational Leases Capitalization

Ever since the 1960's there has been debate about the impact of disclosure versus recognition of operating leases. The topic was interesting for preparers of financial statements, users of financial statements, as well as for regulators. Much research has been conducted to assess the impact of capitalization of operating leases. The number of studies increased along as the leasing industry developed with great speed in the twentieth century. Because the IASB, in cooperation with the FASB, drafted a new standard on lease accounting to replace the current standard, it became even more important to understnad the impact of capitalization of operating leases on financial ratios. The results of these studies, however, could not come to a general agreement. This disagreement could be caused by the differences between the constructive capitalization methods which were used in the different studies. In this study we compare two of the most widely used methods in order to assess which method has more explanatory power over the other.