Is the Financial Reporting of Listed Entities in the European Markets Influenced by Conservatism?

Capítulo de livroThe influence of the accounting value of conservatism, proposed by Gray (1988) as part of the cultural relevance theory, has been widely debated in the literature. The possession of derivative financial instruments (DFI) was used as proxy to define it. This study aims to assess the existence of the explanatory variables of this accounting value, such as regional groups, firm level controls and qualitative characteristics. Content analysis was used in 2013 and 2014 annual reports and consolidated accounts disclosed by non-financial entities listed on five stock market indexes of the European Union (EU), namely: PSI-20, IBEX-35, FTSE-100, DAX-30, and OMX-S30. After the application of the selection criteria, the population of this study encompasses 137 entities. The findings indicate that conservatism differs significantly according to the regional groups, as suggested by the literature. Additionally, firm level controls such as size and profitability, as well as the fundamental qualitative characteristics, can explain conservatism. One of the main contributions of this research is to consider the impact of culture on the financial reporting, even bearing in mind the latest convergence efforts among the main accounting standard setting bodies at international level.