Germar Ebner

• Enforcement of financial reporting has gained new momentum in the European Union (EU) due to the so-called ‘IAS Regulation‘ (Regulation (EC) No. 1606/2002), with recital 16 requiring EU member states to take appropriate actions to ensure compliance with international accounting standards. Accordingly, several EU member states took concurrent or subsequent measures to increase the level of accounting enforcement, either by establishing new enforcement institutions, or by reforming existing ones. While these actions are designed to enhance accounting compliance by unfolding a preventive and sanctioning function of enforcement, a thorough literature review reveals that there is only scarce empirical evidence on whether this aim has been indeed achieved. Striving to shed light on the impact of recent enforcement reforms, this dissertation examines the sanctioning function in the German enforcement system by iestigating shareholder reactions to error announcements. Moreover, a cross-country analysis of 20 EU member states provides novel insights on the postulated preventive function in the aftermath of enforcement reforms. In summary, this dissertation aims to improve the understanding of the economic impact of accounting enforcement in Germany and the EU.