Code Law Countries Research Articles

Cost behavior around corporate tax rate cuts

In this study, we investigate cost behavior of companies in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries before corporate tax rate cuts become effective. We consider such events to generate strong incentives for intertemporal cost shifting. We analyze the time period between 2011 and 2016, which includes 32 tax reductions. The results show that companies exhibit income-decreasing selling, general, and administrative cost behavior before tax rate cuts, and that the extent is proportional to the magnitude of the decrease in the tax rate. Furthermore, we find stronger evidence of this form of tax-induced earnings management in lower tax compliance and code law countries, as well as for private companies.

The effect of sustainability assurance demand on information asymmetry: evidence from French companies

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether voluntary demand for sustainability reporting assurance by French companies is associated with lower information asymmetry. The use of the generalised least squares method (GLS) for a sample of 768 firm-year observations of French companies belonging to the SBF 250 and CAC All-Tradable indices during the period 2010-2012, highlights how voluntary sustainability assurance demand reduces the problems of asymmetric information between the different market agents. To our knowledge, this study is the first that has examined the impact of sustainability assurance on the information asymmetry in code-law countries, with low investor protection rights, such as France. Moreover, this research examines the effect of sustainability reporting assurance on information asymmetry measured by bid-ask spread. In addition, this study makes a link between two important areas of sustainability assurance and finance.

Does IFRS make analysts more efficient in using fundamental information included in financial statements?

This paper investigates the efficiency with which analysts use fundamental signals when forecasting one-year-ahead change in earnings per share (EPS) in Australian and European contexts and the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on this efficiency. Results reveal that adoption of IFRS seems to increase analysts’ awareness of fundamental signals useful for predicting future changes in EPS. However, overall, analysts remain only as efficient as they were pre-IFRS in using these fundamental signals. While their efficiency in using the earnings signal decreased, it increased for non-earnings signals in the post-compared to pre-IFRS period. Furthermore, analysts substantially underutilise the earnings signal in common compared to code law countries. These findings are likely to be of interest to analysts and market participants when making forecasts and investment decisions, and to standard setters and regulators in evaluating the impact of accounting standards.

An Analysis of IFRS and SME-IFRS Adoption Determinants: A Worldwide Study

ABSTRACT This study analyses the determinants of IFRS adoption decision from three dimensions. Logistic regression (Binary and Ordinal) models were applied to a dataset of 145 countries for the period 1995 to 2015. The main findings are that countries with higher regulatory efficiency and lower market openness are more likely to adopt IFRS earlier, and vice versa. However, regulatory efficiency and market openness have no significant impact on the extent of IFRS adoption. While, countries with lower regulatory efficiency, market openness and economic growth are more likely to adopt SME-IFRS. SME-IFRS adoption is higher in common law origin countries compared to code law countries.

A PERSISTÊNCIA DA BOOK-TAX DIFFERENCES NAS COMPANHIAS ABERTAS BRASILEIRAS APÓS A ADOÇÃO DO INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS (IFRS)

A persistência da book-tax differences (BTD), ou seja, a autocorrelação dessa variável entre períodos consecutivos, pode ser utilizada para identificar a persistência do lucro contábil e do lucro tributável de maneira conjunta. A oscilação desses lucros provavelmente aumentou após a adoção das International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), provocando a redução da persistência da BTD. Porém a adoção efetiva das IFRS na prática das empresas do Brasil, país de origem code law, possivelmente demore a ocorrer. Assim, o objetivo desta pesquisa é investigar o comportamento da persistência da BTD nas companhias abertas brasileiras após a adoção das IFRS. A amostra composta por 842 observações do período de 2004 a 2015, foi testada por meio de “generalised method of moments” (GMM) e “autoregressive process” AR(1). Os resultados sugerem persistência dos três tipos de BTD (total, temporária e permanente) no horizonte temporal de estudo. A BTD temporária revelou menor nível de persistência. Além disso, os resultados sugerem redução da persistência dos três tipos de BTD após a adoção das IFRS, sendo a BTD temporária a mais afetada. Infere-se que o aumento de escolhas contábeis, o subjetivismo responsável e a representação fidedigna, inerentes à adoção das IFRS, podem provocar oscilações nos lucros reduzindo a persistência da BTD.

A study on the earnings response coefficient (ERC) of socially responsible firms

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to examine the corporate social responsibility (CSR) – earnings response coefficient (ERC) relation in the code-law tradition and the early stage of CSR practice to fill the research gap in the literature on CSR–ERC relation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use an association framework for the study. They use the firms listed on Korea Stock Exchange because Korea is classified as a code-law country and most of firms in Korea are in the early stages of CSR development, and Korean samples are considered credible and stable because of the effective financial reforms initiated by Korean government in the late 1990s. The authors collected data from the two data sources: KisValue and Korea Corporate Governance Service.FindingsThe authors find the following. First, CSR is negatively associated with ERC, which indicates that the ability of earnings to capture CSR implication is lower under the circumstances of the code-law and the early stage of CSR development. Second, political sensitivity (business group effect) is positively (negatively) associated with CSR–ERC relation, which means that the politically noticeable CSR concerns strengthen the CSR–ERC relation, and the inclusion of a firm in a business group weakens the CSR–ERC relation.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper derives theoretical implications on the quality of earnings reflecting CSR activities, provides practical implications to the investors who target international capital markets and is expected to help broaden the understanding of CSR–ERC relations in international capital markets.Practical implicationsThe paper provides practical implications to the investors who target international capital markets. Regarding the interpretation of accounting earnings that contain information on CSR activities, the legal origin and the CSR development stages are considered as key factors. Specifically, in the code-law and the early CSR environment, the potential benefits of CSR activities tend to be evaluated optimistically and reflected aggressively in reported earnings. Thus, if investors are in a similar international investment environment, they may need to recalibrate estimates in their decision model with additional CSR information from non-financial sources (e.g. sustainability reports).Originality/valueThe paper is based on the international institutional theory and the discussion of CSR development stages. The international institutional theory states that the legal origin is one of the factors that can help explain the differential aggressiveness of reported earnings by country. In addition, the discussion of CSR stages argues that the CSR practices can be differentially implemented by CSR stages. The authors try to fill the gap in the existing literature by conducting an empirical study based on data from Korea Stock Exchange.

Impairment Losses: The Impact of First‐time Adoption of the Accounting Standardisation System in Portugal

AbstractPortugal has been recognised as a code law country, with weak legal enforcement mechanisms and conservative accounting practices. However, since 2005, Portuguese companies have been changing their financial reporting practices to those based on common law institutional logic. In 2010, unlisted Portuguese companies began to apply a new set of accounting standards called the Accounting Standardisation System (Sistema de Normalização Contabilística – SNC) based on International Accounting Standards/International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This paper seeks to analyse the impact of the first‐time adoption of the SNC with regard to the accounting treatment of impairment losses. It is found that, to mitigate political costs associated with their public visibility, larger companies present more credible financial statements that reflect their overall true financial and economic condition. This study is a valuable contribution to both users of financial information and domestic standard setters to help them understand and improve the impact of accounting standards. Consistent with Khalil and Simon (2014), it also contributes to the debate on the optimal flexibility permitted by IFRS to improve reporting quality and reduce earnings management.

The Effect of Sustainability Assurance Demand on Information Asymmetry: Evidence from French Companies

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether voluntary demand for sustainability reporting assurance by French companies is associated with lower information asymmetry. The use of the generalised least squares method (GLS) for a sample of 768 firm-year observations of French companies belonging to the SBF 250 and CAC All-Tradable indices during the period 2010-2012, highlights how voluntary sustainability assurance demand reduces the problems of asymmetric information between the different market agents. To our knowledge, this study is the first that has examined the impact of sustainability assurance on the information asymmetry in code-law countries, with low investor protection rights, such as France. Moreover, this research examines the effect of sustainability reporting assurance on information asymmetry measured by bid-ask spread. In addition, this study makes a link between two important areas of sustainability assurance and finance.

IFRS Adoption and Stock Prices of Japanese Firms in Governance System Transition

This study examines firms' decision to voluntarily adopt IFRS in a setting where there are changes to the governance system in a traditionally code law country, as well as how the market responds to such decisions. We find the probability of voluntary IFRS adoption to be higher among firms that have a high proportion of foreign shareholders, undertake quality audits, have low levels of leverage, feature a nominating committee, and are included in the new market index. In addition, the stock prices of IFRS adopters tend to increase around the announcement date of IFRS adoption, compared to those of non-adopters. Finally, market reactions are smaller for firms that feature a nominating committee, and are included in the new market index—perhaps because IFRS adoption by these firms is less surprising to market participants, and because IFRS adoption is not expected to add large incremental value to these firms.

Legal systems, internationalization and corporate sustainability. An empirical analysis of the influence of national and international authorities

PurposeThis paper aims to compare the influence of different legal systems on corporate sustainability management practices. Against the background of growing internationalization of business activities, it additionally considers whether internationalization allows companies to circumvent the influence of national authorities.Design/methodology/approachThree legal systems are compared using regression analyses of more than 200 large corporations in five countries: common law (USA and Australia), German code law (Germany) and French code law (France and Spain).FindingsThe impact of national and international authorities is found to be strongest in French code law countries. In addition, the influence of international authorities is stronger for corporations with higher shares of international sales. For both national and international authorities, the degree of internationalization is found to moderate the influence of the legal system on corporate sustainability practices.Practical implicationsThe legal system in place influences the relative effectiveness of national and international authorities over company sustainability practices and needs to be taken into account in policymaking. To be effective, international authorities need to work with or substitute for national authorities in promoting corporate sustainability practices in countries depending on their legal systems.Originality/valueThis research applies and quantitatively tests La Porta’s (1998) framework on legal systems in the new context of corporate sustainability.

IFRS Adoption and Stock Prices of Japanese Firms in Governance System Transition

Japan is the largest economy to adopt IFRS following the EU. Although the traditional classification of Japan as a code-law country generates concern about whether IFRS adoption is economically beneficial, Japan has made extensive efforts to transform its economic and business environment in a way that makes it more Anglo-American in nature. This paper examines whether firms employing an American-type governance system have a different attitude toward IFRS and how they are evaluated by investors. Applying a probit model, we find that the probability of voluntary IFRS adoption is higher for firms that employ an American-type governance structure. Event studies also show that the stock prices respond positively to IFRS adoption.

The Factors Motivating Voluntary Disclosure of Carbon Information: Evidence Based on Italian Listed Companies

The purpose of this research is to examine how environmental committees, institutional shareholdings, and board independence affect managerial carbon disclosure decisions, particularly those of firms belonging to highly polluting industries. We focus on Italian firms that operate in a code law environment but that have the option either to adopt the unitary corporate structure prevalent in common law countries or to retain the dual corporate structure used in code law countries. We use weighted and unweighted carbon disclosure indexes based on the Kyoto Protocol requirements. The findings show that all factors greatly affect voluntary carbon disclosure and that their impact is especially strong for firms in highly polluting industries. This study has important implications for managers and regulators.

Does Changing Accounting Standards Affect Dividend Policy?

This study explores the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) mandatory adoption on aspects of dividend policy in Western Europe. We select the United Kingdom as a representative of common-law countries and France as a representative of code-law countries. These two countries are highly comparable economically, which allows us to implement a difference-in-differences methodology. The genesis of our theoretical argument is that IFRS adoption is expected to mitigate information asymmetry, a major reason behind corporate underinvestment and cash over-retention (Myers & Majluf, 1984). Our findings suggest that IFRS adoption is a major contributor in increasing dividend payouts among code-law firms through enhancing the corporate financial information environment and reducing asymmetric information. Improvements to the information environment reduce firms’ concerns about their ability to raise external funds and this in turn makes them more willing to pay dividends. The reduction in information asymmetry helps investors become more confident about using accounting measures in assessing firm financial performance, which causes a significant reduction in dividend value relevance with respect to the market valuation of code-law firms. On the other hand, common-law firms witness no significant change in dividend payouts and a lower reduction in dividend value relevance relative to code-law firms. We contribute to the financial reporting literature through showing some of the effects of an exogenous information shock on dividend policy and dividend value relevance. The main implication from this study is that the introduction of higher quality accounting standards serve to mitigate information asymmetry between managers and investors and, consequently, reduces the frictions affecting corporate financial decisions.

The disciplinary role of leverage: evidence from East Asian cross-border acquirers’ returns

We present evidence of an important disciplinary role for leverage in East Asian firms prior to making foreign acquisitions: as firms surpass an optimal leverage level, their excess leverage levels expose shareholders to agency costs which outweigh any benefits from the M&As. We find the disciplinary effect of leverage is present in both common and code law countries.

Comprehensive Income: which potential effects on firms' performance evaluation and users' decision process?

The reporting of comprehensive income is becoming increasingly important. After the introduction of Other Comprehensive Income (OCI) reporting, as required by the 2007 IAS 1-revised, the IASB is currently seeking inputs from investors on the usefulness of unrealized gains and losses and on the role of comprehensive income. This circumstance is of particular relevance in code law countries, as local pre-IFRS accounting models influence financial statement preparers and users. This study aims at investigating the role played by unrealized gains and losses reporting on users' decision process, by examining the impact of OCI on the Italian listed companies RoE ratio and by surveying a sample of financial analysts, also content analysing their formal reports. The results show that the reporting of comprehensive income does not affect the financial statement users' decision process, although it statistically affects Italian listed entities' performance.

Corporate Governance, Companies’ Disclosure Practices and Market Transparency: A Cross Country Study

AbstractWe examine the link between corporate governance, companies’ disclosure practices and their equity market transparency in a study of more than 5,000 listed companies in 23 countries covering the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2008. Our results confirm the belief that better‐governed firms make more frequent disclosures to the market. We also find greater disclosure in common law relative to code law countries. However firms with better governance in both code and common law countries make more frequent disclosures. We measure market transparency by the timeliness of prices. In contrast to single country studies, results show, for the 23 countries collectively, better corporate governance is associated with less timely share prices. This would suggest that a firm substitutes better corporate governance for transparency. We are thus led to the conclusion that even if information is disclosed more frequently by better‐governed firms, it does not necessarily follow that information is reflected in share prices on a timelier basis.

International accounting standards and accounting quality in code-law countries

Purpose– This study aims to examine whether the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) leads to accounting quality improvements in Egypt as a code-law country. In particular, the study examines earnings management, the construct often used to assess accounting quality.Design/methodology/approach– The study compares earnings management practice for Egyptian listed companies before (2000-2006) and after (2007-2009) the adoption of IFRS.Findings– The findings of the study reveal that accounting quality, as measured by earnings management, has decreased in post-adoption period compared to pre-adoption period. IFRS are set up to provide high-quality financial reporting. However, this cannot be achieved solely by a regulatory requirement to follow. The accounting system is a complementary component of the country’s overall institutional system. Institutional improvements did not simultaneously take place by the Egyptian government around the adoption of IFRS. The Egyptian government did not introduce a more effective enforcement system, mandatory corporate governance regulations, investor protection mechanisms and sufficient institutional knowledge of IFRS during that period. Thus, even if IFRS are higher quality standards, the institutional features of Egyptian market could eliminate any improvement in accounting quality arising from adopting IFRS.Research/limitations/implications– The results of the study are consistent with prior research suggesting that the adoption of IFRS, which are generally perceived to be of higher quality than domestic standards, does not necessarily lead to higher accounting quality in code-law countries like Egypt. The overall results indicate that incentives dominate accounting standards in determining accounting quality in Egypt.Originality/value– The main reason why countries adopt IFRS invariably is to improve accounting quality. It is, therefore, of interest to ascertain if this goal has been met, especially, in code-law countries such as Egypt.

Disciplinary practices in the French auditing profession

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to contribute to understand the role of the statutory auditing profession in France. The study is theoretically based on distinctions between a functionalist view of professions and a neo-weberian view. Prior research, conducted in Anglo-American countries has shown that the auditing profession has focussed primarily on protecting the private interests of the profession. Hence, there is a need to conduct research on this topic in a code law country where the state is expected to play a significant role in protecting the public interest.Design/methodology/approach– The methodology involves a content analysis of 148 disciplinary decisions issued against statutory auditors in France from 1989 to 2006. This analysis identified 21 types of violations grouped into public interest or private interest offences. Because visible offences are public and are more likely to threaten the reputation of the profession, these types of decisions are also studied with respect to their visibility.Findings– The results reveal that in a code law country such as France the auditing profession tends to defend both the public interest as well as its private interests. The results also support the “visibility” effect.Research limitations/implications– The written disciplinary decisions have been anonymized so that the names of the auditors and the clients cannot be identified.Originality/value– This paper differs from previous studies conducted in the Anglo-American context which show an emphasis on protecting the private interests of the auditing profession. Moreover, this study reveals the existence of “mixed” offences and underlines that a profession primarily focusses on these cases. Thus, the work reconciles in part the functionalist and neo-weberian perspectives. Lastly, this paper confirms the importance of the visibility effect.

Temporal variation and cross-sectional differences of accounting conservatism in emerging countries

Prior research finds that accounting conservatism has increased over time in developed countries. In this paper, we examine the time-series extent and shift of accounting conservatism in emerging countries over the period 2000-2012. We also analyse differences in conservatism level across countries, regions, legal regimes and industries. In addition, we examine the impact of size, market-to-book and leverage on the degree of conservatism at firm level. We use a set of measures to assess the degree of conservatism. These include changing time-series properties of profitability, earnings, cash flows, accruals components, asymmetric timeliness, Market-to-Book ratio and Khan and Watts' (2009) C-score. We find that the degree of conservatism declined during the period between 2000 and 2007 and increased over the period 2007-2012. In addition, we find significant differences in accounting conservatism between common-law and code-law countries, across regions and industries.

Mandatory IFRS adoption and earnings quality in different institutional settings: a comparison between Italy and the UK

Evidence pertaining to the effect of IFRS adoption on earnings quality in the EU is mixed with results varying by country. Potential reasons for the conflicting results include the diverse institutional settings in which European firms operate as well as methodological issues. We use a sample of firms operating in Italy and in the UK, matched on the basis of size and industry, to examine the relative changes in earnings quality after the mandatory IFRS introduction. Our results refute the suggestion that IFRS are not suitable for code law countries while they accept the evidence that IFRS do not improve earnings quality when it is already at an adequate level.