IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/acctbr/v47y2017i1p1-29.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are international accounting standards more credit relevant than domestic standards?

Author

Listed:
  • Annita Florou
  • Urska Kosi
  • Peter F. Pope

Abstract

We examine whether the credit relevance of financial statements, defined as the ability of accounting numbers to explain credit ratings, is higher after firms are required to report under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). We find an improvement in credit relevance for firms in 17 countries after mandatory IFRS reporting is introduced in 2005; this increase is higher than that reported for a matched sample of US firms. The increase in credit relevance is particularly pronounced for higher risk speculative-grade issuers, where accounting information is predicted to be more important; and for IFRS adopters with large first-time reconciliations, where the impact of IFRS is expected to be greater. These tests provide reassurance that the overall enhancement in estimated credit relevance is driven by accounting changes related to IFRS adoption. Our results suggest that credit rating analysts’ views of economic fundamentals are more closely aligned with IFRS numbers, and that analysts anticipate at least some of the effects of the IFRS transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Annita Florou & Urska Kosi & Peter F. Pope, 2017. "Are international accounting standards more credit relevant than domestic standards?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 1-29, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:47:y:2017:i:1:p:1-29
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2016.1224968
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00014788.2016.1224968
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00014788.2016.1224968?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. Anna Bergman Brown, 2016. "Institutional Differences and International Private Debt Markets: A Test Using Mandatory IFRS Adoption," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 679-723, June.
    2. Pu Liu & Fazal J. Seyyed & Stanley D. Smith, 1999. "The Independent Impact of Credit Rating Changes - The Case of Moody's Rating Refinement on Yield Premiums," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3-4), pages 337-363.
    3. 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.
    4. Hann, Rebecca N. & Heflin, Frank & Subramanayam, K.R., 2007. "Fair-value pension accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 328-358, December.
    5. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:4:p:1389-1413 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Ashbaugh-Skaife, Hollis & Collins, Daniel W. & LaFond, Ryan, 2006. "The effects of corporate governance on firms' credit ratings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 203-243, October.
    7. Ding, Yuan & Hope, Ole-Kristian & Jeanjean, Thomas & Stolowy, Herve, 2007. "Differences between domestic accounting standards and IAS: Measurement, determinants and implications," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-38.
    8. Marshall E. Blume & Felix Lim & A. Craig MacKinlay, "undated". "The Declining Credit Quality of US Corporate Debt: Myth or Reality?," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 03-98, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    9. Mei Cheng & K. R. Subramanyam, 2008. "Analyst Following and Credit Ratings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 1007-1044, December.
    10. West, Rr, 1970. "Alternative Approach To Predicting Corporate Bond Ratings," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 118-125.
    11. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, December.
    12. Holthausen, Robert W. & Watts, Ross L., 2001. "The relevance of the value-relevance literature for financial accounting standard setting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 3-75, September.
    13. Gus De Franco & Florin P. Vasvari & Regina Wittenberg‐Moerman, 2009. "The Informational Role of Bond Analysts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5), pages 1201-1248, December.
    14. Christensen, Hans B. & Hail, Luzi & Leuz, Christian, 2013. "Mandatory IFRS reporting and changes in enforcement," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 147-177.
    15. Dimson, Elroy, 1979. "Risk measurement when shares are subject to infrequent trading," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 197-226, June.
    16. Jorion, Philippe & Liu, Zhu & Shi, Charles, 2005. "Informational effects of regulation FD: evidence from rating agencies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 309-330, May.
    17. Marshall E. Blume & Felix Lim & A. Craig MacKinlay, "undated". "The Declining Credit Quality of US Corporate Debt: Myth or Reality?," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 3-98, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    18. Katherine Schipper, 2005. "The introduction of International Accounting Standards in Europe: Implications for international convergence," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 101-126.
    19. Campbell, John Y, 1996. "Understanding Risk and Return," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(2), pages 298-345, April.
    20. Anna, Petrenko, 2016. "Мaркування готової продукції як складова частина інформаційного забезпечення маркетингової діяльності підприємств овочепродуктового підкомплексу," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 2(1), March.
    21. Philip Brown & John Preiato & Ann Tarca, 2014. "Measuring Country Differences in Enforcement of Accounting Standards: An Audit and Enforcement Proxy," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1-2), pages 1-52, January.
    22. Ohlson, Ja, 1980. "Financial Ratios And The Probabilistic Prediction Of Bankruptcy," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 109-131.
    23. Peter D. Easton & Steven J. Monahan & Florin P. Vasvari, 2009. "Initial Evidence on the Role of Accounting Earnings in the Bond Market," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 721-766, June.
    24. Ray Ball & Xi Li & Lakshmanan Shivakumar, 2015. "Contractibility and Transparency of Financial Statement Information Prepared Under IFRS: Evidence from Debt Contracts Around IFRS Adoption," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 915-963, December.
    25. Denis, David J. & Mihov, Vassil T., 2003. "The choice among bank debt, non-bank private debt, and public debt: evidence from new corporate borrowings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 3-28, October.
    26. Henderson, Brian J. & Jegadeesh, Narasimhan & Weisbach, Michael S., 2006. "World markets for raising new capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 63-101, October.
    27. Kaplan, Robert S & Urwitz, Gabriel, 1979. "Statistical Models of Bond Ratings: A Methodological Inquiry," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(2), pages 231-261, April.
    28. Horrigan, Jo, 1966. "Determination Of Long-Term Credit Standing With Financial Ratios," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4, pages 44-62.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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).
    2. Vincent Tawiah & Ernest Gyapong, 2023. "International financial reporting standards, domestic debt finance and institutional quality: Evidence from developing countries," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 2915-2936, July.
    3. Xiao Li & Jeffrey Ng & Walid Saffar, 2021. "Financial Reporting and Trade Credit: Evidence from Mandatory IFRS Adoption," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 96-128, March.
    4. Anantharaman, Divya & Henderson, Darren, 2021. "Contrasting the information demands of equity- and debt-holders: Evidence from pension liabilities," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2).
    5. Bertrand, Jérémie & de Brebisson, Hélène & Burietz, Aurore, 2021. "Why choosing IFRS? Benefits of voluntary adoption by European private companies," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    6. Ann Jorissen & Ronita Ram & Pedro Moraya Barros, 2022. "Are IFRS Standards a ‘trusted’ language for private firm credit decisions? An analysis of country differences in users’ perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 3021-3065, June.
    7. Alshehabi, Ahmad & Georgiou, George & Ala, Alessandro S., 2021. "Country-specific drivers of the value relevance of goodwill impairment losses," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    8. Halabi, Hussein & Alshehabi, Ahmad & Wood, Geoffrey & Khan, Zaheer & Afrifa, Godfred, 2021. "The impact of international diversification on credit scores: Evidence from the UK," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6).
    9. Akarsh Kainth & Ranik Raaen Wahlstrøm, 2021. "Do IFRS Promote Transparency? Evidence from the Bankruptcy Prediction of Privately Held Swedish and Norwegian Companies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-15, March.
    10. Mohammed Saeed Hassan & Adel M. Sarea & Gagan Kukreja, 2019. "Testing the Level of Compliance of International Accounting Standard IAS 38: Evidence from Bahrain," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 8(3), pages 136-136, August.
    11. Kim, Jonghoon & 金, 鐘勲 & Koga, Yuya, 2020. "The Value and Credit Relevance of IFRS versus JGAAP Accounting Information," Hitotsubashi Journal of commerce and management, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 53(1), pages 31-48, February.

    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. Florou, Annita & Kosi, Urska & Pope, Peter F., 2017. "Are international accounting standards more credit relevant than domestic standards?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 68202, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. 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.
    3. Jenice Prather-Kinsey & Francesco De Luca & Ho-Tan-Phat Phan, 2022. "Improving the global comparability of IFRS-based financial reporting through global enforcement: a proposed organizational dynamic," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 330-351, September.
    4. Shen, Chung-Hua & Huang, Yu-Li & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2012. "Asymmetric benchmarking in bank credit rating," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 171-193.
    5. Koresh Galil, 2005. "Ratings as Predictors of Default in the Long Term:an Empirical Investigation," Working Papers 0505, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    6. Ruey‐Ching Hwang & K. F. Cheng & Cheng‐Few Lee, 2009. "On multiple‐class prediction of issuer credit ratings," Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(5), pages 535-550, September.
    7. Hwang, Ruey-Ching & Chung, Huimin & Chu, C.K., 2010. "Predicting issuer credit ratings using a semiparametric method," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 120-137, January.
    8. 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.
    9. Beaver, William H. & Shakespeare, Catherine & Soliman, Mark T., 2006. "Differential properties in the ratings of certified versus non-certified bond-rating agencies," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 303-334, December.
    10. 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.
    11. Jens Hilscher & Mungo Wilson, 2017. "Credit Ratings and Credit Risk: Is One Measure Enough?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(10), pages 3414-3437, October.
    12. Ruey-Ching Hwang, 2013. "Forecasting credit ratings with the varying-coefficient model," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(12), pages 1947-1965, December.
    13. Xiao Li & Jeffrey Ng & Walid Saffar, 2021. "Financial Reporting and Trade Credit: Evidence from Mandatory IFRS Adoption," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 96-128, March.
    14. Demirtas, K. Ozgur & Rodgers Cornaggia, Kimberly, 2013. "Initial credit ratings and earnings management," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 135-145.
    15. Jaspreet Kaur & Madhu Vij & Ajay Kumar Chauhan, 2023. "Signals influencing corporate credit ratings—a systematic literature review," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 50(1), pages 91-114, March.
    16. Azmat, Saad & Skully, Michael & Brown, Kym, 2017. "The (little) difference that makes all the difference between Islamic and conventional bonds," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 46-59.
    17. Sermpinis, Georgios & Tsoukas, Serafeim & Zhang, Ping, 2018. "Modelling market implied ratings using LASSO variable selection techniques," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 19-35.
    18. Hirk, Rainer & Vana, Laura & Hornik, Kurt, 2022. "A corporate credit rating model with autoregressive errors," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 224-240.
    19. Afef Feki Krichene & Walid Khoufi, 2016. "On the Nonlinearity of the Financial Ratios-Credit Ratings Relationship," Applied Finance and Accounting, Redfame publishing, vol. 2(2), pages 65-70, August.
    20. Themistokles Lazarides & Evaggelos Drimpetas, 2016. "Defining the factors of Fitch rankings in the European banking sector," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(2), pages 315-339, August.

    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:47:y:2017:i:1:p:1-29. 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.