IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/acctbr/v40y2010i2p173-187.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

International differences in IFRS policy choice: A research note

Author

Listed:
  • Erlend Kvaal
  • Christopher Nobes

Abstract

Building on literature that suggests motives and opportunities for national versions of IFRS practice, we examine whether there are systematic differences in IFRS accounting policies between countries. Using information from the annual reports of companies in the blue chip indices of the largest five stock markets that use IFRS, we reject a null hypothesis that IFRS practice is the same across countries. For 16 accounting policy issues, we find instead significant evidence that pre‐ IFRS national practice continues where this is allowed within IFRS. By this, we document the existence of national patterns of accounting within IFRS. We also point out some policy implications that arise from our findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Erlend Kvaal & Christopher Nobes, 2010. "International differences in IFRS policy choice: A research note," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 173-187.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:40:y:2010:i:2:p:173-187
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2010.9663390
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00014788.2010.9663390
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00014788.2010.9663390?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hollis Ashbaugh & Morton Pincus, 2001. "Domestic Accounting Standards, International Accounting Standards, and the Predictability of Earnings," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 417-434, December.
    2. Nobes, Christopher, 2004. "On accounting classification and the international harmonisation debate," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 189-200, February.
    3. Leuz, C & Verrecchia, RE, 2000. "The economic consequences of increased disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38, pages 91-124.
    4. Ding, Yuan & Hope, Ole-Kristian & Jeanjean, Thomas & Stolowy, Herve, 2007. "Differences between domestic accounting standards and IAS: Measurement, determinants and implications," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-38.
    5. Rick Cuijpers & Willem Buijink, 2005. "Voluntary adoption of non-local GAAP in the European Union: A study of determinants and consequences," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 487-524.
    6. Zeff, Stephen A., 2007. "Some obstacles to global financial reporting comparability and convergence at a high level of quality," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 290-302.
    7. Fields, Thomas D. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Vincent, Linda, 2001. "Empirical research on accounting choice," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 255-307, September.
    8. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "Corrigendum to "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings"; [Journal of Accounting and Economics 29 (2000) 1-51]," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 241-241, October.
    9. Congsheng Wu & Chuck C.Y. Kwok, 2002. "Why Do US Firms Choose Global Equity Offerings?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 31(2), Summer.
    10. Susan Chaplinsky & Latha Ramchand, 2000. "The Impact of Global Equity Offerings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(6), pages 2767-2789, December.
    11. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-51, February.
    12. Bushman, Robert M. & Piotroski, Joseph D., 2006. "Financial reporting incentives for conservative accounting: The influence of legal and political institutions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 107-148, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Macías, Marta & Muiño, Flora, 2011. "Examining dual accounting systems in Europe," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 51-78, March.
    2. Marco Fasan & Carlo Marcon, 2014. "Accounting Tradition and other drivers of the Fair Value choice: An Opportunistic Management perspective," Working Papers 13, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    3. Marco Fasan & Carlo Marcon, 2018. "Accounting Choice under IFRS: The Role of Accounting Tradition and Managerial Opportunism," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 8(3), pages 209-223, July.
    4. Iatridis, George, 2010. "International Financial Reporting Standards and the quality of financial statement information," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 193-204, June.
    5. Paul André & Peter Walton & Dan Yang, 2012. "Voluntary adoption of IFRS: A study of determinants for UK unlisted firms," Post-Print hal-00935013, HAL.
    6. Bozos, Konstantinos & Ratnaike, Yasanji C. & Alsharairi, Malek, 2014. "How has the international harmonization of financial reporting standards affected merger premiums within the European Union?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 48-60.
    7. Irene Karamanou & George P. Nishiotis, 2009. "Disclosure and the Cost of Capital: Evidence from the Market's Reaction to Firm Voluntary Adoption of IAS," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(7‐8), pages 793-821, September.
    8. Tsalavoutas, Ioannis & André, Paul & Evans, Lisa, 2012. "The transition to IFRS and the value relevance of financial statements in Greece," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 262-277.
    9. Mohamed Elbannan, 2011. "Accounting and stock market effects of international accounting standards adoption in an emerging economy," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 207-245, February.
    10. Gomez Biscarri, Javier & Lopez Espinosa, German, 2008. "The influence of differences in accounting standards on empirical pricing models: An application to the Fama-French model," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 369-388, October.
    11. Masahiro Enomoto, 2018. "Cross-Country Research on Earnings Quality: A Literature Review and Future Opportunities," Discussion Paper Series DP2018-06, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University, revised Oct 2020.
    12. Eliwa, Yasser & Haslam, Jim & Abraham, Santhosh, 2021. "Earnings quality and analysts’ information environment: Evidence from the EU market," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    13. Samira Demaria & Denis Cormier & Robert Teller, 2008. "Incidence des choix d'exemptions comptables sur la valorisation boursière des sociétés françaises lors de la première application du référentiel IFRS," Post-Print halshs-00266117, HAL.
    14. Iatridis, George Emmanuel, 2012. "Audit quality in common-law and code-law emerging markets: Evidence on earnings conservatism, agency costs and cost of equity," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 101-117.
    15. Eliwa, Yasser & Haslam, Jim & Abraham, Santhosh, 2016. "The association between earnings quality and the cost of equity capital: Evidence from the UK," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 125-139.
    16. Alon, Anna & Dwyer, Peggy D., 2014. "Early Adoption of IFRS as a Strategic Response to Transnational and Local Influences," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 348-370.
    17. Palea Vera, 2013. "The Effect of the European Regulation 1606/2002 on Market Efficiency: Early Empirical Evidence and Some Suggestions for Future Research and Policy-Making Discussion," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201310, University of Turin.
    18. Chen, Charles J.P. & Ding, Yuan & Xu, Bin, 2014. "Convergence of accounting standards and foreign direct investment," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 53-86.
    19. Goncharov, Igor & Werner, Joerg R. & Zimmermann, Jochen, 2009. "Legislative demands and economic realities: Company and group accounts compared," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 334-362, December.
    20. Elbakry, Ashraf E. & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C. & Abdou, Hussein A. & Elshandidy, Tamer, 2017. "Comparative evidence on the value relevance of IFRS-based accounting information in Germany and the UK," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 10-30.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:40:y:2010:i:2:p:173-187. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RABR20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.