The development of accounting practices and the adoption of IFRS in selected MENA countries

The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of accounting development and the adoption of IFRS in the four foremost economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)—Egypt, Jordan, Libya and UAE. Through the lens of institutional theory, the study investigates the impact of economic, political, legal and cultural institutions on the development of these countries’ accounting practices and their readiness to use IFRS.

This research uses accounting development indices obtained from current literature as well as recent World Economic Forum and UNCTAD reports to examine the development of accounting in these MENA countries and their inclination to adopt IFRS.

The study identifies a number of impediments to the development of accounting practices and adoption of IFRS in these countries. It also reveals that three of the four MENA countries (Egypt, Jordan and UAE) could be placed on a level playing field with their principal trading partners (the US, the UK, Germany and Italy) given the formers’ business environments, methods of raising finance and levels of professional accounting practices.

Although limited to only four jurisdictions, findings from the study have important implications for investors and parties that are interested in improving the value relevance of the information presented by firms especially in a globalised economy with increasing cross-listing.

This study extends the frontier of knowledge on the development of accounting and IFRS adoption by focusing on the MENA region. It is the first effort that the authors are aware of to adopt such a multifarious approach.