Value relevance of accounting information: a review of recently reported evidences from Sri Lanka

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between and communalities among recent empirical evidences reported on value relevance of accounting information of listed companies in Sri Lanka. This paper therefore reviews seven recent empirical studies conducted in Sri Lanka on value reverence of accounting information. The review finds that nearly all studies have used price regression model of Ohlson (1995) and thus used book value of equity per share and or earning per share as accounting information to predict market price per share. All studies reviewed have concluded that accounting information of companies listed in Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is value relevant. It is hence confirmed that accounting information significantly influence firms‘ equity valuation in Sri Lanka. It is also deducted that earning parameters which summarize the income statement better explain the share price than book value or similar measures that brief financial position statement. All these studies have covered the periods prior to the accounting reform in 2012 in which Sri Lanka enforced LKAS and SLFRS that were fully converged to respectively IAS and IFRS. It is therefore recommended to investigate the value relevance of accounting information in post IFRS adoption periods and to explore the impact of IFRS adoption on value relevance of accounting information.