国际财务报告准则前言

国际会计准则委员会最近发布了《国际财务报告准则前言》。该《前言》全面阐述了国际会计准则委员会的构成和职能、国际会计准则理事会的目标、国际财务报告准则的地位和作用、国际财务报告准则的制定程序 ,甚至还包括使用的语言 ,是国际会计准则委员会的全新展示。本期特刊出此《前言》译稿 ,供参考。     

Environmental Policy and Public Revenue with International Capital Mobility

In the presence of preexisting distortionary taxes, it is often argued that auctioned emission permits are preferable to non-auctioned permits, because the former generate revenues that may be used to reduce other taxes. This paper shows that when capital is internationally mobile, it may be optimal to use a combination of non-auctioned and auctioned emission permits, for both environmental and fiscal reasons. By letting the number of non-auctioned permits be a positive function of the amount of capital used domestically, they will attract capital to the home country. This may create environmental benefits in terms of reduced transboundary pollution and may lead to increased public revenue because the price of emission permits may increase and because the tax base may be enhanced. It is also shown that the optimal number of non-auctioned permits may increase as the marginal costs of public funds increase. JEL Code: D62, F21, Q28     

国际财务报告准则研究的回顾和展望

国际财务报告准则制定者预期国际财务报告准则的应用将使财务报表能够更好地反映公司的经济实质、增强各国公司财务报表的可比性、改善公司信息的透明度、提高企业财务报告的质量,并最终使广大投资者受益。然而现有研究并未就国际财务报告准则的应用效果得出一致性结论。然而无论短期内投资者是否从国际财务报告准则中受益,各国采用国际财务报告准则似乎已是大势所趋,那么接下来最亟待解决的问题应该是探究如何使各国从国际财务报告准则的应用中收益最大化,而解决此问题的一个重要前提条件就是需要探究国际财务报告准则应用收益的影响因素。为此,本文首先对现有国际财务报告准则相关文献进行了梳理和回顾,具体包括自愿采用国际财务报告准则的相关研究,强制采用与自愿采用国际财务报告准则的应用效果存在差异的原因探析,和强制采用国际财务报告准则的相关研究。接下来,本文着重分析了影响国际财务报告准则应用效果的一些重要因素,以期为各个国家或地区改进国际财务报告准则应用效果提供努力方向。     

The Measurement of International Harmonisation in Financial Reporting

Several developments in the harmonisation of accounting standards are described in the accompanying article by Howieson. This article explains how harmonisation can be measured and refers to studies of the harmonisation of accounting standards and of financial reporting in practice. These studies have measured harmonisation in Europe, the US and Japan, as well as comparing accounting standards and reporting practices under Australian accounting standards (AASBs) and international accounting standards (LASS).     

国际财务报告解释委员会前言

1.国际财务报告解释委员会(IFRIC)是国际会计准则理事会(LASB)的一个委员会,目的是从财务报表使用者、编制者和审计师的利益出发,帮助国际会计准则理事会建立和改进财务会计和报告的标准.2002年3月,国际会计准则委员会基金会受托人成立了国际财务报告解释委员会,并取代了以前的常设解释委员会.国际财务报告解释委员会的作用是就最新提出的尚未由国际财务报告准则(IFRSs)专门规定的财务报告问题,或已经存在或可能出现的不令人满意或相互冲突的财务报告解释问题,及时提供指南,并因此提高国际财务报告准则的严格和广泛运用.     

Constituent Participation and the IASB's International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee

Abstract

While international convergence of accounting standards is becoming more of a reality, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) continues to seek greater acceptance and legitimacy as an institution. Constituent participation is one key component for an organization to obtain legitimacy and success. This study investigates constituent participation of one significant part of the IASB, the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC). IASB/IFRIC constituents are classified in two ways: (1) geographically (by country and region); and (2) stakeholder interest group (the accounting profession, regulators, preparers and users). Respondents writing comment letters in regards to IFRIC's first 18 Draft Interpretations are examined. A total of 272 respondents from 40 countries generated 714 comment letters. The European Union provided a majority of writers and letters, with the UK being the largest contributor. The USA, Canada and developing countries generated few letters. Constituent participation significantly increased over IFRIC's predecessor committee, but responses remain concentrated with 35 respondents, mostly professional accountancy bodies and accounting standard-setters, generating 58% of the comment letters. Users accounted for only 5% of letters. While improved constituent participation may support the notion of increased legitimacy, limited participation by some IFRIC constituents suggests that the IASB should further promote constituent participation to achieve greater legitimacy.     

International Variations in the Connections Between Tax and Financial Reporting

This paper constructs a method for assessing the degree of connection between tax rules and practices and financial reporting rules and practices in a country. Five types of connection and disconnection are suggested, and 15 arenas of accounting are proposed for assessment on this basis. The method is applied to four countries, partly in order to test the claim of a clear distinction between Anglo-Saxon and continental European countries.     

国际会计准则理事会与国际财务报告准则的新动向

2001年4月1日完成改组的国际会计准则理事会(IASB),其机构设置、目标任务、运作方式、发展策略等都发生了重大变化,它以全球会计准则的研制和实施为目标,不断提高每一项会计准则的研制质量,努力推动国际会计准则的认可和实施。改组两年多来,取得了有目共睹的显著成绩,同时也面临许多新的问题和压力。本文对IASB和国际财务报告准则(IFRS)近两年的情况进行了深入研究,以期能够对我国会计准则的研究和制定有所贡献。 IASB的机构设置和发展目标: 全球会计准则的研制和推广经过历时三年多的改组重建,新的国际会计准则委员…     

中国的资本流向与国际金融体系

改革当今由西方发达国家主宰的国际货币金融制度,是解决发展中国资本问题的根本任务     

与资产评估业务相关的国际财务报告准则

2004年3月,国际财务报告准则经修订后重新发布,修订后的国际财务报告准则对于资产评估的需求大幅度增加.而根据惯例,相关的资产评估业务一般要求由独立的评估师来完成.近年来,国际财务报告准则(IFRS)日益受到各国的重视,2005年1月1日,欧盟上市公司已全面采用国际财务报告准则.同时,许多国家的会计准则也纷纷致力于与国际财务报告准则的接轨.     

国际财务报告准则第1号—初次采用国际财务报告准则

目标 1.本国际财务报告准则的目标是确保实体首份按国际财务报告准则编制的财务报表,以及这些财务报表涵盖的部分期间的中期财务报告提供高质量的信息:     

国际财务报告准则第2号:以股份为基础的支付

目标 1.本国际财务报告准则的目的是规范主体从事的以股份为基础的支付交易的财务报告.特别是,它要求主体在其损益和财务状况中反映以股份为基础的支付交易的影响,包括与授予雇员股票期权交易相关的费用.     

Microfinance institutions and International Financial Reporting Standards: An exploratory analysis

Previous studies analyzing firms’ incentives to choose international accounting standards show that firms with strong contracting incentives will be more likely to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). These studies are mostly centered on developed economies and are based on European and US data. Little is known about development finance organizations’ incentives to choose to draft their financial statements according to IFRS. Because commercialized microfinance institutions (MFIs) have strong contracting incentives, we investigate whether commercialization drives the choice of IFRS and study a pooled international sample of MFIs’ audited financial statements extracted from the MIX from 2007 to 2014. Consistent with our predictions, evidence shows that commercialization and maturity (age) are likely to drive the MFIs’ choice to comply with IFRS. Results are robust after controlling for heterogeneity in national regulations with regard to IFRS.     

Corporate governance and disclosures on the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards

For reporting periods ending on or after 30 June 2004, Australian companies were required to disclose the expected impact of applying Australian equivalents of International Financial Reporting Standards effective from 1 January 2005. The objective of this paper is to examine the association between the level of disclosure and corporate governance quality. Using a sample of listed companies with 30 June balance dates, we find that the quantity of disclosure was positively related to some aspects of superior corporate governance, such as the frequency of board and audit committee meetings and the choice of auditor.     

国际财务报告准则实施进展与经验

近年来,经济发展导致融资竞争更加激烈,经济资源跨境流动愈加频繁,能够向潜在投资者提供可靠可比的财务报表的企业,更有可能吸引国内外的投资。联合国已成为其成员国就可靠和可比的公司报表问题交换意见和经验的重要论坛。2007年10月31日至11月1日,联合国贸易和发展会议在瑞士日内瓦召开了第24届国际会计和报告标准政府间专家工作组(ISAR)会议。会议的主题之一是国际财务报告准则(IFRS)具体实施中的国际经验。巴基斯坦、南非和土耳其三国代表分别以案例研究的形式介绍了本国实施IFRS以来的经验和教训。以下对此次会议的主要内容作一综述,以便大家更多地了解国际财务报告准则研究与实施中的一些情况。     

The Role of National Culture in International Financial Reporting Standards Adoption

Prior research shows that the development of national accounting systems follows different patterns in different countries over the world. This was recently supported by the staggered manner in which countries adopt IFRS. Extant evidence shows that IFRS adoption decisions at the country level are determined by institutional and economic factors. In this context, cultural factors have not been considered. This paper examines the relationship between five cultural dimensions and countries’ decisions to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) around the world during the period 2003-2014. We find that countries with higher levels of uncertainty avoidance are more likely to adopt IFRS. Additionally, they are more likely to commit to early adoption largely on a mandatory rather than voluntary basis. On the other hand, countries with higher values of masculinity are more likely to adopt IFRS early, but the extent (whether voluntary or mandatory adoption) of adoption is not significantly related to masculinity. Finally, we show that countries with higher power distance (long-term orientation) are more (less) likely to adopt IFRS on a mandatory basis. The results are in line with Gray’s theory of cultural influence and suggest that differences in national culture had a significant role in countries’ reaction to the introduction of IFRS as a set of unified accounting standards targeting the harmonization of accounting standards adopted across different jurisdictions.     

Impact of International Financial Reporting Standard adoption on key financial ratios

Although previous research has investigated the economic consequences of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) adoption, there is little evidence on the impact of IFRS adoption on key financial ratios. To fill this gap, we examine this issue in a continental European country (Finland). Our results show that the adoption of IFRS changes the magnitude of the key accounting ratios. Moreover, we extend the literature by showing that the adoption of fair value accounting rules and stricter requirements on certain accounting issues are the reasons for the changes observed in accounting figures and financial ratios.     

User Requirements for Not-For-Profit Entity Financial Reporting: An International Comparison

This study investigates the not-for-profit (NFP) external financial reporting regulatory environments of the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand and compares them with that of Australia. It finds a lack of clarity in the definition of a NFP entity under Australian accounting standards. The study also identifies various types of information that earlier research and the guidance in other countries suggest are useful to the users of NFP entities' financial statements. This information is not currently required under Australian accounting standards.