Proceedings

period observed was between 1 January 1993 and 31 December 2007, during which
the markets were very volatile, especially in the case of Greece. Overall, it found
convincing evidence that monthly prices and returns follow random walks in all six
countries. It concluded that France, Germany, UK and Spain meet most of the criteria
for a random walk behavior with daily data, but that hypothesis is rejected for Greece
and Portugal, due to serial positive correlation.
Chan et al. (1992) studied the relationships among the stock markets in Hong Kong,
South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and the United States, by using unit root and
co-integration tests. In this study, all the stock prices were analyzed both individually
and collectively to test for international market efficiency. They found unit roots in
stock prices and the higher-order co-integration tests indicated that there is no
evidence of co-integration among the stock prices. Their finding suggested that the
stock prices in major Asian markets and United States were weak-form efficient
individually and collectively in the long run.
Worthington and Higs (2003) have tested random walks and weak-form efficiency in
European equity markets. They have studied the daily returns for sixteen developed
markets (including the UK) and four emerging markets (Czech Republic, Hungary,
Poland and Russia). Their results shown that among the developed markets, only
Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden and the UK satisfy the most stringent random
walk criteria with France, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain meeting at
least some of the requirements of a strict random walk. Among the emerging markets,
only Hungary satisfies the strictest requirements for a random walk in daily stock
returns. The results of their analysis are consistent with the generalization that
emerging markets are unlikely to be associated with the random walks required for the
assumption of weak-form market efficiency. The evidence regarding developed
markets is less conclusive with some markets following random walks while others
do not.
Overall, this literature depicts a non-conclusive picture of the current status of various
markets’ informational efficiency. Supplementary, the current financial and economic
turbulence has affected markets’ mechanisms and, presumably, has increased the
heterogeneity of markets’ evolutions.
2. PERSPECTIVES FOR IFRS ADOPTION
Due to the growing interdependence of economies around the world, the global
economic and financial crisis had influenced greatly the general public’s perception
on financial sector issues. The role that financial reporting plays in the contemporary
society has been largely debated over the last three years as a wide range of key
organizations such as UNCTAD, G-8 Finance Ministers, G-20 Summit, the European
Council of Ministers and the United States Congress paid more attention to the need
for a sound accounting language able to ensure financial and economic stability.
The main purpose of the accounting convergence process is to provide reliable,
transparent and comparable financial information required by the globalized financial
markets. The core element of this process is represented by the standards issued by
IASB (International Accounting Standard Board). In order to respond to the needs of
these markets, IASB and US FASB have established in 2009 a Financial Crisis
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