Search results

The study aims at reviewing a synthesis of disclosure, transparency, and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) implementation in an attempt to provide directions for future research. Prior research overwhelmingly supports that the IFRS adoption or effective implementation of IFRS will enhance high-quality financial reporting, transparency, enhance the country’s investment environment, and foreign direct investment (FDI) (Dayanandan, Donker, Ivanof, & Karahan, 2016; Gláserová, 2013; Muniandy & Ali, 2012). However, some researchers provide conflicting evidence that developing countries implementing IFRS are probably not going to encounter higher FDI inflows (Gheorghe, 2009; Lasmin, 2012). It has also been argued that the IFRS adoption decreases the management earnings in countries with high levels of financial disclosure. In general, the study indicates that the adoption of IFRS has improved the financial reporting quality. The common law countries have strong rules to protect investors, strict legal enforcement, and high levels of transparency of financial information. From the extensive structured review of literature using the Scopus database tool, the study reviewed 105 articles, and in particular, the topic-related 94 articles were analysed. All 94 articles were retrieved from a range of 59 journals. Most of the articles (77 of 94) were published 2010–2018. The top five journals based on the citations are Journal of Accounting Research (187 citations), Abacus (125 citations), European Accounting Review (107 citations), Journal of Accounting and Economics (78 citations), and Accounting and Business Research (66 citations). The most-cited authors are Daske, Hail, Leuz, and Verdi (2013); Daske and Gebhardt (2006); and Brüggemann, Hitz, and Sellhorn (2013). Surprisingly, 65 of 94 articles did not utilise the theory. In particular, four theories have been used frequently: agency theory (15), economic theory (5), signalling theory (2), and accounting theory (2). The study calls for future research on the theoretical implications and policy-related research on disclosure and transparency which may inform the local and international standard setters.

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to investigate whether underlying firm-level incentives influence firms’ compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) convergence practices and whether this adoption impacts firms’ cost of equity capital and market liquidity in Brazil, a setting with a poor institutional environment but high growth opportunities.

Methodology/approach – Using a sample of 54 companies from the São Paulo Stock Exchange, this article employs three measures of accounting convergence based on: (i) compliance to a 37-item index, called the International Accounting Standards Convergence Index (IASCI), (ii) increase in annual reports disclosure, and (iii) increase in accounting earnings quality. Furthermore, the article employs statistical analysis to test the influence of firm-level incentives on IFRS compliance and its economic consequences for the capital market.

Findings – The results indicate that firm-level incentives are important drivers of compliance with IFRS convergence practices. The results suggest that firms that (i) are larger, (ii) are more exposed to international markets, and (iii) have greater financing needs are more likely to adopt IFRS practices by implementing material changes in their accounting policies. The economic consequence analysis shows that cost of capital does not seem to be related to any of the convergence measures used. However, there is a statistically significant relationship between all the market liquidity variables and the IASCI, indicating that companies that best meet the convergence requirements have lower trading costs and greater liquidity, and their share price is less susceptible to the influence of individual investors.

Research limitations and implications – The scope of the study is limited to a relatively small sample of listed Brazilian companies, and they may not represent all listed companies. The sample restriction is due to information availability, since the study requires earnings estimates from the Thomson ONE Analytics database.

Originality/value – The study extends the work of Barth (2008) considering Ball's (2006) observation that superior accounting standards do not necessarily translate into higher quality reporting, since reporting quality may be largely shaped not only by accounting standards, but also by economic/political forces and firm-level economic incentives.

Using market-risk disclosures as an empirical context, and drawing on the diffusion of innovations (DOIs) model, this paper contributes new sociological perspectives to a theorization of compliance. We propose that stakeholder behaviors during accounting standard-setting discussion and adoption phases are motivated by social, political, and economic factors. These phases interrelate, and consequently, any analysis of managerial disclosure decisions benefit from considering them together, rather than in isolation, as is typical.

The authors use a mixed-methods design, including detailed analysis of semi-structured interviews (n = 26), constituents’ comment letters (n = 106), annual report disclosures (FTSE 350: firm-year observations n = 1,131), technical meetings, and standard-setting documents.

Results suggest that constituents initially supported introduction of a set of mandatory market-risk disclosures, but implied costs of the proposed and subsequently approved requirements outweighed perceived benefits and efficiencies. This study elaborates on these issues, exploring how and why a financial reporting innovation that stakeholders deemed technically inefficient was diffused. Although the authors were told that compulsion (i.e., forced-selection) dominates disclosure decisions, some freedom of choice remains, as evidenced by greater than 40% non-compliance during the first year of adoption. Respondents indicate that theoretically, market-risk disclosure adoption decisions rest on assessment of the costs of disclosure (e.g., preparation and competition) versus non-disclosure (e.g., litigation and reputation). Second-phase adoption is more straightforward because the costs of disclosure decrease over time.

Although mixed-methods research offers several advantages, self-selection bias, issues with coding reliability, and interviewer/interviewee bias are possible. It is impossible to achieve a truly holistic understanding of standard-setting, and therefore the authors acknowledge that findings are not generalizable, though the risks were minimized.

Recognizing that disclosure choices are not made in political and social vacuums, this study suggests that sociological perspectives such as innovation-diffusion inform a theory of compliance.

The study endeavours to bring out a critical synthesis of the effect of quality of financial reporting in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries pertaining to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. BRICS is the group composed by the five major emerging countries, which together represent about 42% of the population, 23% of gross domestic product (GDP), 30% of the territory, and 18% of the global trade. The study synthesised 57 quantitative, qualitative, and theoretical studies between the period 2005 and 2020. The findings reflect that the BRICS countries are far way behind with the qualitative and quantitative outcomes on IFRS adoption, which may be on a voluntary basis or mandatory basis. However, there are mixed revelation based on the implications of the domestic convergence of standards with IFRS, which demonstrate that 15 papers’ results revealed a negative impact.

This chapter focuses on the diversity of financial reporting frameworks in the airline industry considering past and present. While diversity of financial reporting frameworks existed in the past, currently, the majority of listed and non-listed airlines, whose financial statements are publicly available, are inclined to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), leading toward uniformity in financial reporting frameworks because their country of incorporation or the stock exchange where they are listed either require or permit them to do so. Airlines operating in the United States prepare their financial statements under United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and some of Asian-Pacific countries still use their own national accounting standards in financial reporting. In addition, this research points out that the primary determinant of IFRS adoption in the airline industry is the fact that the majority of airlines are listed in national or foreign stock exchanges where IFRS adoption is required, but there are some company-specific determinants for listed and non-listed IFRS adopting airlines. Finally, this chapter also sets forth that there are jurisdictional versions of IFRS in the global context from the perspective of financial statements of airlines leading to some obstacles in understanding the financial reporting framework.

The purpose of this study is to review a synthesis of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) implementation in developing countries in an attempt to provide directions for future research. The in-depth analysis was performed with the use of the data analysis tool available in the Scopus databases. The study initially reviewed 145 papers and in particular 35 papers were analysed. Fifteen articles (43%) were published in seven journals including International Journal of Accounting, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Advances in Accounting, International Journal of Accounting and Information Management, Asian Review of Accounting, Journal of Applied Accounting Research, and Asian Journal of Business and Accounting. Specifically, 89% citations were from 14 articles, but 9 (25%) articles were without any citations. Most of the studies focus on qualitative followed by quantitative, and very few studies were based on mixed methods. Researchers should focus on few areas for future research on IFRS implementation in developing countries including theory implications, policy prescriptions, and case of particular standard.

Part IV provides readers with the extant requirements for the application of materiality to recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure in the financial statements. This part also includes a detailed critical review of the recent Practice Statement on materiality, the FASB’s proposed ASU on the notes and the amendments to the Conceptual Framework proposed by the IASB and the FASB.

The part expands to issues that are typical of Management Commentary, including the SEC guidance on materiality in Management Discussion and Analysis.

It informs about the complexities and subtle differences between financial statements and bookkeeping and the different standards of reasonableness versus materiality.

A section moves from materiality to material misstatements and covers the application of materiality in auditing.

Another section goes in depth on internal control over financial reporting, showing the linkages between materiality and risk appetite and risk tolerance and the related application guidance.

The study critically evaluates the theory of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) implementation in an attempt to provide directions for future research. Using the extensive structured review of literature using the Scopus database tool, the study reviewed 79 articles, and in particular the topic-related 57 articles were analysed. Nine journals contribute to 51% of articles (29 of 57 articles). In particular, the three journals published 15 articles: Critical Perspectives on Accounting (7), Accounting, Organizations and Society (4), and Journal of Applied Accounting Research (4). In total, 83% (47 of 57) of the articles were published 2009–2018. A total of 1,168 citations were found from 45 articles since 12 articles were without citations. The highest cited authors were Ball (2006) – 410 citations, Kothari, Ramanna, and Skinner (2010) – 135 citations, and Napier (1989) – 85 citations. In particular, five theories have been used widely: institutional theory (13), accounting theory (6), agency theory (3), positive accounting theory (3), and process theory (2). Future studies’ focus could be on theory implications in IFRS adoption/implementation studies in a country or a group of countries’ experience. Future studies could also focus on various theories rather depending on a single theory (i.e. institutional theory).

Part I introduces the background of why materiality matters in financial statements. One of the main reasons for determining whether a fact is material is to check whether its misstatement overtakes the watershed which makes financial statements not comply with the relative financial reporting framework.

This part also introduces one of the themes of the book: the interaction of the views of the different subjects involved in materiality assessment, i.e., users, preparers, auditors, regulators, and the related conflicts of interest. Materiality plays a different role in this depending on who is looking at it.

The part also comprises an overview of the main projects underlying the current debate about materiality, that is, the International Accounting Standards Board’s Disclosure Initiative, the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Disclosure Framework and the SEC’s Disclosure Effectiveness Initiative, including a list of their main steps and documents issued to date.

This chapter assesses the effects of corporate governance (CG) variables on the level of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure (CSRD), Shari'ah Supervisory Board Disclosure (SSBD), and Financial Disclosure (FD) for Islamic banks. This study, based on a sample of 95 Islamic banks, assessed this in 2013. The findings suggest that CG mechanisms, firm's age, auditor and shari'ah auditing department are effective in influencing SSBD, CSRD, and FD practices in Islamic banks. This chapter encourages regulators to improve CG mechanisms in their Islamic banking systems through the optimization of ownership structure (dispersed ownership) and the board's characteristics in order to promote transparency and disclosure. Moreover, the findings support theoretical arguments that firms disclose CG information in order to mitigate information asymmetry and agency costs and to improve investor confidence in the reported financial statements. The empirical evidence of this study enhances the understanding of the CG disclosure environment in Islamic banks as a promoting new financial system.