International studies have recorded evidences of improved accounting information attributed to the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The concurrent literature is however, scant in India. This study is one of the first of its kind to explore value relevance in the context of financial reporting for a large sample in India since IFRS convergence. The paper examines the value relevance of financial reporting of firms listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in India by employing the Ohlson, (1995) Price Model. It aims to identify whether fundamental accounting variables like book value per share (BVPS) and earnings per share (EPS) are more value relevant after the IFRS converged Indian Accounting Standards (IndAS) became mandatory for listed firms. The hypotheses are tested using multivariate panel regressions on the annual data of 910 listed firms from 2013-14 to 2018-19 – resulting in 5460 observations – to include the pre and post mandatory convergence periods. The study documents a statistically significant association between stock prices of our sample firms and their key accounting variables (BVPS and EPS) along with an increase in the explanatory power of the model during the post mandatory convergence period.

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: India has recently joined the accounting revolution by implementing the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) through the convergence mode. This paper aims to examine the value relevance of Indian accounting information by finding an association between stock returns and the levels of earnings and changes in earnings. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study follows both relative and incremental association approaches to investigate changes in the value relevance of accounting information prepared using the IFRS converged Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS), while also examining the impact of their voluntary use. The study employs the Easton and Harris (1991) model on accounting data collected from 2012-13 to 2019-20. The panel data of 7,064 firm-year observations covers 883 firms listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and uses relevant econometric tests and multivariate panel regressions to test the hypotheses. Research findings: The findings reveal a decline in the returns value relevance following both mandatory and voluntary IFRS convergence. Theoretical contribution/Originality: The study is the first to document the changes in value relevance based on stock returns since the IFRS convergence process began in India. Practitioner/Policy implication: This line of research is significant in Indian capital markets to unravel the effects of the new standards on accounting as well as stock market variables. It has managerial implications for firm and standard-setters. Research limitation: The value relevance results are based on the returns model alone and the study does not analyse the price model.