Explaining the Evolution of a New Accounting Framework

Abstract

In recent years a new architecture of accounting regulation has evolved. Most notably, an international private (i.e., transnational) standard-setter has emerged that develops financial reporting standards with global reach – the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The standard-setter’s efforts have been backed by many national governments, which have prescribed the adoption of the transnationally set standards for at least subgroups of firms, particularly those listed on public markets. The reporting demands are supposedly better met by globally uniform, high-quality standards developed by an international professional body. The rapid adoption of international standards has led to an increasing formal convergence of accounting standards across the world and has come about in a rather sudden and abrupt manner, as the notion of the ‘global IFRS revolution’ suggests (Benzacar 2008; Chua and Taylor 2008).