How is the International Financial Reporting Standards Adjudged? Assessing the Macroeconomic and Financial Market Development Factors Effects for African Evidence

Abstract

Global continents, especially Europe, have marked the relevancy of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) adoption since its development by the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB). However, a large number of African countries have not adopted it. This study specifically examines the IFRS adopters and non-adopters of African countries which are explained by both macroeconomic and financial market development factors. The study used binary panel logistic regression for estimation of 38 countries using data from the Global Competitiveness Report for 2015/16-2017/18 of African countries to estimate the extent to which macroeconomic and financial market development factors explain the effective adoption of IFRS in Africa. Findings confirm that the tax rate, quality of national accounting body, and rate of inflation do not influence IFRS adoption in African countries. On average, financial market development indicators significantly increase the likelihood of IFRS adoption in African countries. These studies extend support for prior literature about IFRS adoption determinants. The findings highlight the importance and the need for standardsetters to facilitate IFRS adoption of African countries. This study augments the existing strand of empirical literature by looking at macroeconomic and financial market development perspectives.