IFRS Adoption Effects in Greece: Evidence from the Industrial & Commercial Sector

Abstract

This study examines the effects of the transition from the Greek GAAP to the IFRS on the financial results of Greek firms of the Industrial and Commercial sector, listed on the Athens Exchange. In order to analyze the possible impact from the IFRS adoption at the sample firms, the study analyses the financial statements of these firms for three years before and after the IFRS adoption in Greece with some financial and cash flow ratio analysis. Also, a further analysis is applied in order to estimate the exact influence of IFRS adoption effects in a different time interval and is compared the year 2002 (the year that was firstly announced the IFRS adoption in E.U.) with the year 2005 (the first year of IFRS official adoption on firms’ financial statements). The received results revealed that the IFRS adoption effects on accounting-based information and performance from financial statements lead, in general, the sample firms to a better performance, at some ratios, but not in the case of different time intervals or sub-samples.