Purpose

This paper aims to examine the economic rationale for the COVID-19 wage subsidy and grants related to assets and the accounting for these wealth transfers under NZ IAS 20 Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance. The principal contribution is presenting an economics–accounting nexus for government assistance to firms during a pandemic and for the nation’s economic development.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a descriptive study that draws on the economic theory of regulation to understand the rationale for wealth transfers, then examining the accounting for the wealth transfers by analyzing the financial statements of NZX 50 companies that received the wage subsidy and SkyCity and Chorus that received substantial grants to develop and operate the New Zealand International Convention Centre and building a large part of New Zealand’s Ultra-Fast Broadband fiber optic network, respectively.

Findings

First, the 10 NZX 50 companies that received the government’s wage subsidy were justified to receive it from the legal, ethical and moral perspectives. However, some non-NZX 50 companies, while legally entitled to the wage subsidy, took advantage of the wealth transfer when they were profitable and paid dividends. This latter group of companies was not seen as behaving ethically and morally. Second, the government granted millions of dollars to SkyCity and Chorus for building critical infrastructures that are economically beneficial for the nation and that are unlikely to attract private investment, and these companies accounted for the grants related to assets in accordance with NZ IAS 20.

Research limitations/implications

The financial statement impacts of the wage subsidy are based on a subset of NZX 50 companies with available information at the time of writing. However, they do not compromise the external validity of the findings because the wage subsidy applies to all businesses. Similarly, the manner in which SkyCity and Chorus accounted for the grants related to assets would apply equally to any entity that is a recipient of such a grant.

Originality/value

This paper presents an economic understanding for the existence of government grants and how the accounting mirrors the economic rationale for the “grants related to income” and “grants related to assets.” This paper demonstrates the importance of the economics–accounting nexus.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19工资补贴和其他政府补助的经济学和会计核算

目的

本文旨在研究与资产相关的COVID-19工资补贴和补助金的经济原理，以及根据NZ IAS 20政府补助金和政府补助的披露对这些财富转移进行的核算。主要的贡献是呈现出一种经济会计核算关系，为大流行期间政府对企业的援助以及国家的经济发展提供了帮助。

设计/方法/方法

这是一项描述性研究，它基于监管的经济学理论来理解财富转移的原理，然后通过分析获得工资补贴的NZX 50公司以及获得大量收入的SkyCity和Chorus的财务报表，检查财富转移的会计处理分别开发和运营新西兰国际会议中心，并建设新西兰超快速宽带光纤网络的很大一部分。

发现

首先，从法律，道德和道德的角度来看，获得政府工资补贴的10家NZX 50公司是合理的。但是，一些非NZX 50公司虽然合法享有工资补贴，但在获利并支付股息时利用了财富转移的优势。后者的公司没有被视为在道德和道德上表现良好。其次，政府向天空城和合唱团拨款数百万美元，用于建设对国家经济有利且不太可能吸引私人投资的关键基础设施，并且这些公司根据NZ IAS 20核算了与资产相关的拨款。

研究局限/意义

工资补贴对财务报表的影响是基于NZX 50公司的子集，在撰写本文时可获得信息。但是，它们不会损害调查结果的外部有效性，因为工资补贴适用于所有企业。同样，SkyCity和Chorus核算与资产相关的补助金的方式将同样适用于接受此类补助金的任何实体。

创意/价值

本文提供了对政府补助金的存在的经济学理解，以及会计如何反映“与收入相关的补助金”和“与资产相关的补助金”的经济原理。本文证明了经济学与会计之间的联系的重要性。