The Compliance of Methods of Implementation of IFRS: Study of the Impact on the Relevance of Accounting Information

Abstract

During the last two decades, many countries have chosen to implement the IFRS for at least one category of firms. According to Zeef and Nobes (2010), the implementation of IFRS can be classified into four methods. Thus, countries as Israel and South Africa have adopted the method “implementation process”, others as Canada, Australia and the European Union have opted for the method called “Standard by Standard” while that Switzerland applies the “optional” method; China has chosen the “Not Fully converged” method. The analysis of these methods of implementation of IFRS demonstrates that these latter differ in terms of degree of compliance with the IFRS as issued by the IASB. This difference of compliance with the IFRS led us to wonder if it affects the quality of accounting information through its qualitative characteristic the “relevance”.

To answer this question, we use an empirical model that we apply to a sample of listed companies from six countries opting for different methods of implementation of IFRS. The significant results found demonstrates that the compliance of methods of implementation of IFRS influences positively the relevance of accounting information and that this relevance is better for the listed companies of countries which have chosen a compliant method of implementation with the IFRS as issued by the IASB. These results complement the previous studies on the relevance of accounting information following the transition to IFRS and give new significant proves on the impact of IFRS on the relevance of accounting information.