a qualitative analysis of the extent of each country’s IFRS adoption leads us to conclude that this process cannot be described with a simple binary variable. Consequently , we classify countries into five different groups based on their degree of IFRS harmonization as described below. First , following the adoption classification on the IAS Plus websites, we create four group. “Full adoption” indicating that IFRS as issued by the IASB is required for all listed companies “IFRS required for some listed companies” “IFRS permitted for at least some listed companies” and “Non adoptor” indicating that IFRS is not permitted for any listed companies. We then refine this classification to include an additional category for countries with an IFRS “convergence” project as discussed in Appendix A