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This study aims to assess the evolution of the value relevance of book value, earnings and its components in Mauritius, an African developing country, focusing on value relevance changes after International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption and subsequent local reforms.

The study relies on a data set of 567 firm-year observations (2001–2018) and the Ohlson valuation model to investigate value relevance after IFRS adoption, the implementation of institutional reforms and enforcement reforms.

Firstly, the authors find support for a rise in the combined value relevance of earnings and book value, albeit that book value significantly contributes to changes over time. The findings highlight the combined importance of IFRS adoption with institutional and enforcement reforms to improve value relevance. Secondly, the authors do not find evidence of a shift in value relevance between earnings and book value. Third, the cash flow model reveals a higher level of significance relative to the earnings model.

The authors extend the value relevance literature in the context of African developing countries. The present findings underpin the need for a reinforcing of relevant institutional and enforcement frameworks to ensure the benefits of IFRS adoption materialise. The findings also offer a contribution of how developing countries’ experience IFRS post-adoption while adding to the dearth of studies analysing IFRS enforcement practices.

When the FASB adopted an impairment test approach in 2001, rather than amortisation, the accounting for goodwill arising from an acquisition took a step in a new direction. The IASB, seeking international convergence and global harmonisation, also implemented this change when it issued IFRS 3 in 2004. Moving away from amortisation towards an impairment test involves a radical change. The research on which this paper is based was undertaken to examine these two very different accounting practices for the treatment of goodwill and to assess the possible impact that a transition from the one to the other may have on financial reporting.

The Department of Defence of the United States is in the process of implementing a satellite‐based navigation system called Navstar GPS (Global Positioning System). This system will have 24 satellites orbiting in three different orbits, with 8 satellites in each. Full implementation is planned for the mid to late 1980s. Partial use of the system should be possible commencing in the early 1980s. GPS can provide many unique features of particular benefit to helicopters, such as highly accurate airborne area navigation (RNAV) capability; accurate approach and landing guidance solely by reference to the airborne RNAV system; ability to function on a worldwide basis without the need for ground based navigation aids; unlimited capacity. Numerous benefits in addition to highly accurate navigation will accrue from civil application of GPS, including capability for automatic position reporting and air‐to‐air separation assurance. Cost benefits make application of GPS to civil aircraft in general, and particularly helicopters, highly attractive.

This article analyzes the effect of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 8 on the informational content of segment data. It aims to assess the change in quality of the financial analysts' and the shareholders' information environment due to the new segment reporting standard to verify the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) expectations and the conclusions of its post-implementation review.

Based on a sample of 250 companies listed on Euronext Paris in France, a country with poor legal protection for shareholders, over a nine-year period, the authors test whether the new standard makes the financial analysts' forecasts more accurate and reduces the implied cost of equity capital.

The findings show that IFRS 8 partially improves the informational content of segment data, partially supporting the outcome of IASB. The management approach may have forced some firms to change their segmentation to provide a more economic view of the business. The poor legal protection for shareholders in France may explain this result.

Due to proprietary and agency costs, firms may withhold segment information whatever the standard used.

This study contributes to the ongoing debate about IFRS 8 and may interest financial statement users and the international standard-setter for such a criticized standard.

The results contribute to the segment reporting literature by addressing the partial improvement of information environment under the managerial approach in a country with lower investor protection.

This paper aims to shed some light on the role of boards of directors in improving internet financial reporting (IFR) quality.

The empirical study uses a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach on a sample of 32 French firms belonging to the CAC40 index as of December 2007.

The empirical results show that 28 percent of the sample firms are located on the efficiency frontier for all IFR components. These firms' boards of directors and their committees seem to act as effective monitors of top executives, which improves the quality of the firm's disclosure policy through, inter alia, an increase in the level of IFR. Under efficient board control, firms develop user-friendly and readily accessible web sites disclosing the information required by various stakeholders. Additional empirical results show that 46.9 percent of the sample firms lie outside the efficiency frontier for all IFR measures, suggesting inefficiencies in the composition, structure, and/or functioning of their boards of directors. The inefficient monitoring and oversight of top executives by the board allowed for lower levels of IFR quality for nearly half of the CAC40 firms in 2007.

The study uses only CAC40 companies, which are relatively large and financially healthier than the average French firms, exhibiting diffuse ownership structures, with heavy foreign shareholding, and investing more in communications. This may limit the generalizability of the results to other French listed firms.

The paper extends the literature on corporate governance and voluntary corporate disclosure by investigating the association between board characteristics and IFR quality. It examines the relative performance of the board directors in improving IFR policy.