The determinants and effects of the early adoption of IFRS 15:Evidence from a developing country

Abstract

Our study examines the determinants (especially governance and board characteristics) of the early adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standard 15 (IFRS 15) in a developing market—namely, the Egyptian Stock Exchange. Further, our study examines the difference in IFRS 15ʹs effects on the financial statement accounts between the early adopters and the non-early adopters. Based on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) 100 index, the study uses 79 firm-year observations for the early adoption period (2019–2020). We manually collected data from the Egyptian companies’ annual reports and the Thomson Reuters database and analysed them using logistic regression and t-tests. Out of the various examined governance mechanisms, we found that board size significantly negatively affects the early adoption of IFRS 15. In contrast, female directors have a significant positive effect on the early adoption of IFRS 15 in Egypt. Regarding the effects of firm characteristics, we found that firm age, firm size, and financial leverage have significant positive effects on the early adoption of IFRS 15. In contrast, profitability and audit quality have an insignificant effect on the early adoption of IFRS 15. Finally, we found a significant difference in profitability between IFRS 15 early adopting companies compared to non-early adopters. This result reflects the economic value of early embracing IFRS standards and their updates in emerging markets, such as Egypt. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that examines the determinants of IFRS 15ʹs early adoption and its effects on the financial statement disclosures in an emerging country. Our study turns the attention of investors in emerging markets such as Egypt to the changes and updates in IFRS related to revenues, which can enhance the transparency and accountability in these markets.