Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-18T21:37:10.927Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

International Accounting Standard Setting: A Network Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

James Perry
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Andreas Nöelke
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Abstract

The article takes a political economy perspective on the current harmonization of accounting standards. It argues that the process not only signals a major shift in the mode of governance (towards private authority), but also in the substance of what is being governed. In political-economic terms, the most significant change which the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) brings to accounting is an increased reliance on market values in the form of so-called Fair Value Accounting (FVA). The FVA paradigm represents a financial perspective on business operations. This perspective is matched by the process and structure of the institutions that govern international accounting standard setting, particularly the IASB and the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group which advises the Commission of the European Union on the adoption of IASB standards. A network analysis of the different committees and working groups of these two institutions demonstrates that financial sector actors wield substantially more influence than other categories of business actors within the governance of international accounting standard setting.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2005 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Accounting-Technology, October 2004, p. 12. “Fair Value Measurements.”Google Scholar
Ball, Ray. 2004. “Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting at Daimler-Benz (DaimlerChrysler) AG: From a ‘Stakeholder’ Toward a ‘Shareholder Value’ Model” In Economics and Politics of Accounting. Christian, Leuz, Dieter, Pfaff and Hopwood, Anthony. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Barlev, Benzion and Haddad, Joshua Rene. 2003. “Fair value accounting and the management of the firm.” Critical Perspectives on Accounting 14 (4): 383415.Google Scholar
Borgatti, Steve. 2002. NetDraw: Graph Visualization Software. Harvard, Analytic Technologies.Google Scholar
Botzem, Sebastian. and Quack, Sigrid (forthcoming). “Contested Rules and Shifting Boundaries: International Standard Setting in Accounting.” In Transnational Governance: Institutional Dynamics of Regulation. Djelic, M. and Sahlin-Andersson, K. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Damant, David. 2001. “The new world ahead: The internationalization of accounting rules.” Balance Sheet 9 (1): 17.Google Scholar
Damant, David. 2003. “Accounting standards - a new era.” Balance Sheet 11 (1): 9.Google Scholar
Dewing, Ian and Russell, Peter. 2004. “Accounting, Auditing and Corporate Governance of European Listed Companies: EU Policy Developments Before and After Enron.” Journal of Common Market Studies 42(2): 289319.Google Scholar
Froud, Julie, Haslam, Colin et al. 2000. “Shareholder value and financialization: consultancy promises, management moves.” Economy and Society 29(1): 80110.Google Scholar
Financial Times. 29 September 2004. Supplement “Understanding IFRS”Google Scholar
House, John. 2004. “Special Reports: IAS 2005 - Tweedie speaks out.” Accountancy 133 (1325): 56.Google Scholar
IASB 2004. “IAS19: Employee Benefits (Web Summary).” [Online].Google Scholar
IASB 2005. “Summaries of International Financial Reporting Standards.” [Online] http://www.iasb.org/standards/summaries.asp [Accessed:20 July 2005]Google Scholar
IASCF 2005a. “IASC Foundation Constitution.” [Online]. http://www.iasb.org/uploaded_files/documents/8_887_RevisedConstitution1July2005.pdf [Accessed: 15 November 2005]Google Scholar
IASCF 2005b. “Due Process of IASB: Draft Handbook of Consultative Arrangements.” [Online]. http://www.iasb.org/uploaded_files/documents/8_137_DueProcess.pdf [Accessed: 15 November 2005]Google Scholar
Krippner, Greta. 2005. “The financialization of the American economy.” Socio-Economic Review (3): 173208.Google Scholar
Küting, Karlheinz. 2005. “Wurde ein zu hoher Preis für IFRS gezahlt?.” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 17 October 2005.Google Scholar
Lazonick, William and O'sullivan, Mary. 2000. “Maximizing shareholder value: a new ideology for corporate governance.” Economy and Society 29(1): 1335.Google Scholar
Martinez-Diaz, Leonardo. 2005. “Strategic Experts and Improvising Regulators: Explaining the IASC's Rise to Global Influence, 1973–2001.” Journal of Business and Politics 7 (3), Article 3.Google Scholar
OECD 2004. “OECD Principles of Corporate Governance.” [Online]. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/18/31557724.pdf [Accessed: 15 November 2005]Google Scholar
Richard, Jacques. 2005. “The concept of fair value in French and German accounting regulations from 1673 to 1914 and its consequences for the interpretation of the stages of development of capitalist accounting.” Critical Perspectives on Accounting 16(6): 825850 Google Scholar
Stockhammer, Engelbert. 2004. “Financialization and the slowdown of accumulation.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 28(5): 719741 Google Scholar
Tweedie, David and Seidenstein, Thomas. 2005. “Setting a Global Standard: The Case for Accounting Convergence.” Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business 25(3): 589608.Google Scholar
Van Hulle, Karel. 2004. “From Accounting Directives to International Accounting Standards.” The Economics and Politics of Accounting: International Perspectives on Research Trends, Policy, and Practice. Leuz, Christian; Pfaff, Dieter; Hopwood, Anthony. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 349375.Google Scholar
Williams, Karel. 2000. “From shareholder value to present-day capitalism.” Economy and Society 29(1): 112.Google Scholar
Williams, Peter. 2002. “Accounting's Quiet Revolution.” Financial Director, January 2002.Google Scholar