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The effect of culture, through the accounting values of conservatism and secrecy, on accounting judgments is an area of research extensively studied in developed countries. However, little research has focused on this issue in developing countries, specifically Arab countries. Thus, this study aims to fill this gap by investigating the impact of the combined effect of the culture/accounting dimensions on the interpretation of the probability expressions used in the international accounting standards/international financial reporting standards (IFRSs) in two North African/Arab countries: Tunisia and Egypt.

In the first place, this study determines Hofstede’s cultural index scores for Tunisia, ignored in his original model and updates those related to Egypt, which provides a more relevant understanding of the cultural effect. Then, the study relies on the Hofstede/Gray cultural accounting model to examine the extent to which the accounting values of conservatism and secrecy may affect the recognition of the increase and the decrease of income and the disclosure of this information in the financial statements by postgraduate accounting student in both countries.

The results provide evidence of the generalizability of Gray’s conservatism hypothesis in the North African/Arab countries (i.e. Tunisia and Egypt), at least in the context of income recognition. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that culture, through its influence on the accounting value of secrecy, affects the interpretation of probability expressions used in the IFRSs to establish disclosures.

This study calls for more attention from the standard setters to provide further guidance related to the consistent and accurate numerical value that needs to be assigned to the probability expressions to reduce the ambiguity related to their interpretation. The international accounting standards board (IASB) should pay greater attention to the use of vague probability expressions in developing the IFRSs to promote the true comparability of financial reporting worldwide. Like with any research, this study implies certain limitations specifically related to the sample selection, a sample size, which may affect the generalizability of the results. Thus, future research may rely on a larger sample combining and cover other cultural areas.

The results of this study may give insights into the practical issues faced by the accounting practitioners and which are related to the interpretation and the application of the IFRS including probability expressions. This may trigger their attention toward this issue to reduce the occurrence of these expressions in the revised and newly released standards to guarantee homogeneous financial reporting practices across countries and enhance the IASB’s objective of international accounting harmonization.

This study might be the first one that investigates the issue of the IFRS interpretation in two North African and Arab countries: Tunisia and Egypt. It also provides an original investigation of the cultural effect on accounting judgments based on the actualized Hofstede’s cultural indexes, especially for Tunisia which is ignored in the original country classification.

This study investigates the influence of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the interpretation and application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by examining a group of SEC-selected foreign private issuers filing 2005 annual reports in the USA and reporting using IFRS for the first time.

This paper uses hand-collected information from SEC comment letters to analyze IFRS topics and documents the ultimate resolution of each SEC comment (no change to filing, current change to filing or prospective change to future filing). The authors use descriptive statistical analyses, as well as a logistic regression model involving the resolution of each SEC comment, to examine the SEC’s influence on the interpretation of IFRS.

The study finds both higher comment totals, and higher numbers of required filing modifications, for those IFRS pronouncements which were identified as needing improvement during the 2006-2008 convergence efforts by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Additionally, the study documents a decreasing likelihood of a filing modification when US generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP) guidance is referenced in comment letter correspondence involving IFRS topics.

The study extends the IFRS literature and the SEC comment letter literature by focusing on the resolution of comments directed at IFRS disclosures, as well as exploring the factors which influence whether a comment ultimately requires a filing modification.

This paper explores how the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has dealt with the emerging issue of accounting for cryptocurrencies by investigating its constituents' expectations and the motivations underlying its regulatory response.

The theoretical lens of regulatory space is used to analyse the four-year debate around cryptocurrency holdings and informs the extensive thematic analysis of public documents, meetings recordings and comment letters on the topic.

Facing national standard setters' initiatives to regulate accounting for cryptocurrency, the IASB defended its position in the regulatory space through an agenda decision based on ewct 2xisting standards, which was finalised by the International Financial Reporting Standards Interpretation Committee (IFRS IC) despite criticism from constituents and Board members.

The paper provides insights into the IASB approach to a regulatory vacuum regarding a new class of items, which derive from a new and rapidly-evolving technology. Disruptive technology impacts the contested arena of accounting regulation, in which the constituents ask for new solutions and the IASB tries to resist such pressures, while defending its position.

The paper sheds light on the growing importance of agenda decisions in the IFRS environment and on the limits of the IASB long regulatory process in the circumstance of emerging accounting issues deriving from rapidly-evolving technology.

This investigation is timely and relevant as it considers the regulatory issues arising from disruptive technological innovations (i.e. cryptocurrency), shedding light on the limits of regulatory processes in times of technological change.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an updated picture of the convergence process between International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP), with IFRS clearly emerging as a global financial reporting benchmark. This study is aimed at evaluating the main benefits but also some significant issues arising from the adoption of a single set of accounting standards.

The main examples of theoretical and empirical literature for and against IFRS implementation are reviewed.

Since markets became increasingly global, the comparability of financial statements is required to enable better corporate communication and transparency to the advantage of all stakeholders. The main difficulties of IFRS adoption by the USA are explored.

The study’s implications are to emphasize the practical obstacles to resolving the issues of financial communication through a uniform set of standards, by highlighting the importance of taking into account other dynamics in improving the corporate disclosure domestically and globally.

The key contribution of this study is to reflect on the best ways to reach global communication without sacrificing the effectiveness and affordability of financial reporting.

The purpose of this study is to provide a rigorous and holistic analysis of the main features of the Japanese accounting environment. It also raises issues related to the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Japan.

For the purpose of investigating the Japanese accounting system, this study applies the accounting ecology framework developed by Gernon and Wallace (1995) and provides a content analysis of relevant meetings of the Business Accounting Council of Japan.

The findings of this study provide evidence that it would be problematic to require the adoption of IFRS for all listed companies in Japan. The main reason for this is that the Japanese policymakers and standard-setting bodies follow two objectives: enhancing the international comparability of financial reporting and maintaining institutional complementarity between financial reporting and other infrastructures such as accounting-related laws.

This study is relevant for accounting researchers and professionals with an interest in Japanese accounting practices. It is also useful for the International Accounting Standards Board and representatives of countries planning to adopt IFRS in the future.

The findings of this study show that contextual issues such as social, organizational and professional environments cannot be ignored in the adoption of IFRS in Japan.

The Republic of Moldova is a small country between Romania and Ukraine, which for more than 20 years since its independence, is still experiencing a painful process of economic and institutional reforms. The chapter provides, against a review of literature and national regulations, an analysis and possible perspectives of accounting harmonization processes in relation to historical and cultural preconditions.

Based on content analysis of national regulations and economic conditions in the Republic of Moldova, with the support of a literature review.

Our findings demonstrate that some features related to mentality, which have been formed as a result of long term political and cultural closeness and negation of individualistic and independent thinking values, are determining many contemporaneous changes in all spheres, including accounting.

There are very few publications about accounting processes in the Republic of Moldova. It is important to analyze the case of the Republic of Moldova in the context of accounting transformation in post-Soviet countries, as almost all of them have similar historical and cultural implications. The research results may be useful for further studies about accounting evolution in post-communist states and also in the Republic of Moldova itself.

The paper aims to build a greater understanding of countries transitioning from local generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Second, the study assembles prior literature and examines the issues raised during the convergence. Finally, the paper recognises the implications of successful convergence practices that may be useful to other emerging markets and particular reference to India which is transitioning from local GAAP to IFRS-based principles.

The present study is a qualitative analysis that explores the Cost-benefit outcome carried by developed nations. The paper segregates the literature into three segments: developed nations, East Asian countries and the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) nations.

There are numerous issues and implications divulged from studies pertaining to the adoption of IFRS, i.e. corporate governance, fair value accounting and other environmental concerns. The paper further illustrates instances of dissimilarity of the Indian Accounting Standards to the IFRS.

It is evident from the literature that limited studies have been carried out in the context of East Asian countries and BRIC nations in comparison to the developed nations. Further research should provide more comprehensive empirical evidence on the outcome of mandatory adoption of IFRS on firms in emerging countries.

The paradigm practice of mandatory adoption of IFRS by developed nations can be an insight for emerging countries that participate in the capital markets and for companies in compliance with the IFRS.

Independent monitoring and review bodies have become a defining feature of the professional accounting and auditing space. Exactly how these institutions function to improve the quality of the corporate reporting or audit function is, however, poorly understood. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence on how the activities of an independent review process functions on individual preparers, auditors and those charged with an organisation’s governance.

The study is an interpretive one. Data are collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed by the researchers.

The review function performed by an independent body results in companies being more aware of the need for compliance with the applicable financial reporting standards. Independent reviews also act as a process of examination which functions at the level of the individual accountant, auditor or director. These subjects of regulation report an added sense of accountability to their respective employer and profession and a heightened awareness of the need for high-quality corporate reporting.

Independent monitoring and review bodies are not just symbolic displays which reassure uninformed users that the quality of financial statements are sound. Examination of financial statements and identification of non-compliance with the applicable financial reporting standards drive actual changes in reporting practices.

This study complements the predominantly positivist financial reporting research which does not deal with precisely how the work of regulatory bodies operates on the subjects of regulation. The research makes an important practical contribution by providing empirical evidence in support of laws and regulations which promote independent review of the accounting profession.

Corporate reporting infrastructure and communication are being transformed by the emergence of digital technologies. A key element of the digital accounting infrastructure underpinning international corporate reporting is the IFRS Taxonomy, a digital representation of international accounting standards that is required by firms to produce digital corporate reports. The purpose of this paper is to trace the development, governance and adoption of the IFRS Taxonomy to highlight the implications for accounting practice and standard-setting.

The authors mobilise Actor Network Theory and a model of transnational standardisation to analyse the process surrounding the formation and diffusion of the IFRS Taxonomy as a legitimate “reference” of the IFRS Standards. The authors trace the process using interview, observation and documentary evidence.

The analysis shows that while the taxonomy enables IFRS-based reporting in the digital age, tensions and detours result in the need for a realignment of the perspectives of both accounting standard-setters and taxonomy developers that have transformative implications for accounting practice and standard-setting.

The study explains how and why existing accounting standards are transformed by technology inscriptions with reflexive effects on the formation and diffusion of accounting standards. In doing so, the paper highlights the implications that arise as accounting practice adapts to the digitalisation of corporate reporting.

Based on the institutional theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine institutional factors that affect the development of accounting practices in Jordan.

The current study surveys the perceptions of 306 participants and 20 interviewees.

First, the early formation of accounting practices in Jordan has been affected by the legacy of Ottoman Empire’s and the British Colony’s accounting systems. Second, the results indicate that government of Jordan (regulatory frameworks), pressures from international donors and large economic organizations (politico-economic factors), education and training/development (cultural inputs), and the efforts to attract foreign investments and getting access into the international fund and trade (economic factors) have been influential influences in the development of accounting practices and the adoption of International Accounting Standards/International Financial Reporting Standards (IAS/IFRS) in Jordan. Finally, the findings reveal that “Secrecy” construct (a culture input) has been a problematic in the implementation of IAS/IFRS.

The current study provides policy implications for the Jordanian policy makers and for other developing countries that are working hard to improve the quality of financial reporting of their business entities. Finally, the authors suggest some great opportunities for future research.

First, this paper contributes to Jordan’s policy developments including fundamental strategies in terms of attracting foreign investments to expand the economy and the international and regional trade. Second, it fills a gap in the international accounting research by empirically assessing how institutional factors affect the development of accounting practices in emerging country such as Jordan.