The Influence of IFRS on the Value Relevance of Accounting Data: Evidence from Russian Companies

The primary study focuses on the impact of the mandatory adoption of International Financial Report Standards (IFRS) in 2012 on the value relevance of accounting statements. The value relevance is the ability of accounting information to capture and describe a company’s value. In the study the level of unconditional conservatism is applied to evaluate the value relevance. The focus group is Russian companies listed on the Moscow Stock Exchange. Based on the time when IFRS was implemented, all companies were divided into two groups. Despite some difficulties that companies faced adopting new standards, the study showed a decrease in the level of unconditional conservatism after mandatory IFRS implementation in 2012. This decline in unconditional conservatism implies that the value relevance of accounting reports improved after mandatory IFRS implementation.