Country factors affecting the implementations of IFRS by developing countries : an empirical study :

Abstract EN

The main objective of the current study is to empirically investigate the impact of some country factors which are likely clarify the decision of the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by developing countries (DC).

This empirical investigation is grounded on relevant information gathered from a variety of sources about 131 DC up until the year 2015.

A number of country factors namely economic growth, country size, education level, existence of a capital market, external economic openness, legal system, and country culture were employed, as independent variables, in this investigation.

In addition to descriptive statistics, correlation and OLS regression analyses were used.

The empirical findings have revealed that factors relating to education level, existence of a capital market and culture are significantly associated with the implementation of IFRS in DC; while others are not.

Results of this study indicate that DC with high literacy rates, with capital markets established, and with an Anglo-Saxon culture are most likely to implement IFRS.

One limit of the current study is that it examines the impact of seven country factors and ignores others such as inflation level, trade alliances, colonialism and taxation.

Future research may include some of the above factors which are ignored in the current study.