We examine the characteristics of accounting amounts using a sample of German

We study the market reaction to the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Spain by examining the value relevance of the information contained in the IFRS reconciliation adjustments in relation to the local generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The two-staged IFRS disclosure in the transition period is specific to Spain: the aggregated numbers of accounting differences are disclosed in stage 1, and the IFRS individual adjustments on book value of equity and earnings are disclosed in stage 2. This unique reporting timeline provides an opportunity for the market both to assess the impact of those new accounting policies adopted by firms and to assess differences when compared to the previous GAAP. We find no evidence of increased value relevance after IFRS adoption. However, our results from the incremental value relevance test show that investors consider the individual reconciliation adjustments in the second stage to be valuable and significant, specifically in relation to marked-to-market adjustment to financial instruments, adjustments to intangibles, provisions and impairment adjustments to property, plant and equipment, adjustments to inventories, and adjustments to pension benefits. Moreover, the results are significantly higher for low leverage firms. Our findings indicate that the market prices the informativeness of the reconciliation adjustments once the transition to IFRS disclosure cycle is complete.

Original article can be found at : http://www.inderscience.com/ Copyright InderscienceWe examine and compare the valuation properties of earnings and book value of equity under international accounting standards (IAS) during 2000-2002 with those under international financial reporting standards (IFRS) during 2003-2004 (the voluntary period) and 2005-2006 (the mandatory period). Accordingly, we conduct our investigation using a sample of German and Swiss companies reporting under IAS during 2000-2002 and IFRS during 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 by assessing the relative performance of three accounting-based valuation models. We find that the RI model dominates in all three time periods under study for both countries. Our findings are supported by robustness tests. Our study suggests that the recent changes in international accounting standards do not change the valuation properties of Swiss and German IAS/IFRS accounting variables. However, we document a decrease in the explanatory power of the accounting-based valuation models from the IAS period to the IFRS periods

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