5.3 Regression results on timely loss recognition and IFRS
Our next step is to examine the impact of IFRS adoption on timely loss recognition. For this purpose we applied the classic Basu(1997) re-verse regression model between earnings per share and stock returns. Model (2a) is estimated separately for the pre and post-IFRS periods and if IFRS increase the timely recognition of losses (H3a) we expect an increase in the explanatory power of the model and coefficient b3 to be positive and have a higher magnitude relative to the pre-IFRS period The empirical findings are presented in the following Table 5.
Regarding mandatory IFRS adopters, coefficient b3 (D*R) of model (2a) is positive and statistically significant only in the post-IFRS period while the relative coefficient for voluntary adopters (b7) is positive and significant during the pre-IFRS period. Also, the R2 of model (2a) presents a small increase during the post-IFRS period up to 7.2% compared to the pre-IFRS R2 of 6.1% The Vuong Z statistic in this table is significant at 1% significance level suggesting that the model during the post-IFRS period better explains the original data relative to the same model during the pre-IFRS period. In addition, voluntary IFRS adopters exhibited significant conservative reporting compared to firms following Greek GAAP since coefficient b7 is positive and significant. Therefore, we can argue that the adoption of IFRS resulted in an increase of conservatism within the Greek listed firms. This finding is consistent with Barth et al. (2008) who found that firms operating under IFRS exhibit more timely recognition of losses compared to the non-IFRS firms Also. H3b states that firms audited by big-5 audit corporations will