Demand for internationally comparable accounting information has increased significantly in recent years due to rapid growth in cross-border investment. One reflection of this trend is the widespread adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), a set of accounting rules designed to improve financial reporting quality, including comparability. In this thesis, I empirically test whether IFRS adoption improves cross-border information comparability and whether the improvement in the information comparability, if any, facilitates international investment such as mergers and acquisitions (M&As). / In the first part of the thesis, I use data from 17 European countries that adopted IFRS in 2005 to investigate the effect of IFRS adoption on information comparability. I employ three proxies---the similarity of accounting functions, the degree of cross-border intra-industry information transfer, and the similarity of the information content of earnings and book value---to measure cross-border information comparability. I find that all three measures of information comparability indicate significantly better comparability in the post-IFRS period than in the pre-IFRS period. I also find that the improvement in comparability resulting from IFRS adoption is more evident among countries with similar institutional environments than among those with different institutional environments. / In the second part of the thesis, I examine whether the adoption of IFRS would encourage cross-border M&As. Using data from firms in 17 European countries with mandatory IFRS adoption in 2005, I calculate the frequency that a firm acquires/ merges with a foreign firm, the number of foreign bidders involved in an M&A deal, and the synergistic gains of cross-border M&As. I find that all three measures increase significantly after the mandatory IFRS adoption. These results suggest that IFRS adoption facilitates and create more value for cross-border M&As. / Yip, Wing Yue. / Adviser: Danqing Young. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-85). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:cuhk.edu.hk/oai:cuhk-dr:cuhk_344925 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Contributors | Yip, Wing Yue., Chinese University of Hong Kong Graduate School. Division of Business Administration. |
| Source Sets | The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| Language | English, Chinese |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, theses |
| Format | electronic resource, microform, microfiche, 1 online resource (vii, 85 leaves : ill.) |
| Rights | Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International” License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds