Does IFRS adoption enhance foreign ownership? Empirical evidence from French listed companies

This paper examines the moderating role of corporate governance mechanisms on the relationship between mandatory international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and foreign investors’ ownership. This study is based on a sample of French firms listed on the SBF 120 stock index with an observation period from 2002 to 2012. The results show that IFRS adoption leads to an increase in foreign equity in the French firms. This is consistent with the idea that international accounting harmonization improves financial statements comparability and transactions transparency which attracts more foreign investors. We also show the role of governance mechanisms as means of IFRS enforcement. In fact, the increase in foreign investors’ ownership depends on effective enforcement. However, for the French case, only BIG four auditors are efficient in enforcing IFRS adoption while independent board members have close relationship with managers which results in a passive attitude. Our findings imply that information quality has an important role in decision making. But they also show that IFRS adoption should be joined by efficient enforcement tools to conduct presumed benefits.