The effect of adopting IFRS on the relevance of information: The case of Moroccan companies listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange

Abstract

Since the introduction of IFRS in the European context and various countries worldwide, several studies have examined the impact of this new approach to asset and liability valuation on financial ratios and company values. The present study attempts to determine whether accounting figures prepared in accordance with this new international accounting regime better reflect the market value of companies listed on the Moroccan market compared to those prepared under Moroccan accounting standards. Empirically, the study is based on association studies using the returns model and covers a sample of 27 companies listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange for the period 2015–2020, i.e., 162 observations. The regression results show that accounting figures prepared according to IFRS standards better reflect stock market profitability than those prepared according to local standards, with the explanatory power increasing from 16.76% to 23.64% for the pre-IFRS period compared to the post-IFRS period. This means that by adopting IFRS standards, accounting values tend to be closer to stock market values, thus confirming the hypothesis that IFRS standards deliver a better information content of accounting figures.