International Financial Reporting Standards- an Emerging Market Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to some issues that may be militating against the successful adoption of IFRS especially from the perspective of emerging markets or economies. Extensive theoretical and empirical review of literature was undertaken in this regard. Issues identified include misconceptions about fair value, lack of executive capacity for some countries, lack of accounting and legal infrastructure in some emerging countries, the structure of IASB itself, equivocations of some powerful nations to join the bandwagon and the issue of whether IFRS is in fact fit for purpose. The study has added to the scanty literature on IFRS from the perspective of emerging economies and has implication for the drive of IASB to make IFRS a truly global standard.