Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on economic growth. Design/methodology/approach Using data from 2005–2014, the study examined whether the mandatory adoption of IFRS increases economic growth synchronicity in the European Union (EU) context. The study utilizes a sample of 28 countries containing 10-year observations in the EU market where IFRS have been adopted since 2005. The empirical model, relating to economic growth synchronicity with the adoption of IFRS, and other country-specific control variables were analyzed using the dynamic panel data technique. Findings Different specifications of the model results showed that IFRS adoption improves the economic growth and that IFRS adoption matters for developing economies than developed ones. It is, therefore, recommended that authorities in Europe should try to enforce the adoption and implementation of IFRS, especially among the developing economies. Originality/value The paper’s investigation of the impact of IFRS on economic growth expands the extant literature. Studies that dealt with IFRS impacts mostly fixate on the accounting benefits of IFRS adoption to institutional investors and fail to capture the commensurate impact of IFRS adoption on macroeconomic indicators. This little attention is because prior researchers suggest IFRS adoption is important in shaping financial reporting characteristics which provide useful information to the prime users of financial reports. Also, separating the study’s countries into developed and developing countries would help delineate the impact of IFRS adoption on economic growth based on the stage of development.

IFRS adoption’s effect and board governance on accounting quality from Ghanaian perspective was examined using OLS technique between a seven-year periods (2013-2019). From the study, IFRS adoption negatively impacts accounting quality in an insignificant manner. The insignificant nexus was due to lax implementation of regulations by institutions with IFRS and incentive-performance tied schemes presented to managers. Additionally, all but profitability and institutional ownership have positively significant impact on accounting quality whilst board governance negatively affect accounting quality though not statistically significant. Finally, moderating the role of board governance on IFRS - accounting quality relation, evidence established from the regression is that board governance does not moderate relationship between IFRS adoption and accounting quality using discretionary accruals. Our study captured effective corporate governance practices using composite board governance index to moderate effect of IFRS on the nexus between board governance and accounting quality serving as central motivation to contribute to literature.

PurposeThis study examines the efficacy of public sector audits in providing quality healthcare in Ghana. Specifically, to ensure whether there are proper and adequate controls in place to enable providers to offer necessary health services efficiently, effectively and equitably.Design/methodology/approachA structural equation modeling (SEM) is adopted to analyze the link between public sector audit and healthcare delivery through a survey of directors, accountants, auditors and managers in selected public healthcare institutions for a calculated sample size of 123 respondents.FindingsThe study reveals that internal audit, external audit and audit committee have a positive and significant effect on the effectiveness of public sector audits. In turn, the effectiveness of public sector audit has a positive and significant effect on the quality health services. Audit committee is found to have the largest effect on the effectiveness of public sector audits.Originality/valueThis paper extends the literature on the value of public sector audit by providing empirical evidence from a specific context: the public health sector of a developing country in democratic transition with a common law institutional framework. It also provides insights into the financial management of public health systems in developing countries during the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

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PurposeThis paper aims at analyzing the asymmetries created by the Great Recession in the US real estate sector.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a Markov-switching dynamic regression model in which parameters change when the housing market moves from one regime to the other.FindingsThe results show that the effect of real estate loans, interest rate, quantitative easing and working age population are asymmetric across bull and bear regimes. It is also found that the estimated parameters are larger in bull regime than bear regime, indicating a tendency to create house price bubbles in bull market.Practical implicationsSince three of those asymmetric variables (real estate loans, interest rate and quantitative easing) are related to monetary policy, the Fed can mitigate their impact on an interest-sensitive sector such as housing by engaging in a countercyclical monetary policy.Originality/valueThe estimated intercept and the variance parameter both vary from one regime to the other, thus justifying the use of a regime-dependent model.