经济全球化和会计准则的国际趋同

世界经济的发展早已打破国界,经济已走向全球化。面对世界经济的急速变化,会计作为一种通用的商业语言,始终处于一个动态的、不断发展的过程中,最终走向了会计准则的国际趋同。2005年,欧盟27个成员国、澳大利亚、新西兰、俄罗斯等国约有7000家上市公司均遵循IFRSs编制财务报表。国际会计准则制定机构在2009年进行了改组,世界上越来越多的国家采用了国际财务报告准则(IFRSs)。2010年,IFRSs和美国GAAP之间的主要差异基本消失。我国财政部于2006年2月发布了39项企业会计准则,2010年又发布了《中国企业会计准则与国际财务报告准则持续趋同路线图》,中国会计准则也与IFRSs基本趋同。     

Introduction of International Accounting Standards,Disclosure Quality and Accuracy of Analysts' Earnings Forecasts

We examine whether the introduction of international accounting standards by German companies has improved the accuracy of analysts' forecasts, and what role changes in the quality of disclosures have played in this process. We develop a structural equation model that allows us to separate the effects of changes in disclosure quality from other effects of the introduction of international accounting standards on forecast errors. Our sample comprises 1,908 firm-years covering the period from 1997 to 2005. We measure disclosure quality with data from a yearly annual-report competition. We find that the introduction of international accounting standards has been associated with a significant improvement in forecast accuracy. Increases in the quality of companies' disclosures appear to have contributed to this improvement. However, the disclosure effect, while significant, explains only a small portion of the overall improvement in forecast accuracy. Further analyses show that differences in disclosure quality are more relevant for German GAAP companies than for IFRS/US GAAP companies. Moreover, only the quality of notes to companies' financial statements appears to matter to analysts; the quality of management reports appears to make no difference. Our results are robust to a variety of tests concerning the sample composition, the operationalisation of variables and the estimation procedure.     

EUROPEAN ACCOUNTING REVIEW

This study contributes to the accounting literature by providing empirical evidence from China that adopting IFRS does not necessarily lead to IFRS-type accounting practices. We examine the impact of regulatory enforcement, in particular, an important Chinese government compulsory compliance policy implemented in 2001, and audit upon the convergence of Chinese accounting practices. Using a sample of 103 Chinese B-share companies between 1999 and 2004, we reveal that the decline in earnings difference between firms' financial statements under Chinese GAAP and IFRS is the result of the implementation of the 2001 policy and the audit committee which effectively control the firm's application of standards rather than the differences between the standards. The effect of audit committee leads us further to argue that the convergence of accounting practices may be affected by not only the lack of insufficient understanding of IFRS by local accounting professionals, but also the management opportunistic behaviour during the application of different standards. It implies that corporate governance may affect the convergence of accounting practice. However, we do not find evidence for international audit firms outperforming their Chinese local CPAs with regard to IFRS compliance. Therefore, the Chinese government should be cautious in promoting the participation of international audit firms in China for achieving IFRS compliance.     

International Convergence of Accounting Practices: Choosing between IAS and US GAAP

This study examines reporting practices of a sample of foreign listed and domestic‐only listed companies from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan and Australia to determine the extent to which companies voluntarily use “international” standards. Two types of use of non‐national standards in the consolidated accounts presented to the public are considered: adoption of “international” standards instead of national standards, and supplementary use where “international” standards are used in conjunction with national standards. “International” standards are defined as US GAAP or IAS (now IFRS). The study tests for a preference for either set of standards and considers the relationship of choice of regime with firm attributes. The results show significant voluntary use of “international” standards in all five countries and among foreign listed and domestic‐only listed companies. Companies using “international” standards are likely to be larger, have more foreign revenue and to be listed on one or more foreign stock exchanges. US GAAP is the predominant choice, but IAS are used by many firms in Germany and some in Japan. Firms listed in the United States' regulated markets (NYSE and NASDAQ) are more likely to choose US GAAP, but companies traded in the OTC market often select IAS. The study demonstrates for managers and regulators that there is considerable support for “international” standards, and that choice of IAS or US GAAP relates to specific firm characteristics which differ according to a firm's country of origin. Most use of “international” standards reflects individual countries' institutional frameworks, confirming the key role of national regulators and standard setters in assisting companies to achieve more comparable international reporting.     

对一般公认会计原则与国际财务报告准则趋同的研究

基于在美国上市的外国公司披露的由国际财务报告准则(IFRS)向一般公认会计原则(GAAP)调整的财务数据资料,通过单样本均值检验和回归分析对美国GAAP与IFRS之间的差异进行的实证研究,结果表明,按照IFRS和美国GAAP核算的净利润存在显著的差异,造成这种差异的原因主要是IFRS和GAAP在企业合并、无形资产、借款费用的资本化、金融工具、收入确认、养老金和退休后福利、税收、不动产等方面的会计处理不同。     

欧盟会计标准国际趋同过程与借鉴

欧盟会计标准的国际趋同经历了一个从内部协调到采用国际财务报告准则的过程。由于成员国之间存在的差异,通过公司法协调项目进行内部协调的结果并不理想,直到采用国际财务报告准则才实现趋同。     

Canadian Manager Perceptions of the US Exchange Listings: Recent Evidence

This study reports recent evidence of Canadian manager perceptions of the benefits and costs of listing in US markets, their attitudes toward listing in the US market, and their opinions regarding the importance of using alternative reporting and disclosure requirements, such as Canadian GAAP or international standards, in lieu of US GAAP for US listings. Manager perceptions of firms listing in the US ("listers") are compared to those of firms that have not listed in the US ("nonlisters") as well as to listers' perceptions collected prior to the implementation of the Multijurisdictional Disclosure System (MJDS). Our results do not unambiguously support expectations that implementation of the MJDS would result in cost savings for Canadian listers. We find strong similarities in the perceived benefits of listing as previously reported, but in a significantly higher proportion of our post–MJDS sample. Responses from listers and nonlisters reflect differences between the two populations. Listers appeared concerned with US GAAP reconciliations and disclosure requirements while non–listers are more concerned with the overall difficulty of listing, the costs of listing, and US litigation. Most strongly, however, nonlisters perceive it as unnecessary to list in the US market. Contrary to expectations, we find that US accounting disclosure and reporting requirements are not perceived to be barriers to US market entry for Canadian firms, but instead appear to be post–entry irritants. Finally, we also find evidence that perceptions of nonlisters differ between those firms that list on the Vancouver Stock Exchange and those that list on the Toronto Stock exchange. This suggests that future studies may require finer partitions than on a national basis.     

On the Relationship between Voluntary Disclosure,Earnings Smoothing and the Value-Relevance of Earnings: The Case of Switzerland

Abstract

This paper examines whether voluntary disclosure by Swiss firms constrains the use of discretionary accruals to smooth earnings, and explores the effect of voluntary disclosure on the value relevance of earnings. We focus on Swiss firms because Switzerland's financial reporting system provides managers with extensive discretion in corporate disclosure, and there are important variations in the level of information provided in their annual reports. We consider that managers can choose two different ways to voluntarily convey information, either through the quality and quantity of annual report disclosure or, through compliance with International Accounting Standards (IAS)/International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Relying on a simultaneous equations approach, our results suggest that Swiss firms use discretionary accruals to smooth earnings. However, this relation is reduced for firms that voluntarily disclose more information in their annual report or comply with IAS/IFRS or US GAAP. Moreover, we show that discretionary accruals of high disclosers or of firms voluntarily complying with IAS/IFRS or US GAAP receive a lower valuation weight.     

国际会计准则的走向分析及其启示

本文通过回顾国际会计准则的发展历史,从国际会计准则委员会的努力和欧盟、美国等不同利益集团对国际会计准则的态度等方面,简要分析了国际会计准则的走向及其对我国会计国际协调的启示。     

IFRS Adoption and Accounting Quality: A Review

Abstract

In 2002, the European Union (EU) Parliament passed a regulation that requires consolidated and simple accounts for all companies listed in the EU to use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for fiscal years starting after 1 January 2005. This change in accounting systems will have a large impact on the information environment for EU companies. This paper provides a review of the literature on adoption of different Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). We thus provide background and guidance for researchers studying the change in accounting quality following widespread IFRS adoption in the EU. We argue that cross-country differences in accounting quality are likely to remain following IFRS adoption because accounting quality is a function of the firm's overall institutional setting, including the legal and political system of the country in which the firm resides.     

The Impact of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Equity Valuation of Accounting Numbers for Security Investors in the EU

Motivated by the European Union (EU) decision to mandate application of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to the consolidated financial statements of all EU listed firms (Regulation (EC) 1606/2002), starting in December 2005, we compare the value relevance of accounting information in 14 European countries in the year prior to and the year of the mandatory adoption of the IFRS. We focus on three accounting information items for which measurements under IFRS are likely to differ considerably from measurements under domestic accounting practices across the EU countries prior to the introduction of the international standards: goodwill, research and development expenses (R&D), and asset revaluation. These three items, selected on an a priori basis, have been shown in previous research to differ in the effect of uncertainty on their future benefits. We use valuation models that include these three variables and in addition the book value of equity and earnings. Overall, our study suggests that the adoption of the IFRS has increased the value relevance of the three accounting numbers for investors in equity securities in the EU. Association tests support our two hypotheses: (1) in the year prior to the mandatory adoption of the IFRS, the incremental value relevance to investors of the three domestic GAAP-based accounting items was greater in countries where the respective domestic standards were more compatible with the IFRS; and (2) the higher the deviation of the three domestic GAAP-based accounting items from their corresponding IFRS values, the greater the incremental value relevance to investors from the switch to IFRS. These associations prevail when considering cross-country differences in the institutional environments, which tend to provide complementary effects.     

The Impact and Importance of Mandatory Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in Europe

In this paper we report the results of conducting a two‐stage analysis on the impact and importance of mandatory adoption of international accounting reporting standards (IFRS) on European Union firms. In the first stage we determined the impact of mandatory adoption of IFRS across 13 countries and twenty industries. This was accomplished by identifying significant differences in return on assets (ROA) for firms computed under IFRS and local, generally accepted accounting principles (LG). Significant positive differences were detected for firms in Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom: only German and Norwegian firms exhibited a negative average significant difference between ROA calculated using IFRS and LG. Repeating the analysis of differences in ROA on an industry‐by‐industry basis yielded additional Portuguese and Spanish firms for the second stage of the analysis in which the impact of mandatory IFRS adoption was assessed. Defining impact in terms of market and financial reporting quality, we found a statistically significant relationship between accounting information and market returns for firms in the all‐countries‐combined sample of 3,530 observations, and in the countries of Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Support for the timeliness of accounting information was uncovered for firms in the all‐countries‐combined sample, and in the countries of Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Finally, evidence to support the proposition that accounting regimes produce quality discretionary accruals was found for firms from the all‐countries‐combined sample of 3,480 observations and from Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. When comparing differential accounting information constructed under IFRS and LG, however, few differences could be found. Specifically, there was no statistical support for any of the samples that accounting information produced under IFRS was any more value relevant than the accounting information derived using LG. When our examination shifted to the timeliness of earnings, a positive differential impact between earnings constructed on the basis of IFRS and local accounting standards was detected only for the all‐countries‐combined sample. Finally, the quality of discretionary accruals was shown to be significantly higher under IFRS than LG for firms in Finland, Greece and Sweden.     

Voluntary adoption of non-local GAAP in the European Union: A study of determinants and consequences

Abstract

This study examines the determinants and consequences of voluntary adoption of non-local accounting principles (non-local GAAP) by firms listed and domiciled in the European Union (EU). We restrict ourselves to the two predominant internationally accepted sets of accounting standards: International Accounting Standards (IAS) and United States generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP). We have used various sources to identify EU firms that use non-local GAAP. We examine the 1999 annual reports of all these firms, because accounting standard choices in more recent years may be affected by the announcement of the proposal by the European Commission in February 2001 to mandate IAS usage from 2005 on. The maintained hypothesis is that firms that voluntarily adopt IAS or US GAAP expect to experience net benefits from adoption. The finding that 133 non-financial firms in the EU voluntarily used non-local GAAP in 1999 suggests that the majority of listed EU firms does not expect to benefit from non-local GAAP adoption. By studying the characteristics of non-local GAAP adopters this study provides insight into the determinants of non-local GAAP adoption. We find that firms voluntarily using non-local GAAP are more likely to be listed on a US exchange, the EASDAQ exchange in Brussels, and have more geographically dispersed operations. Furthermore, they are more likely to be domiciled in a country with lower quality financial reporting and where IAS is explicitly allowed as an alternative to local GAAP. We also study whether non-local GAAP adopters have lower levels of information asymmetry, a much cited benefit of using more transparent financial reporting, than non-adopters. We examine three proxies for information asymmetry: analyst following, cost of equity capital, and uncertainty among analysts and investors (forecast dispersion and stock return volatility). We document a positive effect of non-local GAAP adoption on analyst following, but fail to find evidence of a lower cost of capital for non-local GAAP adopters. Contrary to expectations, uncertainty among analysts and investors appears to be higher for firms using IAS or US GAAP than for firms using local GAAP. However, by comparing ‘early’ and ‘late’ adopters, we find some evidence that suggests that benefits take some time to fully materialise.     

欧盟为什么推迟认可IFRS9?

深入阐释了欧盟推迟认可IFRS9的原因,即公允价值应用扩大、分阶段评估困难和欧盟委员会换届。展望了欧盟对IFRS9的后续策略,对欧盟2015年开始执行IFRS9持乐观态度。了解欧盟对IFRS的认可机制和处理会计标准国际协作问题的做法对我国会计准则国际趋同及与欧盟进行会计准则等效谈判有借鉴意义。     

Determinants and Consequences of a Voluntary Turn Away from IFRS to Local GAAP: Evidence from Switzerland

Abstract

We examine determinants and consequences of a turn away from International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to local generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), thereby exploiting a unique feature of the Swiss setting in which listed firms are allowed to switch from IFRS to Swiss GAAP, all else being equal. We posit that net benefits of IFRS are less for small firms with higher insider ownership. In addition, we predict that the net benefits of IFRS are not constant over time because of changes in IFRS and/or changes in firm-specific circumstances. To the extent that the switching firms’ costs of IFRS reporting outweigh its benefits, we do not predict adverse capital-market effects after a switch. Consistent with predictions, we find that (a) small firms with higher insider ownership and fewer foreign investor holdings are more likely to switch, (b) increasing reporting costs as well as changes in firm-specific circumstances affect switching propensity, (c) switching firms substantially reduce their disclosures after they switch, and (d) switching firms neither experience a decrease in liquidity nor negative announcement returns. Overall, our findings are important for standard setters and securities regulators in shaping (future) reporting requirements for listed firms.     

CEO Pay Contracts and IFRS Reconciliations

Abstract

We examine whether UK managers exploit the discretion provided in the UK GAAP to IFRS reconciliation process to manage earnings and whether this earnings management is associated with the structure of the managers' compensation contracts. We use a comprehensive data set of mainly hand-collected information from the firms' annual reports to provide evidence that, given the existence of an accounting-related vesting target in their pay schemes, CEOs use UK GAAP to IFRS reconciliations as an earnings management tool. We test our hypotheses under a number of different specifications, including a propensity score matching analysis. Our study contributes to the literature on the relation between earnings management and contractual incentives by focusing on a major structural change in accounting policies.     

The impact of accounting reform on accounting quality: Evidence from Nigeria

The effectiveness of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is dependent on the strength of enforcement of accounting standards in a given country. This study explores the implications of the adoption of IFRS in Nigeria after the enforcement of accounting standards was strengthened. The strengthening of accounting standards enforcement, and the subsequent adoption of IFRS in Nigeria, was recommended by the World Bank to improve the country's regulatory outlook after a capital market crisis in 2007/2008 that was triggered by widespread accounting irregularities. Results indicate that accounting quality declined in Nigeria following the adoption of IFRS; while earnings management increased, timely loss recognition and earnings persistence reduced. Our study contributes to the burgeoning literature on IFRS adoption and concludes that the effect of IFRS adoption is contextual. Therefore, accounting regulatory institutions operating in a similar context to Nigeria should localize IFRS.     

The Effect of Accounting Education and National Culture on Accounting Judgments: A Comparative Study of Anglo-Celtic and Chinese Culture

Countries adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) need to educate and train their professional accountants so that they are able to interpret and apply IFRS in a consistent manner. This study examines the effect of national culture and education on the judgments of Australian (Anglo-Celtic) and Chinese final year undergraduate accounting students in Australia. It seeks to understand whether culture influences student interpretation and application of uncertainty expressions, which are used as recognition and disclosure thresholds in IFRS. Results obtained on the cultural dimensions of Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism, Power Distance, Masculinity and Long-Term Orientation provide evidence that Chinese students exhibit greater conservatism and secrecy compared to Australian students. The results of the study indicate that national culture has a significant effect on the judgments of accounting students when interpreting and applying selected IFRS containing uncertainty expressions. The results also imply that educational similarity does not moderate the effect of culture in influencing the judgments of accounting students. An important implication of the study is that regulators and standard-setters involved in the international convergence of accounting standards need to pay greater attention to cultural factors that may result in a difference in the interpretation and application of IFRS.     

Environmental management accounting in Europe: current practice and future potential

Abstract

We examine the impact of managerial financial reporting incentives on accounting quality changes around International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. A novel feature of our single-country setting based on Germany is that voluntary IFRS adoption was allowed and common before IFRS became mandatory. We exploit the revealed preferences in the choice to (not) adopt IFRS voluntarily to determine whether the management of individual firms had incentives to adopt IFRS. For comparability with previous studies, we assess accounting quality through multiple constructs such as earnings management, timely loss recognition, and value relevance. While most existing literature documents accounting quality improvements following IFRS adoption, we find that improvements are confined to firms with incentives to adopt, that is, voluntary adopters. We also find that firms that resist IFRS adoption have closer connections with banks and inside shareholders, consistent with lower incentives for more comprehensive accounting standards. The overall results indicate that reporting incentives dominate accounting standards in determining accounting quality. We conclude that it is unwarranted to infer from evidence on accounting quality changes around voluntary adoption that IFRS per se improves accounting quality.     

会计准则的供给与需求

会计信息是一种典型的公共物品,由于存在“市场失灵”、“政府失灵”,无法从根本上回答是政府制定会计准则还是由民间机构制定准则。从准则的供需角度出发,我国会计准则与美国以及国际会计准则的不同具有必然性,因为供给与需求不同,导致各国会计目标不完全相同。目标如不一致,所采用的会计政策与会计方法就会有侧重。