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.     

Relevance of Differences between Net Income based on IFRS and Domestic Standards for European Firms

Net income adjustments resulting from mandatory 2005 IFRS adoption in Europe are value relevant for financial and non‐financial firms. Differences in relevance of the aggregate adjustment and adjustments related to several IFRS standards, for financial and non‐financial firms and across country groups, suggest differences in domestic standards and institutions affect investors’ assessment of the relevance of IFRS accounting amounts. Despite these differences, except for French/German non‐financial firms, investors view net income measured using IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement as more relevant than that measured using domestic standards, which is notable because IAS 39 was highly controversial in Europe.     

Compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards and auditor choice: New evidence on the importance of the statutory audit

We examine the impact of auditor choice on IFRS compliance under the assumption of strict exogeneity of auditor choice. Our results reveal that compliance is positively related to auditor choice after controlling for firm size, profitability, leverage, degree of international diversification, and whether a firm has a U.S. listing or was audited according to International Standards of Auditing. We also find that auditor choice is positively related to firm compliance when controlling for unmeasured, firm-specific effects. The results of our study reinforce the importance of developing institutional mechanisms (e.g., enforcement, auditing, or corporate governance structures) to encourage compliance with IFRS.     

The preparedness of companies to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards: Portuguese evidence

This paper uses ordinal regression, structural equation modelling, and multivariate analysis techniques to investigate the preparedness to adopt IFRS that was exhibited by listed Portuguese companies in August 2003. We find the level of preparedness was significantly associated with company size, commercial internationalization, audit by a ‘Big 4’ accounting firm, and profitability. Our findings will help to indicate the pre-conditions that are likely to spur lagging companies (and countries) to prepare to implement IFRS.     

Does financial reporting regulation influence the value of cash holdings?

We investigate how the value of cash holdings changes following the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which is viewed as an exogenous shock to information asymmetry between firms and outside investors. Using firm-level data from 47 countries, we find that mandatory IFRS adoption has a negative and significant impact on the value of cash holdings. This result suggests that investors reduce their valuation of cash holdings when firms can have access to external financing at a lower cost under IFRS. The negative effect of IFRS is concentrated among financially constrained firms. Furthermore, we show that the effect is more pronounced in countries with strong legal enforcement. Overall, our evidence highlights that financial reporting regulation can have a significant effect on how outside investors value corporate cash holdings across countries.     

The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in a non-colonized developing country: The case of Nepal

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic and rigorous analysis of the accounting environment in Nepal. Based on the accounting ecology framework developed by Gernon and Wallace (1995) and interviewing selected key stakeholders, it critically examines issues related to the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Nepal. It contributes to the literature by examining issues associated with the adoption of IFRS in a non-colonized developing country. This study finds that the decision to adopt IFRS in Nepal is not driven by the needs of local organizations and is rather imposed by donor organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The findings of this study provide evidence that the adoption of IFRS is likely to be problematic due to the country's contextual environment. Specifically, there is a severe lack of qualified accountants in Nepal and the accounting profession is not ready to adopt IFRS. The study also finds that social problems such as widespread corruption and fraud are likely to cause problems for the adoption of IFRS.     

Insights into accounting choice from the adoption timing of International Financial Reporting Standards

This paper collects survey evidence on the costs and benefits of adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). It also examines the motivations for the timing of IFRS adoption. Significant differences exist between early and late adopters for three of nine benefits and for one of six cost measures. No significant differences exist in terms of firm size or the impact of IFRS on contracts. Early adopters perceive themselves as market leaders. They are more certain about the manageability of implementing IFRS and are more specific with regard to the impact of IFRS adoption. Late adoption decisions are motivated by adverse consequences and uncertainty.     

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.     

Confirmation bias in accounting judgments: the case for International Financial Reporting Standards for small and medium-sized enterprises

We conduct an experiment that investigates confirmation bias in the reporting judgments of accountants when applying International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The results indicate that accountants’ judgments are biased towards the recognition and measurement principles of full IFRS when applying IFRS for SMEs. The results also suggest that confirmation bias in judgments can be mitigated by increasing accountants’ awareness of justification requirements and by using appropriate decision aids. These results are likely to be of interest to the 70-plus countries that have adopted the SME standard and countries that continue to contemplate its adoption.     

The Impact of Mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards Adoption on Investment Efficiency: Standards,Enforcement, and Reporting Incentives

This paper investigates whether mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is followed by a decline in firms’ suboptimal investments. On average, we find that the probability of under‐investment in capital expenditure declines for firms from 23 countries requiring mandatory adoption of IFRS relative to firms from countries that do not have such requirements; meanwhile the probability of over‐investment remains unchanged. However, this real effect becomes smaller when we control for concurrent changes to the enforcement of financial reporting along with the introduction of IFRS in some countries, suggesting that the switch in standards is only one of the drivers for the observed benefits. Moreover, we find that the reduction in suboptimal investments is driven by firms with high reporting incentives to provide transparent financial reports from countries where the existing legal and enforcement systems are strong. We further show that the real effect increases with the predicted changes in accounting comparability. Finally, we find that after mandatory IFRS adoption, capital investment becomes more value‐relevant, less sensitive to the availability of free cash flows, and more responsive to growth opportunities. Our findings provide new insights into the real effects of mandatory IFRS adoption.     

The roles of book‐tax conformity and tax enforcement in regulating tax reporting behaviour following International Financial Reporting Standards adoption

This study investigates whether increasing the level of tax enforcement can potentially offset the primary cost of a reduction in the level of book‐tax conformity (BTC) following International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption – increased tax avoidance. We find that after the decrease in BTC and the concomitant increase in tax enforcement that followed IFRS adoption in Israel, tax avoidance declined significantly. Our results imply that one of the primary costs of reducing BTC can be avoided. Moreover, the results suggest that rather than one strict regulatory approach to deal with reporting manipulations, a combination of trust and control is more effective and less radical.     

Goodwill under IFRS: Relevance and disclosures in an unfavorable environment

The accounting treatment of purchased goodwill under IFRS has been severely criticized due to the extensive use of fair value accounting. The purpose of this study is to enrich the ongoing debate upon this issue by drawing attention to the market valuation implications of goodwill in a country outside the Anglo-Saxon accounting paradigm, where the application of fair value accounting has been seen as more problematic. The results indicate that, in the case of purchased goodwill, fair value accounting generates relevant accounting numbers but only in companies that comply highly with IFRS disclosure requirements.     

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.     

The Value Relevance of Accounting Numbers Under International Financial Reporting Standards

We study the market reaction to the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Spain by examining the value relevance of the information contained in the IFRS reconciliation adjustments in relation to the local generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The two‐staged IFRS disclosure in the transition period is specific to Spain: the aggregated numbers of accounting differences are disclosed in stage 1, and the IFRS individual adjustments on book value of equity and earnings are disclosed in stage 2. This unique reporting timeline provides an opportunity for the market both to assess the impact of those new accounting policies adopted by firms and to assess differences when compared to the previous GAAP. We find no evidence of increased value relevance after IFRS adoption. However, our results from the incremental value relevance test show that investors consider the individual reconciliation adjustments in the second stage to be valuable and significant, specifically in relation to marked‐to‐market adjustment to financial instruments, adjustments to intangibles, provisions and impairment adjustments to property, plant and equipment, adjustments to inventories, and adjustments to pension benefits. Moreover, the results are significantly higher for low leverage firms. Our findings indicate that the market prices the informativeness of the reconciliation adjustments once the transition to IFRS disclosure cycle is complete.     

The Effect of Fair Value Adjustments on Dividend Policy Under Mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards Adoption: Australian Evidence

Using a sample of firms from the financial sector of the Australian Securities Exchange, we examine the effect of the fair value adjustments of financial instruments on firms’ dividend distributions in the context of mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. We find a positive relationship between the fair value adjustments of financial instruments and firms’ dividend payouts, suggesting that the frequent use of fair value adjustments of financial instruments by financial firms following mandatory IFRS adoption has the potential to increase the proportion of transitory earnings in reported earnings and cause changes in dividend policies. Our results add to the ongoing debate on the unintended economic consequences of fair value accounting (FVA) and provide empirical support for regulators’ concerns that unrealized FVA gains from asset revaluation during booms may encourage the distribution of those unrealized gains.     

International financial reporting standards and experts' perceptions of disclosure quality

From 2005, over 7,000 listed firms in the European Union and many more around the world are required to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The introduction of a uniform accounting regime is expected to ensure greater comparability and transparency of financial reporting around the world. However, recent research has questioned the quality of financial statements prepared under IFRS standards, particularly in the presence of weak enforcement mechanisms and adverse reporting incentives ( Ball et al. , 2003 ). In this paper, we assess the quality of the financial statements of Austrian, German and Swiss firms which have already adopted internationally recognized standards (IFRS or U.S. GAAP). The study makes use of available disclosure quality scores extracted from detailed analyses of annual reports by reputed accounting scholars ('experts'). This work complements other contemporary research on the quality of IFRS financial statements where the properties of earnings are used as an evaluation metric ( Barth et al. , 2005 ). Our evidence shows that disclosure quality has increased significantly under IFRS in the three European countries we analyse. This result holds not only for firms which have voluntarily adopted IFRS or U.S. GAAP, but also for firms which mandatorily adopted such standards in response to the requirements of specific stock market segments. Although we cannot establish direct causality due to the inherent self-selection issues for most of our sample firms, the evidence shows that the quality of financial reports has increased significantly with the adoption of IFRS.     

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.     

The relevance of International Financial Reporting Standards to a developing country: Evidence from Kazakhstan

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) were developed in advanced economies, but are increasingly being applied in emergent economies, potentially ignoring considerations of whether IFRS are appropriate or relevant to such economies. This case study examines the relevance and implementation of IFRS to the emerging economy of Kazakhstan from independence in 1991 to 2006. It concludes that although a strong case for IFRS relevance cannot be made, even by 2006, Kazakhstan had little choice but to proceed with IFRS, and that IFRS relevance is likely to increase as Kazakh economic development continues. Implementation of IFRS is proving problematic, but is taking place slowly. This, in turn, has implications for the theoretical status of the IFRS relevance argument and the pathways that nations might follow in implementing a national accounting system. If the only choice of accounting system is IFRS, then the IFRS relevance debate is effectively closed and the real issue is the pathway of change that nations might follow as they implement IFRS.     

The Development of Accounting and Reporting in Ghana

In this paper, we examine the economic, political, and legal systems as well as the institutional factors that influence the accounting and disclosure practices in Ghana. The impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on disclosure is also investigated, as Ghana has recently completed full adoption. We find that the accounting and reporting practices are significantly influenced by legal, political, institutional, and economic factors and that the regulatory environment is neither effective nor efficient due to the weak monitoring and enforcement of compliance. Although there has been some recent progress, the Companies' Code, which is the corporate legal framework of Ghana, must be updated to reflect the dynamic nature of world operations. This study advances the course of standards setters, regulators, accounting practitioners, and policymakers to improve the corporate reporting and accounting practices. Urgent measures need to be undertaken to reform and build the capacities of institutions charged with the responsibility of regulating and monitoring Ghanaian accounting and reporting practices to ensure best practices and build investors' confidence.     

促进广西对东盟直接投资的金融支持策略研究

按照邓宁的国际投资周期理论,目前广西正处于对外直接投资的快速发展阶段,应加快推动本土企业对东盟国家等主要目的国的投资步伐.本文在对广西对东盟直接投资进行历史回顾的基础上,对2009年中国—东盟自贸区《投资协议》签署以来广西对东盟直接投资特点进行了分析,并针对目前金融支持广西企业对东盟直接投资存在的问题提出相应的策略建议.