Comparative International Accounting Research Articles

Governmental accounting and budgeting in Malta and Poland – a different dance to the same tune

PurposeThis paper compares governmental accounting and budgeting in two European Union (EU) member states, analysing the developments in each country as to how they “fit” into the EU's harmonization project and the push towards the implementation of accrual accounting compliant with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).Design/methodology/approachAn explanatory multiple case study is used to describe the structures and changes in governmental systems (accounting and budgetary) in Malta and Poland. The methodology takes a qualitative interpretative approach, examining the underlying legislations and related ministerial publications as secondary sources.FindingsFocusing on the output from financial accounting and budgetary systems, the results illustrate how organizations respond in a different manner to similar institutional pressures. In particular, Poland shows no inclination to adopt the IPSAS, but emerges with a sophisticated budgeting system while Malta is more focused on developing its financial reporting in line with the IPSAS. The theoretical lens highlights that while both countries tend towards pragmatic legitimacy, Poland appears more inclined towards exchange legitimacy, and Malta is more subject to influence legitimacy.Research limitations/implicationsAt a practical level, this study should be read by public sector accounting standard setters. It illustrates how EU member states are engaging with the IPSAS, emphasizing the ambitious nature of the EU's harmonization project, in spite of the structural legitimacy that the EU institution emanates.Originality/valuePrevious comparative international governmental accounting studies have examined accounting reform processes and developed or applied various theoretical models to try to understand the process. This study looks at the output from such reform processes. The two countries are seemingly experiencing the same type of pressures exerted by the demands of EU membership. However, the translation of the same external macro-forces at macro-level to micro (organizational)-level results in different compliance with the desired harmonization of governmental accounting systems.

Assets Measurement Principles According to Croatian and Polish Accounting Standards

There are many kinds of international operations, and entities from different countries can operate in different regulatory frameworks. This is why comparative international accounting has become more and more important. There are great efforts made by the EU, the IASB, the FASB, and other institutions in order to achieve comparable financial statements. Still, there are many accounting differences among the countries. The EU member states are restricted by the European Regulation on the application of the IFRS but the regulation of accounting principles for micro, small, and medium sized entities represents the national regulators’ choice. The main goal of the paper is to provide a description of the existing accounting framework and the standard setting process in two European countries: Croatia and Poland. Research methodology is based on a critical analysis of scholarly literature and the comparison of Polish and Croatian Accounting Acts, Polish Accounting Standards and Croatian Financial Reporting Standards, in terms of main accounting principles for assets. The authors test the thesis that the national accounting standard setting process affects the form and content of accounting principles and standards. Therefore, the research focus is related to several accounting areas and the paper investigates accounting principles for different kinds of assets.

A comparative study of the accounting research trends (1994–2014) between Spain and Italy

Consistent with the social and institutional paradigm, countries with similar cultures, such as Italy and Spain, may show similar trends in the development of accounting research. This article develops a Comparative International Accounting History perspective, which is aimed at comparing accounting history subjects and themes in different countries. This research analyses publication patterns in accounting, understanding emerging topics and fields. It compares the last 20 years of Italian and Spanish accounting journals, developing a content analysis of each issue in the 20-year time frame from 1994 to 2014. Highlighting common trends and insights, this article adds to previous literature that examines publishing patterns of research in accounting journals from a historical point of view. It demonstrates that accounting research is developing beyond the institutional paradigm, showing an internationalisation process and trends consistent with Anglo-Saxon Journals.

SEARCHING THE ROUTE OF NON-MONETARY ECOLOGICALMEASUREMENT-VALUATION, IN THE THREE-DIMENSIONALTHEORY OF ACCOUNTING, T3C

This work is inserted in the process of reflection carried out in the macro-research program of the three-dimensional theory of Accounting, PIT3C, initiated in 2011, by the Comparative International Accounting Research Group (hereinafter GICIC), of the Universidad del Quindio, Colombia. It is common knowledge that accounting is a discipline that has developed conceptually, in the last 5 centuries, since Pacciolo's formulation, between Law and Economics, fundamentally. This dependency has determined it to be a kind of servitude to the dominant interests raised from those two powerful disciplines, which have handcuffed it to establish its own routes of identification, recognition and search for solutions to many of the authentic problems of its domain that , being independent, can reach, thus assuming, its own disciplinary future. The problem of accounting, whose social practice is ancient, to a large extent has been the lack of a convincing theoretical accumulation, which would allow it to position itself as a social discipline, identifying its authentic problems of knowledge, and, therefore, to have walked as a technique of other knowledge, depending on foreign hypotheses and theoretical formulations, which have hindered the development of their reflective capacity and the possibility of independent and autonomous growth. Since the 1970s, a fortunate shift has emerged in the conception of accounting and its object of knowledge. The eco-environmental and social aspects have appeared in the accounting north, with more and more presence. It is attested to by countless academic writings, in which the need to venture, in addition to the legal and economic aspects, into various aspects of these two new aspects of knowledge, from the accounting perspective, is claimed.

Accounting Systems in Poland and Croatia - comparative study

Abstract Central and Eastern European countries undergo many political, structural, social and economic changes. In the past decades such countries, like Croatia and Poland, witnessed a fundamental transformation of their societies and economies, which impacted accounting systems as well. The mail goal of the paper is to research the main differences in accounting systems in the Republic of Croatia and Poland. The research methodology is based on a critical analysis of scholarly literature done by the bibliometric analysis, analysis Polish and Croatian accouting standards and legal acts. Based on inductive and deductive reasoning, the paper reveals key determinants and differences of accounting frameworks in Croatia and Poland. The paper proves that it is crucial to consider economic and cultural differences in comparative international accounting research. Research results of the paper will contribute the international accounting literature but also have an impact on the European Union accounting harmonisation references.

Thirteen not out: Nobes & Parker, Comparative International Accounting, 1981–2016

Nobes & Parker’s book, Comparative International Accounting, has been the standard text on international accounting outside the US since the 1980s. The contents and structure have changed greatly over successive editions (the thirteenth was published in 2016) mainly to take account of shifts in political and economic power, globalization in various guises and rapid advances in technology. Its authors have also been influenced and helped by the comments of contributors, reviewers and publishers. Research, by the authors and others, has informed the content of the book. Writing textbooks (or indeed most sorts of books) is argued to be a legitimate and useful academic activity, but one for which the incentives are in decline.

A comparative history of earnings management literature from Italy and the US

Using the comparative international accounting history approach advocated by Carnegie and Napier (2002), this study compares US and Italian earnings management (EM) literature published in the second half of the twentieth century and identifies the main similarities and differences in the research topics and methodologies. The historical comparison finds that although Italian and US contributions to EM literature grew in notably different contexts and research settings, they both recognized the issue of EM, agreed on its origins and shared some research topics. However, the two bodies of literature differed in respect of the research topics addressed and research methodologies adopted to analyse the EM issue. The discussion of these results provides also initial evidence of areas of potential contribution to the international debate on EM through cross-fertilization. The analysis demonstrates the fundamental role of comparative international accounting history in uncovering the potential contributions of national literatures to the development of accounting research at a genuinely international level. It also contributes to EM literature by bringing to international attention fifty years of Italian EM research that was previously unknown beyond Italian borders.

The present and future of accounting history

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to outline some personal reflections, based on recent published accounting history research and methodological contributions, on the state of the art and future directions in interdisciplinary research on accounting's past.Design/methodology/approach– An essay focusing on recent developments in the accounting history specialisation and outlining some possible future research developments.Findings– The paper points to the growing literature in the accounting history specialisation; the conduct of historical accounting research across an array of institutions, including business, social and religious institutions; the diversity of theoretical perspectives which have been applied during the past 15-20 years, essentially on the premise of accounting as social practice, and the prospects of theoretically-informed investigations continuing to offer the greatest potential insight into both accounting's present and future. Reflections rendered on possible future directions of historical accounting research may provide some motivation for future research or at least stimulate some discussion and debate on the subject.Research limitations/implications– The analysis and critique represents the author's perspectives as a longstanding academic in the field.Originality/value– The paper may assist in generating some new ideas, topics and approaches for future historical accounting research in any given country or region and may even stimulate “comparative international accounting history” (CIAH) studies in different locations around the globe.

Lexis Nexus Complexus: Comparative Contract Law and International Accounting Collide in the IASB-FASB Revenue Recognition Exposure Draft

U.S. and international accounting-standard setters plan to launch a new, global revenue accounting standard, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, in 2013. Poised at the nexus of comparative contract law and international accounting, the proposal’s contract-based revenue recognition model creates new legal risks and opportunities for accountants, lawyers, clients, and financial statement users. Despite its focus on legally enforceable contracts, the proposed standard was drafted without input from the legal community. This Article models the proposal’s complex contract-analysis process, demonstrating that its revenue outcomes may vary materially because of seemingly minor interjurisdictional differences in law applicable to “open-price” contracts; offers practice pointers for attorneys, accountants, and auditors; recommends changes to the proposal, including the substitution of self-enforcing Nash equilibria for legally enforceable contracts; and encourages more collaboration between the legal and accounting professions in the joint deployment of legal and accounting expertise for better value creation, value allocation, and risk mitigation.

Accrual accounting by Anglo-American governments: Motivations, developments, and some tensions over the last 30 years

This article takes a comparative international accounting history (CIAH) approach (Carnegie and Napier, 2002) to describe and discuss motivations for, and developments in the adoption of accrual accounting in five Anglo-American countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Although the adoption of accrual accounting across these countries over the last two decades can be attributed to the 1980s philosophy of new public management (NPM), the CIAH perspective illuminates similarities and differences in the nature of accrual accounting practices. The differences are due, in large part, to the timing and speed of change required by government, as well as the role played by the profession. Several tensions have arisen from the adoption of accrual accounting and these are also outlined. Given the inclusion of five countries and a span of 30 years, this article is necessarily in the nature of an overview.

Understanding the responses of professional accounting bodies to crises

PurposeThe purpose of this Australian case study, set in the 1960s, is to comprehensively examine the responses of the two major professional accounting bodies to a financial/corporate/regulatory crisis necessitating the defence of the profession's legitimacy.Design/methodology/approachThis historical paper draws on surviving primary records and secondary sources and applies the perspectives on the dynamics of occupational groups and the legitimacy typology of Suchman.FindingsWhile the history of the accounting profession has been characterized by intra‐professional rivalries, this case study illustrates how such rivalries were put aside on recognising the power of collectivizing in defending the profession's legitimacy. Based on the available evidence, pragmatic legitimacy is shown to have been a key focus of attention by the major accounting bodies involved.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper may motivate similar studies in Australia and elsewhere, thus potentially contributing to developing a literature on comparative international accounting history. The evidence for this historical investigation is largely restricted to surviving documents, making it necessary to rely on assessments of the key sources.Originality/valueIn addressing responses to crises in defending the legitimacy of the profession as a whole, the paper makes an original contribution in exploring the relationship between literature on the dynamics of occupational groups and on legitimacy management.

The development of budgets and their use for purposes of control in Japanese aviation, 1928‐1945

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the role of the Japanese state in the development of budgets within “special companies” in the transportation sector between 1928 and 1945.Design/methodology/approachUsing evidence contained in the archives of “closedown institutions” this paper examines the role of the state in determining the use of budgets within Japan Air Transport (1928‐1938) and Japan Airways (1938‐1945). The paper adopts the lens of new institutional sociology to examine the changes in the use of budgets effected when Japan Airways succeeded Japan Air Transport.FindingsPrior to 1938, although subject to the need to provide budget statements to the government, the budget systems operated by special companies within the Japanese transportation sector were largely utilised for the purpose of legitimising receipt of government subsidies. Following the establishment of Japan Airways in 1938, however, an increasing use of the budget system as a control mechanism is observed. It is found that a key role in this coercive process was played by the Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Communications, reflecting changes not only in its own status but also the financial pressures exerted on the Japanese government during the Second Sino‐Japanese War from 1937 and the Pacific War from 1941.Originality/valueThis paper examines the development of the use of budgets at a time, the interwar period, which is considered critical to the development of budgets for purposes of control. By doing this within a context (special companies) and within a geographical space (Japan) which has not previously been analyzed by accounting historians, this study helps to add to the material available for conducting comparative international accounting research. Furthermore, by using the lens of new institutional sociology, this study provides an in‐depth insight into how, and under what conditions, the degree of decoupling between formal policies and actual practices can vary over time depending on the extent of coercive pressures.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Summa DB: A research note about an Italian accounting history database

This paper details the preparation, structure, uses and availability of a database (known as Summa DB) which collects and codifies many aspects of the accounting history literature contributed by Italian authors. There are a total of 1,253 units of analysis: 1,197 Italian language publications printed from 1861 to 2010, and 56 international articles and books printed from 1976 to 2010. For each publication, the data collected includes the date and type of publication, the period studied, the accounting history field, sources of data, the affiliations of the authors, and the accounting methods examined. The aim of this paper is to show how Summa DB can provide researchers with multidimensional data which can assist in solving some problems emerging from applying the “Comparative International Accounting History” (CIAH) perspective.

Comparative International Accounting (Eleventh Edition)

Comparative International Accounting (Eleventh Edition)

The development of cost accounting in Italy, c.1800 to c.1940

The relationship between literature/theory and practice in accounting is not well understood, especially in the area of cost accounting. This article examines the development of both the relevant literature/theory and cost accounting practice in Italy during the nineteenth century and the first four decades of the twentieth century. In this way, the article provides insights into aspects of accounting’s development, throwing light on alternative views such as the diffusionist and “multiple origins” theories, and helps to provide material for future comparative international accounting history research.

Accounting Quality and the Law

century. Now, in large part the result of widespread availability of large, machine-readable databases, researchers are extending their domain outside the US. As the new research deals with a new set of institutions, we feel it is important to understand those institutions. We review the field of comparative legal systems, looking for fundamental differences between the families of legal systems that might lead to different financial reporting practices. Many studies in comparative international accounting invoke differences in the law to explain differences in the reporting. Mostly those simply

“Controlling” as an academic discipline: the development of management accounting and management control research in German-speaking countries between 1970 and 2003

This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of the structures and the development of management accounting and management control research in German-speaking countries between 1970 and 2003 as well as to the literature on “Comparative International Accounting History". It is mainly set in the “archive", using published articles and an empirical survey to describe and explain the development of controlling as an academic discipline in German-speaking countries. Eight explorative research questions on the development of the discipline are answered. The analysis covers three perspectives that complement each other: relevant chairs at German-speaking universities (input), German-language publications (output) and citations (outcome) on the subject. The results indicate that controlling has become an established discipline of business administration (Betriebswirtschaftslehre ) in German-speaking countries and can be considered a comparatively young field that has traditionally been highly practice-oriented, but also self-referential and for the most part not integrated into the international community. While publishing and citation patterns have changed over time in German-speaking countries they remain at variance with international management accounting research.

A multidimensional measure in accounting ethics research

This study contributes to accounting ethics research by providing empirical evidence and some suggestions for the selection of variables to measure ethical judgements and ethical intentions of professional accountants. The senior professional accountants from big accounting firms located in Australia, India and Malaysia were investigated to gather evidence on measures of ethical judgements and intentions on 11 dependent variables. The study specifically suggests that a combination of unidimensional and multidimensional be used to gain an insight into the complex ethical judgements and intentions of accountants. More importantly, this study finds support for the hypothesis that the explanatory powers of the multidimensional ethics measure are greater than the unidimensional variables. This study also extends prior research by finding support for the hypothesis that social desirability response bias exists among accountants from the three countries. Furthermore, the study contributes to comparative international accounting research by showing that these suggested variables also provide useful insights into ethical judgements and intentions of accountants in countries that differ significantly in their cultural characteristics.

THE R.J. CHAMBERS COLLECTION: AN “ARCHIVIST'S” REVELATIONS OF 20th CENTURY ACCOUNTING THOUGHT AND PRACTICE

A major, unique accounting archival source, the R.J. Chambers Collection comprises both hard copy and, utilizing cutting-edge search technology, internet accessible materials. From his academic beginnings, Chambers was an orderly person, an archivist of the extensive and varied evidence that underpinned his proposals for accounting reform. Opening research areas for accounting biography, the development of accounting thought, the history of accounting institutions, prosopography, public sector accounting history, and comparative international accounting history are foremost amongst the myriad justifications for seeking to unravel the accounting history “lodes” in archives such as the Goldberg, Chambers, and Briloff Collections [Potter, 2003]. The archiving of the meticulously kept Chambers papers from 1947–1999 provides an opportunity for unfolding the background to events previously withheld from accounting history scholars. Professional episodes in relation to inflation accounting, standard setting, proposals to reform accounting education, and the like that appeared prima facie to be worth investigating are now open to scrutiny from a different angle, with a different type of evidence available in this Collection. This Collection provides a high degree of archival provenance. In particular, it represents an orderly retention of past documentation of what Chambers wrote, and perhaps uniquely for accounting historians, received; thus, providing an extensive window from which to examine the disorderly present environment of acounting.