Stakeholder Participation in the Development of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS): A Multi-Issue and Multi-Period Analysis of the Due Process

Abstract

This article analyses the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board’s (IPSASB) due process by using a multi-issue and -period analysis of comment letters (CLs) received by the IPSASB (2005-2018). It focuses on respondents’ affiliation and geographic background to assess whether the input received by the IPSASB is (un)representative for its stakeholders. It explores the influence of three variables to explain differences between stakeholders’ participation: IPSAS implementation level, English-proficiency, economic development level. The results evidence that the input is unrepresentative for all its stakeholder, which may influence the IPSASB’s input legitimacy, and complicate further IPSAS implementation. Stakeholders with higher economic development levels and higher IPSAS implementation levels participate more. Additionally, two factors in the due process are analysed to measure their influence on overall stakeholder participation: type of consultation documents, and length of comment periods. Longer comment periods have a positive influence on stakeholder participation.