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This paper explores the relationship between foreign direct investments and financial reporting changes via financial development in 12 Latin American countries during the period from 1997 to 2010.

In order to control the possible endogeneity problem, the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique has been conducted using country-level panel data obtained from the World Development Indicators website.

The empirical analyses provide evidence that international accounting standards have a significant effect on foreign direct investments. However, financial development associated with such standards reduces this positive effect. This is an important finding, suggesting that investors are likely to prefer portfolio to direct investments in Latin American financial markets that require or permit the use of international accounting standards.

The conclusions that have been drawn from this study are important for investors, creditors, and regulators. Although international accounting standards appear to affect foreign investments, there could be a lack of adaptation of these standards to specific economic environments due to cultural, educational, and economic factors. Therefore, firms, regulators, professional organizations, and accounting firms should make necessary arrangements so that the benefits of using these standards increase their costs.

The study contributes to the international accounting literature by examining the effects of international accounting standards and financial development on foreign direct investments in Latin America.

The chapter shows how globalization and the IFRSs have affected the development of financial accounting and reporting in Estonia. This is interpreted through institutional theory.

The theoretical framework takes into account the prior papers published using institutional theory for defining pressures affecting the development of financial reporting model. The discussion part is presented in three sub-sections. Coercive institutional pressure is analyzed using Estonian accounting legislation from 1990–2012 and normative pressure by focusing on the impact of Big 4 audit companies in the Estonian context. The authors also give an overview of mimetic institutional pressures. As a methodological technique literature review and document analysis are used.

In the context of coercive institutional pressure the development of accounting legislation in Estonia has been mostly influenced by the IFRSs and European Union. In the light of recent events it seems that Estonia has the opportunity to follow its own way deciding which accounting principles should be applied to SMEs. Mimetic institutional pressure affecting Estonian accounting system is International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which practices Estonian Accounting Standards Board (EASB) copies. Normative institutional pressures influencing the development of the Estonian accounting system are the Big 4 audit firms.

Although using institutional theory to interpret the development of financial reporting framework is not new its application is underexplored in the context of post-Soviet countries such as Estonia. The chapter potentially contributes to the accounting reforms evidence in emerging economies.

This paper examines the alternative frameworks adopted in empirical research in accounting in developed and colonised developing countries, and suggests that a more appropriate methodological framework is necessary to explain the emergence and subsequent development of the accounting profession in the colonised developing countries. In this regard, the paper rejects the claim that the expansion of the Western-based accountancy bodies into colonised developing countries is inevitable. Rather it posits the view that the influences of the U.K.-based Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants (ACCA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) and the dominance of Western accounting practices in the colonised developing world are intertwined with the local historical, global and cultural circumstances. Therefore, the problematique of imperialism is critical and significant for understanding the context in which the accounting profession has developed in former colonised countries. Bearing this in mind, the paper argues, then, that in order to adequately and validly investigates accounting issues in any former colonised developing nation; one has to adopt the frameworks of cultural imperialism and globalisation to fully contextualise the nature of accounting in colonised developing countries.

This chapter examines China’s corporate governance and accounting environment that shapes the adoption of internationally acceptable principles and standards. Specifically, it examines international influences, including supranational organizations; foreign investors and international accounting firms; domestic institutional influences, including the political system, economic system, legal system, and cultural system; and accounting infrastructure. China’s convergence is driven by desired efficiency of the corporate sector and legitimacy of participating in the global market. Influenced heavily by international forces in the context of globalization, corporate governance and accounting practices are increasingly becoming in line with internationally acceptable standards and codes. While convergence assists China in obtaining legitimacy, improving efficiency is likely to be adversely affected given that corporate governance and accounting in China operate in an environment that differs considerably from those of Anglo-American countries. An examination of the corporate governance and accounting environment in China suggests heavy government involvement within underdeveloped institutions. While the Chinese government has made impressive progress in developing the corporate governance and accounting environment for the market economy, China’s unique institutional setting is likely to affect how the imported concepts are interpreted and implemented.

Over the last decade, the accounting convergence process with the development and adoption of IFRS as national standards has become the focus of governments, professionals, and researchers. In 2005, the EU (including Germany) and Australia adopted IFRS. A survey by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (2010) reported that 89 countries have adopted or intend to adopt IFRS for all their domestic listed companies. Currently, more than 100 jurisdictions require or permit the use of IFRS, with countries such as Canada, Brazil, and Argentina being the most recent adopters (IFRS Foundation, 2011b). This growing number of countries implementing IFRS and their experiences and emerging challenges have further raised researchers' interest in this controversial topic (Ashbaugh & Pincus, 2001; Atwood et al., 2011; Byard et al., 2011; Christensen et al., 2007; Daske et al., 2008; Ding et al., 2007; Hail et al., 2010a, 2010b; Kvaal & Nobes, 2010; McAnally et al., 2010; Mechelli, 2009; Niskanen, Kinnunen, & Kasanen, 2000; Stolowy, Haller, & Klockhaus, 2001; Tyrrall et al., 2007). However, these studies have concentrated on the development and application of specific accounting standards and practices and/or cross-national and cross-cultural issues concerning adaptation, implementation, and evaluation of IFRS. Moreover, an increasing number of studies have been devoted to classifications of accounting models and categorization of accounting standards, principles, and values (Chanchani & Willett, 2004; D'Arcy, 2000, 2001; Doupnik & Richter, 2004; Doupnik & Salter, 1993; Gray, 1988; Kamla, Gallhofer, & Haslam, 2006; Nair & Frank, 1980; Patel, 2003, 2007; Perera & Mathews, 1990; Salter & Doupnik, 1992). However, very few studies have critically examined the historical development of accounting practices and issues related to convergence in its socioeconomic context and, importantly, we are not aware of any study that has rigorously examined the institutionalization of Anglo-American accounting practices as international practice with an emphasis on power and legitimacy in the move toward convergence of accounting standards.

Over the last few decades, corporate environmental reporting (CER) has received substantial attention due to complex societal and ecological challenges experienced at a global scale. While there has been growth in CER research across the world, we know very little of the state of CER research in Africa. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive literature review of CER in sub-Saharan Africa to demonstrate its current state, uncover gaps in extant studies and identify areas for further research in the region. We perform a metasearch on the Financial Times Top 50 journals in addition to wider analyses using African Journals Online (AJOL) and Google Scholar between 2008 and 2020. Though there is some progress in interrogating CER in the region, there is much leeway for further research into how public and private corporations provide an account for their interaction with nature. Extant studies have examined how CER is often subsumed within corporate social responsibility initiatives while other studies explore ways in which CER can provide accountability mechanisms in the mining sector of select countries. Important areas of future research include the influences of legal, cultural and political systems on the level of CER, the tensions between economic development driven by multinational corporations and the necessity for ecological protection. Finally, further research could investigate the role CER can play in encouraging specific corporate disclosures around GHG emissions, especially given global efforts being undertaken to mitigate the effects of climate change.

This chapter examines the development of accounting thought and practices in China with the purpose of illustrating its relevance to current accounting policies and practices. The review indicates that changes in accounting in China did not usually occur completely and easily. Over the past three decades, while Chinese accounting has gradually moved toward the Anglo-American model, convergence has presented unique features in China. For example, the review suggests that the accounting reforms in China have been heavily government-driven and that uniform accounting systems still remain. Chinese regulators maintain a cautious attitude toward the application of fair value and professional judgment, which are essentially the center of the Anglo-American accounting system. Furthermore, Chinese accounting regulators have a different view of business combinations from the IASB and have developed alternative accounting methods for those transactions. China’s departure from IFRS reflects its politico-economic context and essentially challenges the IASB’s goal of achieving international accounting convergence. China’s approach to internationally acceptable practices is likely to have implications for the effectiveness of the imported ideas.

This paper provides a review of the progress made in both academic literature and corporate practice over the last forty years. Although there has been an increase in the number of companies producing social and environmental reports, the quality of the disclosures has not increased. Further, there is little evidence of progress in the integration of social and environmental impacts into management decisions. The paper provides suggestions on research needs to increase the integration of social and environmental impacts into management decisions and improve both the internal reporting and external disclosures and accountability of corporations.

Purpose: The chapter’s objective is to develop a new model or approach to earnings management for sustainability. The challenges posed by climate change and environmental degradation have stimulated interest in sustainability. However, such interest has not led to the development of new models demonstrating how firms’ earnings management can contribute to sustainability and sustainable development.

Methodology: The chapter develops a model demonstrating how earnings management can contribute to sustainability. The surplus income model uses income targeting as a channel through which the surplus income generated by a firm is allocated to a relevant sustainability activity or project. The author shows that a firm’s total income can be divided into the target and surplus income components. The author then explores the possible activities that firms may allocate surplus income to in the interest of sustainability.

Finding: The surplus income model or approach allows a firm to contribute or donate to a relevant sustainability activity or project out of its surplus income. Under this model, managers are incentivised to generate surplus income from which they can contribute to a relevant sustainability activity or project, thereby making the firm a champion of sustainability.

Originality: Previous studies have not examined how earnings management by firms can contribute to sustainability. This chapter fills this gap in the literature.

The aim of this research monograph was to critically examine accounting development and the convergence process in Germany with a particular focus on examining issues and attitudes concerning the exercise of professional judgments in IFRS that may create constraints in achieving the IASB's objectives. This research monograph had two broad objectives, namely, (a) to enhance our understanding of national accounting developments and the convergence process by showing the importance of taking into account contextual factors, power, and legitimacy and (b) to critically examine issues and perceptions regarding the promotion, interpretation, and application of accounting standards requiring exercise of professional judgment. Based on an evaluation of Gray's framework of accounting values, the first chapter addressed the first objective by providing evidence that reliance on simplistic categorizations neglects the distinctiveness of national accounting models and the factors that shape these models. The second chapter examined convergence in Germany from a neo-institutional perspective and reinforced the importance of taking into account contextual factors and specifically legitimacy and power structures to enhance our understanding of the ongoing convergence process. The last two chapters of this research monograph addressed the second objective by exploring general perceptions toward the exercise of professional judgment and by investigating cross-cultural differences in accountants’ judgments. Specifically, the third chapter provided insights into the determinants of attitudes and concerns regarding the promotion of professional judgment by the IASB, while the fourth and the final chapters of the research monograph provided evidence of differences in accountants’ materiality judgments in Germany and Italy.