What Drives Developing and Transitional Countries to Adopt the IFRS for SMEs? An Institutional Perspective

With the awareness of the socioeconomic importance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the growing demand for a high-quality accounting framework for these businesses, the International Accounting Standards Board issued on July 9, 2009 a simplified version of financial reporting standards (IFRS for SMEs) to meet the specific needs of such entities. Recently, there is an increasing widespread acceptance of this standard around the world. While considerable effort has been made to explain the worldwide diffusion of full IFRS, still little empirical evidence on the factors influencing the IFRS for SMEs adoption has been undertaken. This study seeks to examine the institutional factors associated with the adoption of the IFRS for SMEs specifically in the context of developing and transitional economies. Based on a sample of 70 countries, the research results show that SMEs' importance, country's reliance on external funding, and external openness degree positively affect the IFRS for SMEs adoption. They reveal a negative effect of tax system and governance quality on this decision. However, education level and prior adoption of full IFRS are nonsignificant factors. These results are relevant to practitioners, SMEs' potential investors, standard setters, regulators, CPA firms, SMEs' managers, and policy-makers. (C) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.