IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/acctbr/v41y2011i3p269-285.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

International Financial Reporting Standards: what are the benefits?

Author

Listed:
  • Philip Brown

Abstract

When countries have announced plans to adopt IFRS in lieu of the standards that had applied previously, they have referred to a number of benefits, mostly to do with equity markets. So it is not surprising that academics have looked to equity markets to assess the extent to which benefits may have materialised. The evidence they have gathered can fairly be characterised as mixed, partly because of differences in samples and the use of a wide range of proxies for the same underlying but unobservable idea. Nonetheless, it seems relatively clear that the shift to IFRS has had many consequences both for the valuation of equities and for equity markets more generally. Although there will always be winners and losers from changes in accounting standards, if only because of their distributive effects, undoubtedly some consequences are regarded by companies and investors as, on balance, beneficial. However, the story is far from complete. Ample scope remains to expand the range of possible benefits that are investigated and to improve, substantially, the methods used to seek them out.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip Brown, 2011. "International Financial Reporting Standards: what are the benefits?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 269-285, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:41:y:2011:i:3:p:269-285
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2011.569054
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00014788.2011.569054
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00014788.2011.569054?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. Devalle, Alain & Magarini, Riccardo & Onali, Enrico, 2009. "Assessing the Value Relevance of Accounting Data After the Introduction of IFRS in Europe," MPRA Paper 56174, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 Oct 2009.
    2. Mary E. Barth & Wayne R. Landsman & Mark H. Lang, 2008. "International Accounting Standards and Accounting Quality," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 467-498, June.
    3. Holger Daske & Günther Gebhardt, 2006. "International financial reporting standards and experts’ perceptions of disclosure quality," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 42(3‐4), pages 461-498, September.
    4. 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.
    5. Holger Daske, 2006. "Economic Benefits of Adopting IFRS or US-GAAP - Have the Expected Cost of Equity Capital Really Decreased?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3-4), pages 329-373.
    6. Leuz, C & Verrecchia, RE, 2000. "The economic consequences of increased disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38, pages 91-124.
    7. Vicky COLE & Joel BRANSON & Diane BREESCH, 2011. "The illusion of comparable European IFRS financial statements. Beliefs of auditors, analysts and other users," Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 10(2), pages 106-134, June.
    8. Günther, Nina & Gegenfurtner, Bernhard & Kaserer, Christoph & Achleitner, Ann-Kristin, 2009. "International financial reporting standards and earnings Quality: the myth of voluntary vs. mandatory adoption," CEFS Working Paper Series 2009-09, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    9. Philip Brown & Greg Clinch, 1998. "Global Harmonisation of Accounting Standards: What Research into Capital Markets Tells Us," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 8(15), pages 21-29, May.
    10. Laux, Christian & Leuz, Christian, 2009. "The crisis of fair-value accounting: Making sense of the recent debate," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(6-7), pages 826-834, August.
    11. 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.
    12. Louis R. Mercorelli & David Michayluk & Anthony D. Hall, 2008. "Modelling Adverse Selection on Electronic Order-Driven Markets," Research Paper Series 220, Quantitative Finance Research Centre, University of Technology, Sydney.
    13. Stefano Cascino & Joachim Gassen, 2010. "Mandatory IFRS adoption and accounting comparability," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2010-046, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
    14. Peter F. Pope & Stuart J. McLeay, 2011. "The European IFRS experiment: objectives, research challenges and some early evidence," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 233-266, August.
    15. Holger Daske & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz & Rodrigo Verdi, 2008. "Mandatory IFRS Reporting around the World: Early Evidence on the Economic Consequences," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 1085-1142, December.
    16. 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.
    17. Philip Brown & Ann Tarca, 2007. "Achieving High Quality, Comparable Financial Reporting: A Review of Independent Enforcement Bodies in Australia and the United Kingdom," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 43(4), pages 438-473, December.
    18. Gjerde, Øystein & Knivsflå, Kjell Henry & Sættem, Frode, 2008. "The Value-Relevance of Adopting IFRS: Evidence from 145 NGAAP Restatements," Discussion Papers 2008/21, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    19. Karampinis, Nikolaos I. & Hevas, Dimosthenis L., 2011. "Mandating IFRS in an Unfavorable Environment: The Greek Experience," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 304-332, September.
    20. Gjerde, Øystein & Knivsflå, Kjell & Sættem, Frode, 2008. "The value-relevance of adopting IFRS: Evidence from 145 NGAAP restatements," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 92-112.
    21. Beuselinck, C.A.C. & Joos, P.P.M. & Khurana, I.K. & van der Meulen, S., 2010. "Mandatory IFRS Reporting and Stock Price Informativeness," Other publications TiSEM ef72d273-639c-41d8-9c5c-5, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    22. Basu, Sudipta, 1997. "The conservatism principle and the asymmetric timeliness of earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 3-37, December.
    23. Ball, Ray & Robin, Ashok & Wu, Joanna Shuang, 2003. "Incentives versus standards: properties of accounting income in four East Asian countries," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-3), pages 235-270, December.
    24. Philip Brown & Wendy Beekes & Peter Verhoeven, 2011. "Corporate governance, accounting and finance: A review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 51(1), pages 96-172, March.
    25. Brenda van Tendeloo & Ann Vanstraelen, 2005. "Earnings management under German GAAP versus IFRS," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 155-180.
    26. Goodwin, John & Ahmed, Kamran & Heaney, Richard, 2008. "The Effects of International Financial Reporting Standards on the Accounts and Accounting Quality of Australian Firms: A Retrospective Study," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 89-119.
    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. Palea, Vera, 2013. "IAS/IFRS and Financial Reporting Quality: Lessons from the European Experience," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201330, University of Turin.
    2. Ahmed, Kamran & Chalmers, Keryn & Khlif, Hichem, 2013. "A Meta-analysis of IFRS Adoption Effects," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 173-217.
    3. Philip Brown, 2013. "Some Observations on Research on the Benefits to Nations of Adopting IFRS," The Japanese Accounting Review, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University, vol. 3, pages 1-19, December.
    4. Paul André & Peter Walton & Dan Yang, 2012. "Voluntary adoption of IFRS: A study of determinants for UK unlisted firms," Post-Print hal-00935013, HAL.
    5. De George, Emmanuel T. & Li, Xi & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2016. "A review of the IFRS adoption literature," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 67599, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Senteney, David L. & Bazaz, Mohammad S. & Senteney, Michael H., 2016. "Cross-market information transfers of ADR firms: An investigation of emerging market economies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 655-677.
    7. Emmanuel T. De George & Xi Li & Lakshmanan Shivakumar, 2016. "A review of the IFRS adoption literature," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 898-1004, September.
    8. Benjamin Poulard & Lionel Touchais, 2013. "Bilan de l’application des IAS/IFRS : vers une amélioration de la qualité de l’information financière ?," Post-Print hal-03125414, HAL.
    9. Gaëlle Lenormand & Benjamin Poulard & Lionel Touchais, 2012. "IAS/IFRS: Assessment and prospect [Les IAS/IFRS : bilan et perspective]," Post-Print hal-03125427, HAL.
    10. Benjamin Poulard & Lionel Touchais, 2013. "Bilan de l'application des IAS/IFRS : Vers une amélioration de la qualité de l'information financière ?," Post-Print hal-01737399, HAL.
    11. Mary E. Barth & Wayne R. Landsman & Danqing Young & Zili Zhuang, 2014. "Relevance of Differences between Net Income based on IFRS and Domestic Standards for European Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3-4), pages 297-327, April.
    12. 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.
    13. Gaëlle Lenormand & Benjamin Poulard & Lionel Touchais, 2012. "IAS/IFRS: Assessment and prospect [Les IAS/IFRS : bilan et perspective]," Post-Print hal-01737414, HAL.
    14. Keryn Chalmers & Greg Clinch & Jayne M Godfrey, 2011. "Changes in value relevance of accounting information upon IFRS adoption: Evidence from Australia," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 36(2), pages 151-173, August.
    15. Md Humayun Kabir & Fawzi Laswad & Md Ainul Islam, 2010. "Impact of IFRS in New Zealand on Accounts and Earnings Quality," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 20(4), pages 343-357, December.
    16. da Silva, Ricardo Luiz Menezes & Nardi, Paula Carolina Ciampaglia, 2017. "Full adoption of IFRSs in Brazil: Earnings quality and the cost of equity capital," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1057-1073.
    17. Rajat Deb & Mukesh Nepal & Sourav Chakraborty, 2023. "IFRS and Audit Quality: A Systematic Literature Review," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 48(1), pages 118-138, February.
    18. Ulf Br&?ggemann & J?rg-Markus Hitz & Thorsten Sellhorn, 2013. "Intended and Unintended Consequences of Mandatory IFRS Adoption: A Review of Extant Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 1-37, May.
    19. Christian Leuz & Peter D. Wysocki, 2016. "The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 525-622, May.
    20. Dimitropoulos, Panagiotis E. & Asteriou, Dimitrios & Kousenidis, Dimitrios & Leventis, Stergios, 2013. "The impact of IFRS on accounting quality: Evidence from Greece," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 108-123.

    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:41:y:2011:i:3:p:269-285. 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.