Determining the accounting quality from the perspective of business features

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the determinants of entrepreneurial characteristics of accounting information quality in the context of internationalized companies and from the perspective of different accounting standards. The sample considered 1,406 companies located in twelve countries, covering the period 2005 to 2012. The quality of accounting information considered attributes of the quality of accruals, persistence, predictability and smoothing. From the calculation of individual attributes settled an aggregate ranking of companies using multi-criteria analysis method TOPSIS and the technique of entropy. The investigation considered factors in accounting standards, corporate incentives and intensity of internationalization of economic activities as explanatory factors of accounting information quality. The results indicated that the lower financial leverage constituted an incentive for companies positioned themselves with higher scores in the ranking of quality of accounting information. The study confirmed the intensity of internationalization of business activities as a significant determinant to explain the quality of accounting information reported in the international context.