关键词: 会计信息质量, 投资回报率, 资本成本

Abstract: According to the theory of information economics, in the case of information asymmetry, by disclosing high-quality financial report audited by independent accountants, enterprises can eliminate the market friction cost of external financing caused by information asymmetry to a certain extent, and help enterprises obtain a competitive advantage in the product market. Meanwhile, the quality of accounting information is also a function of the governance of enterprises. However, most of the current literature mainly focuses on the signal role of the quality of accounting information in the capital market and its impact on the capital cost for external financing, while ignoring its signal role in the product market and its impact on the return of competitive advantage of enterprises. Using the data of listed companies in Chinese Stock Market from 2011 to 2019, this paper conducts a systematic study in the relationship between the quality of accounting information and the return of investment and the cost of capital. It is found that, consistent with theoretical expectations, the better quality of the accounting information during the reporting period, the higher the return on the investment of enterprises, and the lower the corresponding capital cost in the next year. At the same time, the positive correlation between the quality of accounting information in the current year and the return on investment in the next fiscal year, and the negative correlation between the quality of accounting information and the cost of capital have become more significant to a certain extent with the improvement of the governance of enterprises. Further research shows that high-quality accounting information can help enterprises gain the competitive advantage in the product market, build a more stable ustomer relationship, and generate a stronger bargaining power in the supply chain.

Key words: accounting information quality, return on investment, cost of capital