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Country Effects and Sector Effects on the Harmonization of Accounting Policy Choice

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  • Aziz Jaafar
  • Stuart McLeay

Abstract

This study assesses the extent of accounting harmony in Europe prior to the recent switch to IFRS, by presuming that accounting is harmonized when ‘all firms operating in similar circumstances adopt the same accounting treatment for similar transactions regardless of their domicile’. The policies studied concern inventory, depreciation and goodwill, and the odds of using alternative accounting methods are predicted by logistic regression. The empirical results suggest that, while international exposure and firm size are significant factors, country effects are considerably greater than sector effects, which is inconsistent with harmonized accounting.

Suggested Citation

  • Aziz Jaafar & Stuart McLeay, 2007. "Country Effects and Sector Effects on the Harmonization of Accounting Policy Choice," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 43(2), pages 156-189, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:abacus:v:43:y:2007:i:2:p:156-189
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6281.2007.00224.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Perafán-Peña, Héctor Fabio & Gill-de-Albornoz, Belén & Giner, Begoña, 2022. "Earnings management of target firms and deal premiums: The role of industry relatedness," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(2).
    2. 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.
    3. Ana Isabel Morais & Ana Fialho, 2008. "Do Harmonised Accounting Standards Lead to Harmonised Accounting Practices? An Empirical Study of IAS 39 Measurement Requirements in Some European Union Countries," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 18(3), pages 224-236, September.
    4. Araceli Amorós Martínez & José Antonio Cavero Rubio, 2018. "The Economic Effects of IFRS Goodwill Reporting," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 28(3), pages 309-322, September.
    5. Petaibanlue, Jirada & Walker, Martin & Lee, Edward, 2015. "When did analyst forecast accuracy benefit from increased cross-border comparability following IFRS adoption in the EU?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 278-291.
    6. Ross Taplin, 2010. "Statistical inference using the T index to quantify the level of comparability between accounts," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 75-103.
    7. Stefanescu Cristina Alexandrina, 2012. "Accounting Practices From Financial Instruments Disclosure Perspective '" The Case Of Romanian Banking System," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(2), pages 595-601, December.
    8. Riccardo Macchioni & Alessandra Allini & Martina Prisco, 2022. "The role of the Big Four audit firms and the legal system in non-GAAP comparability," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(1), pages 79-116.
    9. Sidney J. Gray & Niclas Hellman & Mariya N. Ivanova, 2019. "Extractive Industries Reporting: A Review of Accounting Challenges and the Research Literature," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 55(1), pages 42-91, March.
    10. Christian Stadler & Christopher W. Nobes, 2014. "The Influence of Country, Industry, and Topic Factors on IFRS Policy Choice," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 50(4), pages 386-421, December.
    11. Olante, Maria Elena & Lassini, Ugo, 2022. "Investment property: Fair value or cost model? Recent evidence from the application of IAS 40 in Europe," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    12. Jones, Stewart & Finley, Aimee, 2011. "Have IFRS made a difference to intra-country financial reporting diversity?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 22-38.
    13. Macías, Marta & Muiño, Flora, 2011. "Examining dual accounting systems in Europe," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 51-78, March.
    14. Ali, Syed Babar, 2012. "Corporate Governance and Accounting Practices in Pakistan," MPRA Paper 64713, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Barral Rivada, Antonio & Cordobés Madueño, Magdalena & Ramírez Sobrino, Jesús N., 2014. "Los arrendamientos operativos: impacto de su reconocimiento en los estados financieros y en la política de financiación de las compañías españolas y del Reino Unido," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 212-223.
    16. 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.
    17. Ross H. Taplin, 2017. "Measuring the Comparability of Company Accounts Conditionally: A Research Note," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 53(4), pages 527-542, December.
    18. Nobes, Christopher & Stadler, Christian, 2013. "How arbitrary are international accounting classifications? Lessons from centuries of classifying in many disciplines, and experiments with IFRS data," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 573-595.
    19. Sandro Brunelli & Francesco Venuti & Thomas Niederkofler & Camilla Falivena, 2024. "Financial distress, auditors’ going concern modification (GCM) and investors’ reaction in a concentrated ownership environment: new evidence from the Italian stock market," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(2), pages 313-339, June.
    20. Szilveszter FEKETE & Yau M. DAMAGUM & Razvan MUSTATA & Dumitru MATIS & Ioan POPA, 2010. "Explaining Accounting Policy Choices of SME’s: An Empirical Research on the Evaluation Methods," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 33-48.
    21. Franck Missonier‐Piera & Cédric Spadetti, 2023. "The consequences of earnings management for the acquisition premium in friendly takeovers," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 308-334, January.
    22. Onali, Enrico & Ginesti, Gianluca & Vasilakis, Chrysovalantis, 2017. "How should we estimate value-relevance models? Insights from European data," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(5), pages 460-473.

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