Creation De Valeur : L'Impact Des Normes Ifrs Sur Le Contenu Informationnel Du Resultat Net : Le Cas De La France

Since the advent of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) / International Accounting Standards (IAS), European companies have reported their consolidated financial statements according to shareholder (or investor) model. This new frame of reference seems to provide more relevant information than those obtained from the stakeholder model (French GAAP). This article aims to compare the value relevance of earnings as obtained from French GAAP and from International Accounting Standards (IAS/IFRS). In particular, we check whether the adoption of IAS/IFRS standards improves the overall quality of the published earnings used by the stock exchange investors. Using data from French companies listed on the Paris stock exchange, the observed value relevance of earning is studied by comparing the pre-IFRS (2001-2003) and post-IFRS (2005-2007) periods. We test linear and nonlinear relationships between the stock-exchange returns and earnings. Our results indicate that the value relevance of information content of earnings is greater under French GAAP than with IFRS GAAP in the explanation of stock returns. They also indicate the superiority of the nonlinear shape over the simple linear shape.