Mercedes Palacios Manzano* Isabel Martnez Conesa* Salvador Marn Hernndez
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A COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING STANDARDS ON FUNDAMENTAL ACCOUNTING VARIABLES: THE USA VERSUS LATIN AMERICA Mercedes Palacios Manzano* Isabel Martínez Conesa* Salvador Marín Hernández* Fecha de recepción: 1 de junio de 2006. Fecha de aceptación: 2 de febrero de 2007. Abstract This article examines the comparability between Latin American Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and US by studying 314 of the 20-F Forms reported by Latin American companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange during the period 1997-2001. The influence of US accounting in Latin America is evident in several areas. Nevertheless, the Latin American accounting model addresses special issues, such as inflation accounting, in a manner different from that of the US The purpose of this research is to identify the impact of the international accounting differences on the fundamental accounting variables and to assess the frequency and materiality of these differences in four Latin American countries, namely Argentine, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The results indicate that the gap between Latin American GAAP and US GAAP has not narrowed during the period. Key words: developing countries, comparability, US GAAP reconciliation, Form 20-F * University of Murcia, Department of Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Economics and Business, Campus de Espinardo. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
