Second, in the absence of organised capital markets, the (debt) contracting role of accounting
dominates in non-public settings. In this way, the preferences of international capital providers
and their forces are likely to have influence upon countries’ accounting choices (Pacter 2012).
For instance, IFRS for SMEs requires the preparation of a cash flow statement which is particularly
useful for capital providers (Pacter 2012). Given that there are major differences between
domestic accounting rules (local generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)) and IFRS
for SMEs, developing countries are likely to have incentives to adopt a set of high quality
accounting standards with more standardised financial disclosures to attract external capital
from institutions such as the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (Barth
et al. 2008, Gordon et al. 2012). Prior studies at a firm level provide evidence that differences
in domestic GAAP relative to IFRS can impose costs on market participants (e.g. financial analysts),
and adoption of international accounting standards is likely to provide more useful information
to external users (Ashbaugh and Pincus 2001, Bae et al. 2008).