IFRS and Comparability. Participating Investment and Accounting Policy Choice in Italy

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of the IFRS adoption on the comparability of accounting information among Europe. It is intended to capture to what extent the level of harmony in financial reporting practice has increased after the mandatory introduction of IFRS, since differences could still exist in the application. To provide some evidence, the case study of Italy has been used. We test whether within country comparability (as measured by van der Tas H index) in policy choices has changed in relation to the application of IFRS. Harmonization will be measured with regard to the valuation of the participating interests in subsidiaries, in associates, in joint ventures, and minority interests. The data source is the Italian listed companies consolidated financial statements for the period 2005-2008. The question is: Do harmonized accounting standards lead to harmonized accounting practices? First results seems to limit the hoped comparability