The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued International Financial Reporting Standard No. 8 (IFRS 8) “Operating Segments” in November 2006 as a part of its convergence programme with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB); the new standard became effective for periods beginning on or after 1/January/2009 (IASB, 2006a). IFRS 8 supersedes the previous international accounting standard (IAS): IAS 14 Revised (IAS 14R) “Segment Reporting” (IASC, 1997). IFRS 8 requires segments to be identified in accordance with the management approach. In particular, operating segments are to be identified on the basis of internal reports that are “regularly reviewed by the Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM) to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance” (IASB, 2006a, para 5). There are two main objectives to this study: (i) to assess the impact of IFRS 8 on the segmental disclosures of Jordanian listed firms in their annual reports for 2009 when the standard became effective; and (ii) to explore the perceptions of external auditors, preparers and users (investors and analysts) of financial statements about this new segmental reporting standard. A decision usefulness theoretical framework underpins the research; the research was carried out by using a disclosure index analysis and semi-structured interviews. The two objectives of this thesis were investigated by employing these two methods; a disclosure index and semi-structured interviews. The research is located in Burrell and Morgan’s (1979) functionalist paradigm using a decision usefulness theory lens. The findings suggest that IFRS 8 has had a significant and sizeable impact on the segmental disclosure practices of Jordanian companies in 2009 compared to disclosure practices in annual reports for 2008 based on IAS 14R; a sample of reports for 109 first market Jordanian listed companies were investigated. The disclosure index findings indicate that the Jordanian listed companies provided more disaggregated segmental information, published data on additional segmental items and supplied new Entity-Wide Disclosures (EWDs) in accordance with IFRS 8’s management approach. For example, 10% of the sample companies provided segmental information for the first time in 2009. The Jordanian listed companies provided details about more disaggregated business segments (where the mean number of segments rose from 2.4 to 2.7) and geographic segments / EWDs (where xii the mean number of segments increased from 1.5 to 1.8). The average disclosure index score rose from 18.6% in 2008 to 30.6% in 2009. In addition, 27% of the sample companies went beyond the requirements of IFRS 8 by identifying the CODM in their annual reports for 2009. With regards to the semi-structured interviews, 31 participants agreed to provide their views on IFRS 8. The respondents indicated that the quantity and quality of segmental information provided under IFRS 8 in annual reports for 2009 was “better” than that disclosed in 2008; it was more understandable, relevant, reliable and comparable than the segmental information which had previously been reported. Their responses also indicated that the implementation of IFRS 8 did not appear to cause any difficulties for external auditors, preparers and users during 2009; most interviewees reported that IFRS 8 was not a problematic standard. They believed that the disclosure of segmental information increased, published segmental information became more organised and better explained and the segmental information disclosed was more transparent. The current study is the first of its kind in Jordan, and adds to the growing literature on financial disclosure; it therefore fills a gap about segmental disclosure in developing countries. It is also exploratory in nature, since very little is known about segmental reporting practices in Jordan. Thus, this study’s findings represent a significant contribution to knowledge.

O movimento atual de consolidação da convergência mundial das normas contábeis, rumo aos padrões internacionais emitidos pelo IASB (International Accounting Standards Board), manifestou interesse na identificação dos possíveis impactos da adoção das normas IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) sobre os indicadores econômico-financeiros de bancos de alguns países da União Européia (UE) - a UE representa a primeira região do mundo a requerer aderência às IFRS. A fim de atender a esse objetivo, foi utilizada metodologia de pesquisa empírico-analítica e descritiva, que coletou e observou dados práticos, marcadamente quantitativos, constituídos por indicadores econômico-financeiros calculados para os bancos de capital aberto do Reino Unido, França e Espanha. Antes da fase de análise quantitativa, porém, foram realizadas pesquisas bibliográficas no intuito de selecionar os principais indicadores econômico-financeiros a serem utilizados para tais bancos. Para as instituições financeiras em estudo foram calculados indicadores antes e depois da adoção das IFRS, referentes ao mesmo exercício social de 2004. Com isso, o conjunto de indicadores calculados com demonstrações financeiras em GAAP local foi comparado ao conjunto de indicadores calculados a partir de demonstrações em conformidade com as IFRS, por país, através da ferramenta estatística teste de hipóteses para diferenças de médias (TStudent). Os resultados dos testes revelaram existência de impactos das IFRS em metade dos indicadores testados para os bancos do Reino Unido e Espanha, e em apenas um indicador calculado para os bancos da França. Para os bancos franceses e espanhóis eram esperadas maiores alterações, em termos de quantidade de indicadores, do que as provocadas nos indicadores dos bancos do Reino Unido, devido à impressão de que os modelos contábeis daqueles dois países guardariam maior divergência em relação às normas IFRS do que o modelo contábil aplicado no Reino Unido. Esses resultados, porém, não foram verificados, muito possivelmente em decorrência da aplicação incompleta da norma IAS 39 (Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement) pelos bancos franceses e espanhóis - eles provavelmente utilizaram as permissões dos \"carve-outs\" à IAS 39, mas não divulgaram informações completas sobre a extensão do uso ou não dessas permissões. As principais normas internacionais que afetaram os indicadores testados nesta pesquisa foram: IAS 27 (SIC 12), a IAS 32, a IAS 39 e a IFRS 4. Assim, a partir do presente estudo foi possível concluir que a adoção das normas IFRS mostrou-se capaz de provocar mudanças significativas em indicadores econômico-financeiros de bancos de alguns países da União Européia. Cabe destacar, no entanto, que esta pesquisa não tem o objetivo de generalizar os resultados e conclusões a outras instituições não analisadas. / The pace of consolidation regarding the global convergence of accounting standards, towards the international standards issued by the IASB (International Accounting Standards Board), has created the interest to identify the impact of adopting the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) on the financial indicators of banks of some EU countries - EU was the first region in the world to require compliance with IFRS. To achieve such an aim we used the empirical-analytical descriptive approach, which collected and analyzed practical data, i.e., quantitative data, constituted by financial indicators, calculated for open-market banks in the United Kingdom, France and Spain. A bibliographical research was accomplished to select the main financial indicators to be used in the analysis. For the financial institutions in this study, indicators were calculated before and after the adoption of the IFRS, referring to the same financial year of 2004. So, the set of the indicators calculated based on financial reporting in local GAAP was compared to the same set calculated based on IFRS financial statements for each of the selected countries, through a statistic test tool with hypothesis for differences of averages (T-Student). The results of the tests revealed the existence of IFRS impact on half of the indicators tested on the banks within the United Kingdom and Spain, and on just one indicator tested on the banks within France. For both French and Spanish banks it was be expected that the changes, in quantity financial indicators, would be higher than the ones at UK banks, due to the impression that the domestic accounting standards of those first two countries might have larger divergences in relation to the IFRS requirements than the UK domestic standards. These expectations were not confirmed by our tests. A possible cause for this may be the incomplete application of the IAS 39 standard (Financial Instrument: Recognition and Measurement) by both French and Spanish banks - they probably used the \"carve-outs\" permission to the IAS 39, but they did not disclosure complete information about the extent they have or not used that permission. The main international standards that modified the indicators used in this research were: IAS 27 (SIC 12), a IAS 32, a IAS 39 e a IFRS 4. So, through the present study it was possible to conclude that the adoption of the IFRS resulted in remarkable changes on the bank\'s financial indicators in some EU countries. However it is important to elucidate that this study does not aim to extend its results and conclusions to institutions that were not analyzed.

Este estudo coloca à prova certo dualismo documentado na literatura científica entre padrões contábeis e incentivos econômicos na determinação da qualidade da informação contábil. Para isso, avalia os efeitos dos padrões, dos incentivos e da interação entre padrões e incentivos na qualidade da informação contábil divulgada no mercado brasileiro. A variável \"qualidade da informação\" foi observada em função da presença (ou não) de reconhecimento assimétrico de perdas. O comportamento da variável \"padrões contábeis\" foi avaliado por meio da transição das normas contábeis locais (BR-GAAP) para as normas contábeis internacionais (IFRS). Os \"incentivos econômicos\" foram avaliados em quatro aspectos: desenvolvimento do mercado de capitais, estruturas de capital e propriedade e sistema tributário. Foi definido um grupo de controle constituído por empresas com incentivos diferenciados à divulgação de informações contábeis. As evidências analisadas sugerem que os incentivos são mais relevantes para explicar a qualidade da informação do que os padrões. Além disso, os resultados indicam que a adoção obrigatória do padrão IFRS não necessariamente aumenta a qualidade da informação contábil. Estes resultados estão em linha com estudos anteriores que analisaram os efeitos dos padrões e dos incentivos sobre a qualidade da informação contábil. A pesquisa contribui com a discussão entre pesquisadores, reguladores e profissionais de mercado acerca dos efeitos do padrão IFRS nas propriedades dos números contábeis. Ressalta-se que as evidências avaliadas são preliminares, pois se analisou apenas o primeiro ano da adoção do padrão IFRS no Brasil. / This study analyzes an existing dualism in scientific literature between accounting standards and incentives as determinants of accounting quality. To this end it evaluates the effects of standards, incentives and interaction between these two variables on accounting quality of the Brazilian firms. The accounting quality variable was measured as a function of the presence (or absence) of the timeliness of loss recognition. The accounting standards variable was acquired by observing the transition from local accounting standards (BR-GAAP) to international accounting standards (IFRS). The incentives variable was analyzed by considering four aspects: equity market development, capital structure, ownership and tax system. A control sample was constituted using companies with differentiated incentives for accounting disclosure. Evidences indicate that the incentives are more relevant than the standards as determinant of accounting quality. In addition, the results suggest that mandatory IFRS adoption does not necessarily improve accounting quality. These results are aligned with previous studies which analyzed the effects of standards and incentives on accounting quality. This research contributes to the discussion among academics, regulators and market experts about the effects of IFRS adoption on the properties of accounting numbers. It should be noted that evidences are evaluated in preliminary hearings, because it examined only the first year of mandatory IFRS adoption in Brazil.

O estudo investiga os efeitos da adoção obrigatória das IFRS sobre a qualidade do ambiente informacional e confirma a hipótese de que os incentivos econômicos associados aos fatores institucionais são mais relevantes do que os padrões contábeis para explicar a qualidade do ambiente informacional. Foi utilizada uma amostra de 15 países que não passaram por reformas significativas na estrutura de enforcement legal, proporcionando uma estratégia de identificação econométrica mais robusta. Os países analisados adotaram as IFRS em momentos diferentes a partir de 2006. Foram utilizadas quatro métricas de qualidade dos accruals e três métricas de performance dos analistas para operacionalizar a variável dependente qualidade do ambiente informacional. Além disso, foram utilizadas como variáveis mediadoras diversas características institucionais com potencial de afetar os incentivos à elaboração e divulgação de demonstrações financeiras. Os resultados indicam que a adoção obrigatória das IFRS afetou de forma negativa a qualidade dos accruals e a performance dos analistas. No entanto, esses resultados são contingentes à qualidade da infraestrutura institucional da jurisdição que adotou as IFRS como modelo contábil obrigatório. Os efeitos das IFRS foram significativamente mais positivos (ou menos negativos) para os países com origem legal common law, estrutura de enforcement legal mais forte, mercado de capitais mais desenvolvido, menor diferença entre padrões contábeis locais e padrões internacionais, maior grau de liberdade econômica, menor corrupção percebida e instituições mais sólidas. Foram realizados testes de robustez para verificar a sensibilidade desses resultados. Os resultados permaneceram qualitativamente iguais após serem aplicados diferentes critérios de amostragem, controlados os efeitos da crise financeira de 2008 e levado em conta o possível efeito aprendizado dos responsáveis pela elaboração e análise das demonstrações financeiras no primeiro ano de adoção. O estudo contribui com a literatura da área de contabilidade financeira e com os órgãos reguladores da indústria contábil ao fornecer evidências de que a adoção obrigatória das IFRS, quando não acompanhada por reformas econômicas e institucionais, não causará os benefícios informacionais esperados / This study investigates the effects of mandatory IFRS adoption on information environment quality and confirms the hypothesis that states that the reporting incentives related to institutional factors are more relevant than accounting standards in determining the quality of information environment. I exploit a sample of 15 countries that did not substantially change their enforcement mechanisms, providing a better identification strategy. The sample countries adopted IFRS at different moments from 2006. I use four measures of accruals quality and three measures of analysts\' performance in order to quantify the information environment variable. Moreover, I use several institutional factors that have the potential to affect reporting incentives as mediating variables. The results show that the mandatory IFRS adoption decreases both accruals quality and analysts\' performance. However, these finds depend on the institutional features of the country that adopted the IFRS mandatorily. The IFRS effects are significantly more positive (or less negative) in countries with common law origin, stronger legal enforcement, more developed capital market, fewer differences between prior local accounting standards and IFRS, greater economic freedom, lower corruption and better institutions. I perform robustness tests to check the sensitivity of the results. The results hold the same after changing sample criteria, controlling for the 2008 financial crisis and considering the financial reporting preparers and analysts\' learning curve in the first adoption. This study contributes to financial accounting literature and financial reporting regulators in the extent to which it provides evidence that the mandatory IFRS adoption without changing the economic and institutional environment will not generate the expected benefits in terms of higher financial reporting quality and better analysts\' performance

The objective of this study is to add to the body of research concerning International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). To accomplish this objective, it will examine whether Canada’s adoption of IFRS, which replaced Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), appears to affect the reported financial performance of Canadian public mining companies. Financial information for 2010 from the audited financial statements, as stated under IFRS and Canadian GAAP, were used to compute selected financial ratios. These financial ratios were tested to determine if statistically significant differences in their dispersion and central tendency resulted from adopting IFRS. It was found that no statistically significant differences existed in the dispersion of the ratios. However, statistically significant differences were found in the central tendency of three of the ratios: quick ratio, return on assets, and comprehensive return on assets. The results of this study will provide valuable information for investors, Canadian public mining companies, and government policy makers in other countries around the world.

The issues of zakah and interest for IFIs have been highlighted for several years and attracted many arguments among Islamic scholars and public. The increasing public interest on the Islamic Banking since 1970s has been driven by the increasing sensitivity among Muslims to the relationship between religion and economic activities. With the emergence of IFIs, Muslims community has demanded for an establishment of an accounting body to develop a set of accounting standards that adhere to the Islamic tenets, hence AAOIFI was established. However, the journey of AAOFI in achieving such objective has not been smooth. This paper intended to study the effectiveness of AAOIFI in dealing with the issues of zakah and riba for IFIs by examining the disclosure practice of 25 IFIs worldwide. Based on the analysis conducted, it is concluded that the extents of disclosure by the IFIs are much lower than the AAOIFI requirements. The study also found that leverage and origin factors might contribute to the level disclosures of zakah and financial products. In addition, the test performed also revealed that the adopters of AAOIFI do provide more disclosure as compared to the non-adopters. However, the mean result is relatively low to suggest full compliance with the AAOIFI standards.

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This thesis presents a new methodology based on directly measuring user behavior and making decisions based on experimental results. I have built and tested a tool which will enable researchers to use the methodology to determine whether particular financial statement presentations are more beneficial than others. The tool records user movement on a computer screen with mouse tracking, which allows researchers to track user behavior in greater detail than ever before. The methodology was tested on a subject pool of non-professional financial analysts and junior professionals, who were presented with a company’s financial data in the current GAAP and a new proposed FASB presentation format. The results show that this methodology could be useful in differentiating between present GAAP and proposed alternatives.

Inom redovisning finns en eftersträvan av enkelhet, vilket bland annat redovisningsstandarder syftar till att uppnå. Redovisningsstandarder kan antingen vara baserade på regler eller på principer och ska enligt standardsättarna besitta egenskaper som gynnar enkelhet. Hur användarna av redovisningsstandarder upplever enkelhet i standarderna är dock mindre betonat i litteraturen. Syftet med denna studie är att generera en ökad förståelse för hur användarna av redovisningsstandarder konstruerar enkelhet i redovisningen, samt vilken påverkan redovisningsstandarder har på konstruktionen. Studien har genomförts med ett användarorienterat socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv och datainsamling har skett genom ostrukturerade intervjuer med fem redovisningskonsulter där standarder ur regelverken K2 och K3 diskuterats. Detta har sedan analyserats genom att väsentliga citat bildat underkategorier samt kategorier. Studien når slutsatsen att användarna av redovisningsstandarder konstruerar enkelhet genom en legal konstruktion, avsaknad av alternativ, erfarenhet samt praktik inte teori. Vidare dras slutsatsen att redovisningsstandarder inte har någon betydelse för konstruktionen av enkelhet. / There is a desire of simplicity in accounting, and accounting standards exist due to this purpose. Accounting standards are rules- or principles-based and will, according to the standard setters, possess features that create simplicity. However, there is less focus in the literature on simplicity from the accounting practitioner’s point of view. The purpose of this thesis is to find a deeper understanding of how accounting practitioners construct simplicity in accounting and what role accounting standards play in the process. In this essay, a practitioner’s oriented social constructivist perspective has been adopted. The empirical findings have been collected through unstructured interviews with five accounting practitioners, where accounting standards from K2 and K3 have been discussed. The findings were analyzed through sub-categories and categories. The conclusions of this thesis is that accounting practitioners construct simplicity through; legal construction, absence of alternatives, experience and practice not theory. Furthermore it can be concluded that accounting standards do not affect the construction of simplicity.