Capitalisation of development costs mandated under IAS 38 is an important accounting issue conveying a signal to users of accounting information regarding future economic benefits. Using a longitudinal sample of UK firms, firstly, we examine the adverse effect of CEO overconfidence levels on the association between capitalised development costs and future economic benefits, proxied by cash flows. Secondly, we examine the moderating influence of board gender diversity on this association. We find that the association between capitalised development costs and future cash flows, while positive, is significantly weaker for firms with higher levels of CEO overconfidence, implying that the signalling effect of capitalisation is diluted. Moreover, our results show that board gender diversity significantly moderates the managerial bias associated with high overconfidence levels, helping to restore the neutrality of accounting and the strength of signalling with regards to future economic benefits.

中文翻译：

---

资本化的开发成本和未来现金流：首席执行官过度自信和董事会性别多样性的影响


IAS 38 规定的开发成本资本化是一个重要的会计问题，向会计信息的使用者传达有关未来经济利益的信号。首先，我们使用英国公司的纵向样本，研究了首席执行官过度自信水平对资本化开发成本与以现金流为代表的未来经济效益之间关联的不利影响。其次，我们研究了董事会性别多样性对该关联的调节影响。我们发现，资本化开发成本与未来现金流之间的关联虽然呈正相关，但对于首席执行官过度自信程度较高的公司来说，关联性明显较弱，这意味着资本化的信号效应被稀释了。此外，我们的结果表明，董事会性别多样性显着缓和了与高过度自信水平相关的管理偏见，有助于恢复会计的中立性和关于未来经济效益的信号强度。