Using financial accounting data from manufacturing firms in 16 countries for 1986-95,we demonstrate that the value relevance of financial reports is lower for countries where the financial. systems are bank oriented rather than market oriented; where private-sector bodies are not involved in the standard-setting process; where accounting prattices follow the Continental model as opposed to the British-American model: where tax rules have a greater influence on financial accounting measurements; and where spending on auditing services is relatively low .
Results are robust to alternative measures of value relevance of financial accounting data, including measures based on earnings (using a regression and a hedge-portfolio approach) , accruals,and earnings and book value of equity combined. We show that the extent to which earnings information is reflected in leading-period returns as compared to contemporaneous returns is greater for bank-oriented than for market-oriented countries.This feature potentially induces spurious associations between value relevance measures and financial system characteristics. Our results are robust to using value relevance measures adjusted for this confounding effect.