Liquidity and IFRS Adoption in Canada

Abstract

We examine cross-sectional differences in changes in liquidity for Canadian firms between pre-IFRS and post-IFRS adoption based on their pre-IFRS disclosure quality. In a matched sample analysis, with U.S. firms acting as control firms, we find that liquidity improved after mandatory IFRS adoption for Canadian companies with high pre-IFRS disclosure quality but declined for Canadian companies with low pre-IFRS disclosure quality, in comparison to U.S. peers. We find similar results when we stratify the sample based on total assets - larger Canadian firms gained liquidity while smaller Canadian firms lost liquidity, relative to the U.S. control firms. Our results are sustained when we use firms listed in Canada that report under U.S. GAAP before and after IFRS adoption as control firms.