In November 2006 the International Accounting Standards Board issued IFRS 8, which replaced IAS 14-Revised and became effective for the fiscal year beginning on or after 2009. IFRS 8 changed the items of information that companies have to disclose for each segment. The aim of the research is to examine the determinants of segment disclosures provided by Italian companies in both 2008 and 2009 using the framework of the proprietary costs theory. Moreover, the research investigates whether the implementation of IFRS 8 has brought companies operating in less competitive industries to adopt some opportunistic behaviors, reducing the level of segment disclosure provided in 2009, compared to that disclosed the previous year under IAS 14-R. The results show that higher levels of industry competition are associated with higher levels of segment disclosure. Moreover, we find that firms operating in less competitive industries decreased the items of information provided for each segment under IFRS 8, compared to those released the previous year.
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Keywords: Informativa di settore, proprietary costs theory, IFRS 8, IAS 14-R, società quotate italiane
