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Abstract:
In 2006, the China Accounting Standards Committee (CASC) issued its Statement No. 20, which permits both the purchase and pooling of interests (or merger) method of accounting for business combinations. The decision of the CASC in Statement No. 20 stands in contrast to the decisions taken by the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) which both eliminated the pooling of interests method. As a result of the issuance of CASC 20, along with similar pronouncements by the Japanese standard setters and other standards setting bodies, the goal of harmonizing international accounting standards has been faced with a lack of convergence in the area of accounting for business combinations. In this paper we examine the reasons for this lack of convergence in order to develop a reconciled framework. In particular, the Chinese standards setters have sought to develop an approach to accounting for business combinations which distinguishes between instances where the combining entities are under common control or not under common control. Using a relatively narrow definition of common control, both the FASB and the IASB have excluded business combinations among entities under common control from the scope of their respective pronouncements. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the reasons for the distinctly different approach taken by the Chinese accounting standards setters by comparing the provisions of FASB 141, IFRS 3 and CASC 20. Our analysis will show that the technical differences between the standards are based on different understandings of the underlying economics of business combinations (Anthony, 1987), which leads in turn to different representations of the combination process. We believe that a forthright recognition of these differences may lead to a reconsideration of the pooling of interests and merger methods in a new comprehensive framework.

business combinations, mergers and acquisitions, purchase method, pooling of interests method, international accounting convergence, fair value accounting model, historical cost accounting model

Abstract:
This paper examines the relationship between accountants' personal values and their moral reasoning. In particular, we hypothesize that there is an inverse relationship between accountants' "Conformity" values and moral reasoning. This investigation is important because the literature suggests that accountants' conformity with rule-based standards may be one reason for their relatively lower scores on instruments that measure moral reasoning. We administered the Rokeach Values Survey (Rokeach 1973) and the Defining Issues Test (Rest 1979) to164 graduating accounting students enrolled in capstone courses at two universities in the Northeastern United States. As entrants to the accounting profession these subjects bring their values and moral reasoning to bear on their judgments and decisions in the workplace. We collected data at the beginning and the end of the semester to determine the test-retest reliability of our measurements. We find a highly significant inverse relationship between "Conformity" values and moral reasoning. We also find that graduating accounting students do not prefer Conformity above other personal values such as Self-actualization and Idealism for which we also find positive relationships with moral reasoning. Implications for instruction and research are discussed.

Rokeach Values Survey, moral reasoning, DIT

Abstract:
Accounting is acknowledged to be a complex form of socio-economic activity whose historical evolution is co-extensive with that of human civilization. Indeed, it is argued that the rise of capitalism and the current hegemony of global capital would not have been possible without the existence of an institutionalized set of organized accounting practices. As processes of globalization have become increasingly evident, there have also been calls for international accounting harmonization (IAH) of accounting practices. At the same time, there have been impediments in the path towards achieving IAH, not the least of which have been cultural and economic differences among countries. As of 1 January 2005, the path towards IAH entered a new and perhaps decisive phase. From that date, all companies domiciled in the European Union with publicly traded securities must prepare their consolidated accounts in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. This event presents an opportunity for socio-economic researchers to assess the status of IAH research. In this review article, we summarize research published in major English language accounting research journals during the period from 1965 to 2004 in order to trace trends in IAH research and to assess where the research may evolve from here. We conclude that the evolution of IAH research reflects the overall trend towards institutional isomorphism that is present in the IAH process itself. Implications for future IAH research are discussed.

financial institutions, corporate finance, internationalization, international accounting research, financial accounting standards, international accounting harmonization, accounting and auditing, N2 financial markets and institutions

Abstract:
This paper seeks to better understand interdisciplinary movements in the making. Our investigation focuses on the processes through which a network of support surrounding Michel Foucault's ideas originally developed in the sociological and organizational stream of accounting research. Drawing on the sociology of translation, we first examine how a network of support emerged around the journal Accounting, Organizations and Society (AOS), which is generally perceived as the main vector of dissemination of sociological and organizational accounting research. Our investigation then focuses on how Foucault's ideas, a few years after the founding of AOS, came to the attention of a group of accounting academics in the United Kingdom - a group in which the editor-in-chief of AOS was a key actor. We also examine how a network of support surrounding Foucault's ideas subsequently developed in the greater accounting research community. Our analysis emphasizes the role of epistemological uncertainty in the constitution of networks of support around journals and ideas, and the role of trials of strength (Latour, 1987) in fuelling or mitigating this uncertainty, thereby influencing actors' interests and commitments to particular networks. Our analysis also highlights the critical role that imitation and social differentiation play in the travel of ideas between scientific fields and the creation of scientific knowledge.

Epistemological uncertainty, Interdisciplinary movements, Michel Foucault, Networks of support, Sociology of translation, Travel of ideas

Abstract:
In this paper we discuss regulation of the statutory auditor in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Previous research has addressed regulation of statutory auditors with respect to regulatory harmonization and the reduction of barriers to intra-European trade in professional services. While these are important goals, it has also been the policy of the European Commission to encourage high standards of auditing, which the Commission anticipates will evolve within the legal and regulatory frameworks of the Member States of the EU. In this regard, our paper seeks to investigate how auditor regulation is organized in three important EU economies. In particular we examine several key functions of auditor regulation and how these are deployed in the three countries investigated. In addition we provide some forward-looking comments concerning regulation of statutory auditors in the EU.

Abstract:
The concept of value is one of the central concerns of accounting theory. Various concepts of value have been proposed in the accounting literature, including book value, market value, deprival value, and the present value of future cash flows. All of these concepts of value are based on exchange values, either past, present, or future. From a broader viewpoint, competing theories of value have been debated in the western world from the time of Aristotle, who discussed the differences between exchange value and intrinsic value. The development of political economy in the 18th century saw the emergence of the labour theory of value which was subsequently elaborated upon by Marx in Capital. Because of the economic dominance of the western world, modern concepts of value have been based generally on the thinking of western economists. This cultural bias in western thinking has obscured the thinking of the Asian world which has dealt with alternative concepts of value. In this paper, we introduce a story by Pu Songling (1648-1714), a Chinese writer who collected folk stories at the beginning of the Qing dynasty. The story of the Pure Void Stone illustrates some of the concepts of value that have existed in Chinese thinking. In the story there is an emphasis on exchange value, however, the allegorical nature of the story suggests that exchange values are highly problematic and that intrinsic and spiritual values ought to be considered in addition to exchange values.

Abstract:
Despite the increased emphasis on research on ethics in accounting in recent years, there seems to be a lack of focus in this area of research. This lack of focus has two aspects. The first aspect deals with the question of the subject in the ethical act (i.e., who is it that is making the ethical decision?). The second aspect relates to the object of the ethical act (i.e., what is the goal or purpose of the ethical decision?). This paper attempts to bring a greater degree of focus into research on accounting ethics by looking at the relative degree of emphasis placed by different approaches to research on accounting ethics on these two aspects of ethical issues. A two dimensional classification matrix is proposed which includes a "Decision Maker" dimension" and a "Relational" dimension. The "Decision Maker" dimension classifies research on accounting ethics according to whether the underlying assumption of the research is that the ethical decision is made by an individual acting alone or whether the decision is made by a group. The "Relational" dimension classifies accounting research according to whether the underlying assumption of the research is that the goal of the ethical decision is the welfare of society as a whole or whether the goal is the welfare of the individual.