Because IFRS contain several accounting policy options (Kvaal & Nobes, 2012), there
is room for discretion in IFRS application (e.g., Daske, Hail, Leuz, & Verdi, 2008; Leuz,
2010). As companies can exploit the flexibility within IFRS, separate analyses were conducted
distinguishing between firms controlled by listed companies (i.e., subsidiaries the
parent company of which is obliged by EU Regulator to use IFRS), which are assumed to
adopt IFRS for complying with parent company requirements and/or for simplifying financial
reporting process, and other firms. We find that reporting quality does not show any
sign of improvement for both groups of firms, although the impact of IFRS on our earnings
quality proxies seems, in some cases, worse for subsidiaries of listed entities.