A Universal Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants: Religious Restrictions

Abstract

As businesses have developed globally and multinational companies have tended to dominate the economy, so has the importance of strengthening confidence in the accounting profession worldwide. The internationalisation of the accounting profession requires convergence both in terms of the technical aspects of the profession and in training and ethical aspects. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in order to promote an international convergence of accountants has issued a Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. In order to be adopted and effective, codes of ethics should reflect the beliefs of those who are going to apply them. In this sense, religion is a very important matter as it is one of the influential factors in individual beliefs,. However codes of ethics could be influenced by the beliefs of those who have developed them. In this sense, the religious tradition of those who have developed the Code could be a relevant factor in the acceptance of a worldwide code of ethics. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of religion in the decision of the professional accounting bodies of adopting the IFAC Code. We obtained the data from 165 accounting bodies from 125 countries. The results of our study show that the national accounting organizations belonging to countries where the predominant religion is Christianity are more prone to adopt the IFAC Code of Ethics as their own. This paper adds empirical evidence to the academic literature about the variables that affect the acceptance of international codes of ethics. An understanding of the religious restrictions provides guidelines to international organizations in their attempt to establish international standards of conduct for professional accountants worldwide.