A Qualitative Comparative Approach to the Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Africa

Abstract

The last two decades has witnessed an unprecedented number of countries adopting international financial reporting standards (IFRS). Studies on the reasons for their popularity and adoption by countries have leaned towards statistical approaches, which may or may not necessarily be conclusive in explaining the cross-sectional variations in the reasons countries adopt the standards especially from developing countries. Common to this inconclusive literature so far is the monocausal rationale underlying conditions (pathways) leading to the adoption of IFRS. To reconcile these conclusions this article employs Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) methodology to study the adoption/non-adoption of IFRS by African countries. In contrast to work predicated on assumptions of causal homogeneity and causal competition on policy adoption, the results of the study reveals that multiple combinations of conditions lead to adoption/non-adoption of IFRS in Africa. This article contributes to the literature by suggesting greater leverage than current empirical studies in discerning the incentives facilitating or hindering African countries with regard to IFRS adoption/non-adoption.