This study examines whether the information content of earnings announcements increased in countries that
mandated adoption of IFRS compared to countries that retained domestic accounting standards. We address this research
question using a sample of 20,517 earnings announcements from 16 countries that mandated adoption of IFRS and 11
countries that retained domestic accounting standards. We measure information content of earning announcements based
on abnormal trading volume and return volatility around firms’ earnings announcements.
Findings from the univariate comparisons indicate that firms from IFRS adopting countries experienced a greater
increase in abnormal return volatility and abnormal trading volume than firms from non-IFRS adopting countries. Findings
from the multivariate tests generally confirm those from the univariate tests. In particular, findings from country-level and
firm-level estimations indicate that firms in IFRS adopting countries experienced a greater increase in abnormal return
volatility and abnormal trading volume than firms from non-IFRS adopting countries. These results are robust to
examining the full sample of firm-years, excluding firms from the U.K. and Japan, and examining random samples of firms
from each country. Taken as a whole, the results are consistent with an increase in the information content of earnings
following mandatory adoption of IFRS. In addition, we examine the role of legal enforcement on the increased information
content of earnings following mandatory IFRS adoption. We find that firms from countries with strong enforcement
experienced a greater change in information content than firms from countries with weak enforcement. This supports the
central role that underlying legal institutions have on the actual effects of changes in accounting standards. Finally,
we examine mechanisms through which mandatory IFRS adoption increased information content. We find evidence of
both direct and indirect effects, with indirect effects arising through reducing the reporting lag, increasing analyst
following, and increasing foreign portfolio investment.
This study is not intended to resolve the debate about when and whether it is beneficial for a country to adopt IFRS,
which depends on weighing all of the costs and benefits of adoption Rather, this study adds to the mosaic of information
about the effects of adopting IFRS.