Do IFRS only lead to improved accounting quality for public companies? Empirical evidence from an emerging country

Abstract

This study examines the impact of IFRS adoption on the financial reporting quality of private and public Brazilian companies, measured through metrics for earnings smoothing, discretionary accruals and management of earnings towards a target. Its findings suggest that IFRS adoption in a country such as Brazil leads to higher quality financial reporting both in private and public companies. We also found that public companies fare worse than their private counterparts in terms of such quality, both before and after IFRS adoption. In addition, we found a smaller gap between the quality of accounting information in public versus private companies after IFRS adoption.