Search results

The purpose of this paper is to add to the literature on accounting change in explaining a decade-long effort by the FASB and IASB to develop a set of global accounting standards accepted by markets worldwide. This research studies the effort as one of “convergence” in accounting standards and aims to bring theoretical and empirical clarity as to how we can conceptualize the notion of convergence.

Through a longitudinal study of 23 key FASB-IASB projects undertaken between 2002 and 2011, this paper analyzes processes of accounting change using a blend of institutional theory and political economy. A process perspective provides a method to unfold variants of accounting change by identifying patterns that help us to understand the conditions for and characteristics of convergence.

The author highlights specific variants of accounting change observed during the convergence effort – direct emulation, difference reduction and progressive redesign – as analogous to institutional processes. Where direct emulation and difference reduction reflect institutional processes of imitation and editing or translation, respectively, the author shows how progressive redesign of accounting standards goes beyond these classical categorizations to encompass the notion of “institutional co-construction” (Djelic, 2008).

A longer (shorter) period of study and a greater (lesser) number of projects could be argued for a more comprehensive (more detailed) study; however, limiting the period and project to the terms of the formal convergence program allows for forces driving this particular process to be isolated and their effects extrapolated to broader thinking on accounting and global regulation.

This research informs the global standard-setting community of the evolution of convergence and the factors which impact that evolution by revealing the influence of various institutions, actors and events over time. In particular, the author identifies the impact of the competitive and cooperative conditions under which the FASB-IASB convergence effort operated and reveal how these conditions were influenced by the macro-level economic and political developments occurring over the period.

This paper seeks to assess the feasibility and desirability of a major emerging economy adopting and implementing fair value accounting (FVA), as codified in the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), by studying China's recent experience.

The paper examines the extent of FVA adoption in China's new accounting standards (“2007GAAP”), reasons for differences from the International Accounting Standard Board's IFRS, and how 2007GAAP has been implemented in practice. Data are obtained from content analyses of IFRS and 2007GAAP FVA requirements, critical assessments of standard setters' official statements, and analyses of empirical evidence from official reports, media, and academic research.

The authors find a high degree of adoption of IFRS FVA standards in China's 2007GAAP for financial instruments, but many differences for non‐financial long‐term asset investments. Standard setters justify this divergence by fundamental characteristics of the Chinese environment. The resulting differences from IFRS in the 2007GAAP FVA standards, and in their implementation, challenge official claims of “substantial convergence” between 2007GAAP and IFRS. Hence, the benefits desired by Chinese regulators from adopting FVA and international accounting convergence to IFRS may not be realized.

The findings are derived from aggregated data in government reports. These findings can be extended in future research by examining specific implementation outcomes in company financial statements.

The paper contributes a timely critical examination of a major emerging economy's convergence with the controversial FVA requirements, which supports the IFRS's standing as a high quality set of accounting standards. The findings provide new insights into factors that can impede international accounting convergence in emerging economies.

This paper aims to explore convergence of accounting standards across worldwide adopted measures to investigate whether countries that have not completely adopted International Accounting Standards across the globe have displayed a tendency to act so.

The new panel convergence methodology, developed by Phillips and Sul (2007), is employed.

The empirical findings suggest that countries form distinct convergent clubs, albeit on a limited prevalence, yielding support to the notion that on a global basis firms and countries have initiated processes that will eventually lead them to a uniform pattern of employing common accounting standards.

These findings have substantial implications on a firm level, mainly for differences in accounting quality as well as for differences in their cost of capital, thus leading the regulatory authorities to opt for further improvements in financial reporting.

The novelties of this paper first, stem from the fact that it is the first time in the relevant literature that an empirical study attempts to formally measure whether the accounting world exhibits a tendency for accounting standards convergence or whether tactics and policies remain stagnant, acquiring drastic policy measures to speed up the convergence process. In addition, this study employs the implementation of the new methodology of panel convergence testing. This methodology has several appealing characteristics.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between regional institution and accounting quality.

This study investigates whether and to what extent the convergence to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) improves Chinese firms’ accounting quality. It also examines the role regional institutions play in this process. The focus is on two aspects of accounting quality: the accrual aggressiveness and the timely loss recognition. Specifically, the study tests: whether the convergence to IFRS significantly lowers the accrual aggressiveness proxied by the magnitude of discretionary accruals (DA); whether the convergence to IFRS significantly enhances the timely loss recognition proxied by the likelihood of reporting large negative net income; and whether the effects of convergence to IFRS on accounting quality vary with the quality of regional institutions.

The findings show that convergence to IFRS generally was accompanied by increases in DA and decreases in timely loss recognition for Chinese firms. Further analysis on the development of regional institutions reveals that both changes in accrual aggressiveness and timely loss recognition are more pronounced for firms located in regions with a lower level of development in the legal environment.

This study contributes to the accounting literature in several ways. First, it extends the accounting literature regarding institutional factors by examining the association between regional institutions and accounting quality. Second, by adopting a within-country setting, the study avoids such problems of cross-country comparisons as confounding factors caused by country-specific accounting rules and regulations, differences in infrastructure and culture, and other potential endogeneity problems (Chan et al., 2010). Third, the attention paid to the European and US application of IFRS overshadows the application and effects of IFRS in emerging markets. By examining China, the world largest emerging economy in the process of economic transition, this study sheds light on the effect of convergence to IFRS on accounting quality for emerging or transitional economies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the important role played by corporate governance in de facto International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) convergence, and to provide empirical evidence that audit quality mediates the degree of IFRS convergence.

The paper develops a model showing the role of corporate governance in converging national accounting standards with the IFRS, and empirically tests the model using a sample of Chinese listed companies with B‐shares. Both analysis of variance and multiple regressions are employed to test the hypotheses.

Effective internal corporate governance helps companies to be more aligned with IFRS and thus provide high quality financial information. Furthermore, audit quality as an external governance factor mediates the relationship between internal corporate governance and IFRS convergence.

The paper extends research findings, as shown in the literature, by showing the role of corporate governance in the IFRS convergence, especially the mediating effect of audit quality. In addition to accounting standards, global convergence of auditing standards and corporate governance is imperative if de facto convergence of accounting standards is to be achieved.

The paper highlights the effect of corporate governance and the interaction between internal and external corporate governance in achieving IFRS convergence, which has been largely ignored in the literature. Based on the results, the paper proposes an explanation for the mixed results shown in the literature.

The forces of globalization and political expediency are forcing an increasing number of countries to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Although numerous countries are adopting IFRS, the approaches used for convergence continue to differ significantly across countries. Using selected countries from the South Pacific region, this chapter investigates the relationship between country-specific characteristics and the selection of the appropriate approach for the adoption of IFRS. The country-specific attributes that have been found to influence convergence are (1) the set of accounting standards that prevailed in the country at the time the selection was made, (2) the availability and experience of professional accountants, (3) the relevant educational and professional training, (4) the presence of the Big 4 accounting firms, and (5) the accounting regulatory framework. The results of this study suggest that complete comparability in financial reporting may be difficult to achieve across all countries in the region even after adopting the IFRS because of differences in country-specific factors. These findings are important because they indicate that attention should be concentrated on theorizing and empirically testing the effects of country-specific attributes on convergence efforts across jurisdictions.

The paper extends the literature by examining the impact of politics, conflicts and compromises resulting from external pressures (gaiatsu, 外圧) and internal pressures (naiatsu, 内圧) on the convergence and globalization of accounting and accountability in Japan.

Using Japan as a case study, it is examined how and why the stimulus for significant accounting reforms arises, how the government manages and reacts to the powerful forces of gaiatsu and how it balances naiatsu among key stakeholders.

The ongoing changes in accounting regulations in Japan are neither the result of an unmediated response to gaiatsu nor the outcome of naiatsu. Rather, Japanese accounting changes are the consequence of complex external interactions and internal compromises. Specifically, Japan demonstrates a repetitive pattern of conflict management, which alters the domestic power balance based on naiatsu, and forces the Japanese government to make compromises to policy changes initiated by gaiatsu.

The findings have implications for the development of accounting and accountability, the globalized business world and international accounting research because they challenge claims made by global standards setters that international standards such as International Financial Reporting Standards are superior, are built on so-called “best practices” and are relevant to all countries.

Invoking the concepts of gaiatsu and naiatsu is a critical approach to understanding Japan's convergence toward economic liberalism and Anglo-American models of accounting and accountability.

The study endeavours to bring out a critical synthesis of the effect of quality of financial reporting in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries pertaining to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. BRICS is the group composed by the five major emerging countries, which together represent about 42% of the population, 23% of gross domestic product (GDP), 30% of the territory, and 18% of the global trade. The study synthesised 57 quantitative, qualitative, and theoretical studies between the period 2005 and 2020. The findings reflect that the BRICS countries are far way behind with the qualitative and quantitative outcomes on IFRS adoption, which may be on a voluntary basis or mandatory basis. However, there are mixed revelation based on the implications of the domestic convergence of standards with IFRS, which demonstrate that 15 papers’ results revealed a negative impact.

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.