Market Reaction to and Valuation of IFRS Reconciliation Adjustments: First Evidence from the UK

Joanne  Horton; George  Serafeim

Article | Review of Accounting Studies

Market Reaction to and Valuation of IFRS Reconciliation Adjustments: First Evidence from the UK

Abstract

We investigate the market reaction to, and the value-relevance of, information contained in the mandatory transitional documents required by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 1 (2005). We find significant negative abnormal returns for firms reporting negative earnings reconciliation. Although the informational content of the positive earnings adjustments is value-relevant before disclosure, for negative earnings adjustments it is value-relevant only after disclosure. This finding is consistent with managers delaying the communication of bad news until IFRS compliance. A finer model shows that adjustments attributed to impairment of goodwill, share-based payments, and deferred taxes are incrementally value-relevant but that only the impairment of goodwill and deferred taxes reveal new information. Our results indicate that mandatory IFRS adoption alters investors' beliefs about stock prices.

Keywords: Valuation; Markets; Information; International Finance; Earnings Management; Stock Shares; Taxation; Goodwill Accounting; Price; Financial Reporting; Standards; Corporate Disclosure; United Kingdom;

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Horton, Joanne, and George Serafeim. "Market Reaction to and Valuation of IFRS Reconciliation Adjustments: First Evidence from the UK." Review of Accounting Studies 15, no. 4 (December 2010).

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Market Reaction to and Valuation of IFRS Reconciliation Adjustments: First Evidence from the UK

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