Mandatory Fair Value Accounting and Information Asymmetry: Evidence from the European Real Estate Industry
Management Science, Forthcoming
44 Pages Posted: 10 Sep 2008 Last revised: 13 Jun 2011
There are 2 versions of this paper
Mandatory Fair Value Accounting and Information Asymmetry: Evidence from the European Real Estate Industry
Date Written: February 28, 2011
Abstract
We examine the effects of mandating the provision of fair value information for long-lived tangible assets on firms’ information asymmetry. Specifically, we investigate whether European real estate firms’ compulsory adoption of International Accounting Standard 40 - Investment Property (IAS 40), which mandated the provision of investment property fair values in 2005, resulted in reduced information asymmetry across market participants. Using as a control group firms that voluntarily provided these fair values prior to the mandatory adoption of IAS 40, we find that mandatory adoption firms exhibit a larger decline in information asymmetry, as reflected in lower bid-ask spreads. However, we also find that mandatory adoption firms continue to have higher information asymmetry than voluntary adoption firms, which appears partially attributable to the lower reliability of fair values reported by the mandatory adoption firms. Together, this evidence adds to the debate on fair value accounting by demonstrating that common adoption of fair value, even for long-lived tangible assets, under a mandatory reporting regime can reduce, but not necessarily eliminate, information asymmetry differences across firms.
Keywords: Fair value, disclosure, IFRS, information asymmetry, investment property
JEL Classification: M41, M44, M47, D82, L85
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
International Accounting Standards and Accounting Quality
By Mary E. Barth, Wayne R. Landsman, ...
-
Mandatory IFRS Reporting Around the World: Early Evidence on the Economic Consequences
By Holger Daske, Luzi Hail, ...
-
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): Pros and Cons for Investors
By Ray Ball
-
Financial Statement Effects of Adopting International Accounting Standards: the Case of Germany
By Mingyi Hung and K.r. Subramanyam
-
Market Reaction to the Adoption of IFRS in Europe
By Chris Armstrong, Mary E. Barth, ...
-
Market Reaction to the Adoption of IFRS in Europe
By Chris Armstrong, Mary E. Barth, ...
-
By Vicentiu Covrig, Mark L. Defond, ...
-
Adopting a Label: Heterogeneity in the Economic Consequences Around IAS/IFRS Adoptions
By Holger Daske, Luzi Hail, ...