The Italian accounting system has often been classified as “Continental-European”, creditor-oriented and strictly focused on prudence and historical cost (Nobes and Parker, 1998; Glaum and Mander, 1996). This paper aims to investigate whether, consisting with previous literature in the field, the switch from Italian GAAP to IFRS has generated less conservative accounting estimates. We apply measures of conservatism specifically developed in order to assess the degree of conservatism of different accounting standards, such as those employed by Gray (1980), on the financial statements of the companies included in the Milan Stock Exchange S&P/MIB index. Our findings support the conservatism hypothesis, although evidence is not as strong as expected.
Measuring balance sheet conservatism: empirical evidence from Italian first time adopters of IFRS
BERTONI, MICHELE;DE ROSA, Bruno
2006-01-01
Abstract
The Italian accounting system has often been classified as “Continental-European”, creditor-oriented and strictly focused on prudence and historical cost (Nobes and Parker, 1998; Glaum and Mander, 1996). This paper aims to investigate whether, consisting with previous literature in the field, the switch from Italian GAAP to IFRS has generated less conservative accounting estimates. We apply measures of conservatism specifically developed in order to assess the degree of conservatism of different accounting standards, such as those employed by Gray (1980), on the financial statements of the companies included in the Milan Stock Exchange S&P/MIB index. Our findings support the conservatism hypothesis, although evidence is not as strong as expected.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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