The Impact of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Foreign Mutual Fund Ownership: The Role of Comparability
Posted: 16 May 2011
There are 2 versions of this paper
The Impact of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Foreign Mutual Fund Ownership: The Role of Comparability
Date Written: May, 15 2011
Abstract
Proponents of IFRS argue that mandating a uniform set of accounting standards improves financial statement comparability that in turn attracts greater cross-border investment. We test this assertion by examining changes in foreign mutual fund investment in firms following mandatory IFRS adoption in the European Union in 2005. We measure improved comparability as a credible increase in uniformity, defined as a large increase in the number of industry peers using the same accounting standards in countries with credible implementation. Consistent with this assertion, we find that foreign mutual fund ownership increases when mandatory IFRS adoption leads to improved comparability.
Keywords: Comparability, Uniformity, IFRS, Mutual Funds, Foreign Investment
JEL Classification: M40, M41, G15, G18, G23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Mark DeFond
University of Southern California - Leventhal School of Accounting ( email )
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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )
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