From IAS 14 to IFRS 8: the role of proprietary and agency costs in shaping financial reporting

Abstract

The relevance of segment reporting has prompted regulatory bodies to place significant efforts in refining the existent segment reporting regulation. The introduction of the IFRS 8 'management approach' in the segment reporting regulation was anticipated to facilitate a better understanding of the company's diverse businesses and regions, providing an opportunity to improve segment reporting disclosures. However, the effectiveness of segment reporting regulation is heavily influenced by the country regulatory environment and the characteristics of the firms. We exploit the Spanish institutional setting to provide further evidence on the real impact of IFRS 8 adoption. Our findings support the notion that the adoption of IFRS 8 has yielded few benefits to segment reporting. Importantly, our research reveals that segment disclosures have not exhibited heightened responsiveness to proprietary costs and have shown only a moderate response to agency costs after the adoption of IFRS 8.