Abstract We analyse in detail conservative accounting practices in seventeen European countries, taking into account institutional factors. In addition, we examine the impact of IFRS adoption and the influence of changes in economic conditions on conditional conservatism. Specifically, we study the level of accounting conservatism before and after IFRS adoption detailing for the pre and crisis period and post-crisis period surrounding the 2007/2008 financial crisis. Our findings are consistent with a conservative accounting practice in Europe as a whole and in each country individually. Besides, opposite to that expected, the results provide evidence of more conservative accounting practice in Anglo-Saxon countries, but we find no significant differences in conservatism in Nordic countries. Another finding is a significant decrease in the level of conservatism after IFRS adoption. Regarding the joint impact of IFRS adoption and economic conditions, we find a decrease in conservatism in the pre and crisis period, followed by a substantial increase in the post-crisis period. Our results seem to be in line with the positive accounting theory when suggesting that conservatism plays a fundamental role as corporate governance and efficient contracting mechanism between managers and other stakeholders of the firm. Furthermore, the results suggest that the flexibility provided by IFRS allows adjusting the level of conservatism when economic conditions change.

中文翻译：

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经济条件对欧洲国际财务报告准则下会计稳健性的影响

摘要我们在考虑制度因素的情况下详细分析了十七个欧洲国家的保守会计惯例。此外，我们研究了采用IFRS的影响以及经济条件变化对有条件的保守主义的影响。具体而言，我们研究了采用IFRS前后的会计稳健性水平，详细介绍了2007/2008年金融危机前后的危机期间和危机后时期。我们的发现与整个欧洲以及每个国家/地区的保守会计惯例一致。此外，与预期相反，结果提供了盎格鲁-撒克逊国家更为保守的会计实践的证据，但我们发现北欧国家在保守主义上没有显着差异。另一个发现是在采用IFRS之后，保守程度明显下降。关于采用IFRS和经济状况的共同影响，我们发现保守主义在危机前和危机时期有所减少，而在危机后时期则大幅上升。当我们建议保守主义作为公司治理和经理与公司其他利益相关者之间的有效契约机制起着根本性作用时，我们的结果似乎与积极会计理论相符。此外，结果表明，IFRS提供的灵活性允许在经济条件变化时调整保守程度。随后是危机后时期的大幅增长。当我们建议保守主义作为公司治理和经理与公司其他利益相关者之间的有效契约机制起着根本性作用时，我们的结果似乎与积极会计理论相符。此外，结果表明，IFRS提供的灵活性允许在经济条件变化时调整保守程度。随后是危机后时期的大幅增长。我们的结果似乎与积极会计理论相吻合，表明保守主义在公司治理和公司经理与其他利益相关者之间的有效契约机制中起着根本作用。此外，结果表明，IFRS提供的灵活性允许在经济条件变化时调整保守程度。