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Accounting Regulations and IFRS Adoption in Francophone North African Countries: The Experience of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia

Author

Listed:
  • Hichem Khlif

    (Faculty of Economics and Management of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia)

  • Kamran Ahmed

    (La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University, Australia)

  • Manzurul Alam

    (Murdoch University, Australia)

Abstract

This paper traces the historical developments of accounting regulations in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia and uses institutional theory to identify factors affecting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption as the national accounting standards in these countries. We find that the extent of convergence with IFRS in Algeria is higher compared to Morocco and Tunisia. This has been mostly due to greater foreign investor flows from Western countries in Algeria during the last decade, the dominant position of international Big-4 audit firms, and strong trade relationship of Algeria with the European Union (EU) compared with Morocco and Tunisia. We discuss the main challenges faced by these three countries in converging toward IFRS. These are underdeveloped equity markets, switching from French fiscal-oriented accounting systems to Anglo-Saxon accounting systems, and are characterized by lack of knowledge of principles-based IFRS by local professional accountants. Moreover, the convergence with IFRS in these countries is confronted by the prevailing small and medium-sized firms in the economic environment, difficulty in fair-value measurement in these settings, and the cost of convergence for companies. Our study has policy implications for those countries sharing similarities with these settings and have undertaken steps to implement IFRS.

Suggested Citation

  • Hichem Khlif & Kamran Ahmed & Manzurul Alam, 2020. "Accounting Regulations and IFRS Adoption in Francophone North African Countries: The Experience of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia," The International Journal of Accounting (TIJA), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 55(01), pages 1-36, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:tijaxx:v:55:y:2020:i:01:n:s1094406020500043
    DOI: 10.1142/S1094406020500043
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Andrzej Cieślik & Sarhad Hamza, 2022. "Inward FDI, IFRS Adoption and Institutional Quality: Insights from the MENA Countries," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Bayar Gardi & Mehmet Aga & Nabaz Nawzad Abdullah, 2023. "Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Quality: The Mediation Role of IFRS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Flauzeliton José Aparecido Gonçalves & André Aroldo Freitas De Moura & Fabio Yoshio Suguri Motoki, 2022. "What influences the implementation of IFRS for SMEs? The Brazilian case," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2947-2992, June.
    4. Elad, Charles & Shah, Neeta & Agyeman, Charles, 2023. "Accounting classification in the era of International Financial Reporting Standards: The case of Africa," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    5. Ahmed Eltweri & Alessio Faccia & Scott Foster, 2022. "International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) Adoption: An Institutional Perspective," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, September.

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