Impact of XBRL on Financial Statement Structural Comparability

The quality of corporate financial reporting has long been the interests of financial reporting users, such as investors, financial analysts, and regulators. Comparability is a key qualitative characteristic of accounting information that facilitates the comparison of financial statements. However, various reporting formats and accounting taxonomy standards result in inconsistent reporting structures that indirectly affect comparability. To improve information comparability, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mandates the adoption of the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), a search-facilitating technology, to reduce the costs of information search and improve the efficiency of information processing. Leveraging on the XBRL adoption enforced by the SEC, this study investigates whether the comparability of financial statement structure has improved in the post-mandate XBRL period. The results show a significant, consistent comparability improvement in the post XBRL adoption period, providing empirical evidence of the positive impact of XBRL on enhancing financial statement structural comparability