Abstract
The enactment of Law 4308/2014 (“Greek Accounting Standards”), which implements the accounting provisions of the new European Accounting Directive (EU Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013), has resulted in significant changes to Greece’s accounting framework. Law 4308/2014, which takes effect for periods beginning after 31.12.2014, is regarded one of the numerous structural reforms implemented in Greece since the start of the debt crisis in 2010, as it includes terms and principles identical to those used in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Moreover, Law 4308/2014 incorporates novel features such as the option for companies (or entities) to seek guidance in the International Financial Reporting Standards, as long as IFRS regulations are in accordance with the Law. Global accounting harmonization has as its primary purpose the reduction of accounting differences and the improvement of the comparability of accounting infor ...
The enactment of Law 4308/2014 (“Greek Accounting Standards”), which implements the accounting provisions of the new European Accounting Directive (EU Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013), has resulted in significant changes to Greece’s accounting framework. Law 4308/2014, which takes effect for periods beginning after 31.12.2014, is regarded one of the numerous structural reforms implemented in Greece since the start of the debt crisis in 2010, as it includes terms and principles identical to those used in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Moreover, Law 4308/2014 incorporates novel features such as the option for companies (or entities) to seek guidance in the International Financial Reporting Standards, as long as IFRS regulations are in accordance with the Law. Global accounting harmonization has as its primary purpose the reduction of accounting differences and the improvement of the comparability of accounting information. Formal (or de jure) harmonization, which refers to the degree of harmonization between accounting standards, is an important aspect of worldwide accounting convergence. As a result, the examination of formal (or de jure) harmonization between national and international accounting standards not only reveals the progress made in the international accounting harmonization process, but it also provides fertile ground for improving national accounting standards through a more accurate and correct implementation of the practices and rules embodied in international accounting standards. In light of the foregoing, the first chapter of the thesis examines the degree of harmonization between Greek Accounting Standards and International Accounting Standards/International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), specifically with regard to accounting measurement issues. We concentrate on accounting measurement rules contained in Greek Accounting Standards that apply to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), owing to their economic importance to Greece.The empirical evidence suggests that Greece’s new accounting framework has certain similarities with the IFRS framework that result in a medium level of harmonization with IAS/IFRS. The empirical evidence also shows that the observed dissimilarities between the two accounting frameworks are due to non-inclusion of specific IAS/IFRS accounting treatments in Greek Accounting Standards rather than differentiation between them.The second chapter of the thesis explores the effect of country-specific factors on the observed deviation of Greek Accounting Standards from IAS/IFRS. We combine several measures that are representative of major country-specific factors such as culture, level of book-tax conformity, financial orientation and governance quality and conclude that the role of a country’s distinct characteristics should not be overlooked when examining its accounting framework. This assertion is supported by the findings of our research, which confirm the impact of country specific factors on the formulation of national accounting standards, in general and the new Greek Accounting Standards, in particular.The third and last chapter of the thesis investigates the existence of tax-motivated earnings manipulation during the period 2016-2018 among Greek Small and Medium-sized (SMEs) private companies, immediately following the introduction of the new Greek Accounting Standards. In doing so, we construct a unique sample of Greek SMEs with both positive and negative earnings and assess whether they engaged in tax-induced financial misstatement practices, by combining earnings manipulation and tax aggressiveness measures. Our results provide evidence that tax-motivated income decreasing practices are prevalent among Greek SMES, irrespective of the introduction of the new Greek Accounting Standards.
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