An analysis of the impact of International Accounting Standards

This study investigates the impact of International Accounting Standards (IAS) on accounting measurements and value relevance of accounting information. It seeks answer to the following research question: has the application of IAS brought harmonization? Specifically, this study examines whether (1) IAS have resulted in changes in the accounting measurement practices within a country, (2) IAS have increased comparability in financial statements across national borders, (3) IAS-based accounting information differs in value relevance from the information generated by national standards within a country, and (4) value relevance of accounting information produced using IAS differs across countries.; The analyses are grouped into tests on accounting measures and on value relevance of accounting information. In each case, two separate analyses are conducted. First, a within-country test involves comparisons between IAS and domestic GAAP. Second, a cross-country test pertains to assessing the effect of IAS across national borders. Univariate analyses have been conducted on accounting returns and cash flow ratios. In the market related tests, the conventional return earnings specification and the valuation model based on Ohlson (1995) are utilized.; The results indicate that the adoption of IAS has, to some extent, changed the firms' accounting measurement practices. There are significant differences in accounting measures between IAS and domestic GAAP for half of the sample countries. The results also suggest that the application of IAS has improved harmonization, i.e. convergence in accounting measurements. Although there are still significant differences in measurements using IAS across countries, the magnitude is much smaller compared to measurements using domestic GAAPs. The expectation of more value relevance of accounting numbers using IAS as compared to using domestic GAAP is partially supported. Another finding is that earnings and/or book value under IAS have various degrees of conservatism in different countries. There is some evidence of convergence in market valuation of IAS numbers based on tests on the earnings-to-price and book-to-market ratios.; The overall evidence supports the notion that harmonization is a continuous process.