IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/jsesro/v10y2021i1-2p56-75n6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measuring Accounting Conservatism in Financial Reports: A Comparison Between France and the United Kingdom

Author

Listed:
  • Kimouche Bilal

    (Département des Sciences Financières et Comptabilité, Université 20 Août 1955, Skikda, Algeria)

Abstract

Accounting conservatism is necessary for more reliability and verifiability in financial reports. Studies have reported mixed results concerning the comparative level of conservatism across countries, especially the celebrated comparison between the common law and code law countries. Therefore, this study is an attempt to reinvestigate accounting conservatism in French and UK companies, using 110 French companies and 105 UK companies during the period 2011-2019. Accounting conservatism was measured depending on the asymmetric accruals-to-cash flows because it does not rely on market information and its fluctuations. The results document a greater level of conservatism in UK companies compared to French companies, which confirms the findings of several previous studies concluding that companies in common law countries are more conservative than those from code law countries. The results of this study have many implications for different parties affecting the financial information environment, especially auditors who must continuously monitor conservatism practices in financial reports to maintain an adequate level.

Suggested Citation

  • Kimouche Bilal, 2021. "Measuring Accounting Conservatism in Financial Reports: A Comparison Between France and the United Kingdom," Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 10(1-2), pages 56-75, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:jsesro:v:10:y:2021:i:1-2:p:56-75:n:6
    DOI: 10.2478/jses-2021-0005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/jses-2021-0005
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/jses-2021-0005?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen B. Salter & Tony Kang & Giorgio Gotti & Timothy S. Doupnik, 2013. "Erratum to: The Role of Social Values, Accounting Values and Institutions in Determining Accounting Conservatism," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 633-633, August.
    2. Ruch, George W. & Taylor, Gary, 2015. "Accounting conservatism: A review of the literature," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 17-38.
    3. 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.
    4. Li, Sihai & Wu, Huiying & Zhang, Jian & Chand, Parmod, 2018. "Accounting reforms and conservatism in earnings: Empirical evidence from listed Chinese companies," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 32-44.
    5. 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.
    6. Bornemann, Tobias, 2018. "Tax avoidance and accounting conservatism," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 232, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    7. Ball, Ray & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2005. "Earnings quality in UK private firms: comparative loss recognition timeliness," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 83-128, February.
    8. Stephen B. Salter & Tony Kang & Giorgio Gotti & Timothy S. Doupnik, 2013. "The Role of Social Values, Accounting Values and Institutions in Determining Accounting Conservatism," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 607-632, August.
    9. Ray Ball & S. P. Kothari & Valeri V. Nikolaev, 2013. "Econometrics of the Basu Asymmetric Timeliness Coefficient and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 1071-1097, December.
    10. Yohan An, 2017. "Measuring Earnings Quality Over Time," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(3), pages 82-87.
    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. Walid Guermazi, 2023. "International financial reporting standards adoption in the European Union and earnings conservatism: a review of empirical research," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(2), pages 200-211, June.
    2. Johnathon Cziffra & Steve Fortin & Zvi Singer, 2023. "Differences in government accounting conservatism across jurisdictions, their determinants, and consequences: the case of Canada and the United States," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 1035-1073, June.
    3. Dmitri Byzalov & Sudipta Basu, 2016. "Conditional conservatism and disaggregated bad news indicators in accrual models," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 859-897, September.
    4. Guermazi, Walid & Halioui, Khamoussi, 2020. "Do differences in national cultures affect cross-country conditional conservatism behavior under IFRS?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    5. Visani, Franco & Di Lascio, F. Marta L. & Gardini, Silvia, 2020. "The impact of institutional and cultural factors on the use of non-GAAP financial measures. International evidence from the oil and gas industry," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    6. Araceli Mora & Martin Walker, 2015. "The implications of research on accounting conservatism for accounting standard setting," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(5), pages 620-650, August.
    7. Manganaris, Panayotis & Spathis, Charalambos & Dasilas, Apostolos, 2015. "The effects of mandatory IFRS adoption and conditional conservatism on European bank values," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 72-81.
    8. Khalifa, Mariem & Trabelsi, Samir & Matoussi, Hamadi, 2022. "Leverage, R&D expenditures, and accounting conservatism: Evidence from technology firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 285-304.
    9. Noh, Minyoung & Cho, Moon Kyung, 2022. "Cultural tightness and accounting conservatism," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1).
    10. Cerqueira Antonio & Pereira Claudia, 2020. "The Effect of Economic Conditions on Accounting Conservatism under IFRS in Europe," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 20(2), pages 137-169, June.
    11. Akram Khalilov & Beatriz Garcia Osma, 2020. "Accounting conservatism and the profitability of corporate insiders," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3-4), pages 333-364, March.
    12. Collins, Daniel W. & Hribar, Paul & Tian, Xiaoli (Shaolee), 2014. "Cash flow asymmetry: Causes and implications for conditional conservatism research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 173-200.
    13. Archana Jain & Chinmay Jain & Ashok Robin, 2020. "Does accounting conservatism deter short sellers?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 1075-1100, April.
    14. Manganaris, Panayotis & Beccalli, Elena & Dimitropoulos, Panagiotis, 2017. "Bank transparency and the crisis," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 121-137.
    15. Ludovic Vigneron & Yves Mard, 2016. "Earnings management across publicly traded and privately held French SMEs," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 29(3), pages 416-440.
    16. Ignacio Ferrero & Alejo José G. Sison, 2012. "A Survey on Virtue in Business and Management (1980-2011)," Faculty Working Papers 06/12, School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Navarra.
    17. 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.
    18. Hao, Qian & Shi, Xiangyan & Bu, Danlu, 2018. "The Chinese stimulus program from 2008 to 2010 and accounting information quality," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 64-78.
    19. Amneh Alkurdi & Munther Al-Nimer & Mohammad Dabaghia, 2017. "Accounting Conservatism and Ownership Structure Effect: Evidence from Industrial and Financial Jordanian Listed Companies," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(2), pages 608-619.
    20. Takuya Iwasaki & Shota Otomasa & Atsushi Shiiba & Akinobu Shuto, 2012. "The role of accounting conservatism in executive compensation contracts (Forthcoming in Journal of Business Finance and Accounting)," CARF F-Series CARF-F-370, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo, revised Jul 2018.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Accounting conservatism; Accounting accruals; Cash flows from operations; Common law countries; Code law countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law
    • M40 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - General
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    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:vrs:jsesro:v:10:y:2021:i:1-2:p:56-75:n:6. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    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.