Accounting Theory 3

CHAPTER TWO

INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING PATTERNS, CULTURE, AND DEVELOPMENT
Chapter Objectives
• • • • Discuss different ways to identify and classify accounting systems internationally Examine the key dimensions of national culture and how they influence behavior in work situations Identify accounting values that influence comparative accounting practice Show how cultural values and accounting values relate to each other in the development of accounting standards and practices worldwide

INTRODUCTION
Although there is a growing awareness of the varying influences of environmental factors on accounting development in a global context, many experts also realize that there may be systematically different patterns of accounting behavior applicable to various groups of countries. In this chapter we will examine the extent to which we can identify and classify accounting systems internationally. To assess whether there are systematic similarities or differences in accounting systems that may enable certain countries to be classified together, it is necessary to determine an appropriate scheme of classification. In essence, the classification of accounting and reporting systems, as in the case of political, economic, and legal systems, should sharpen our ability to describe, analyze, and predict the development of accounting systems. Such information is likely to provide useful input for making 34

Classification of Accounting and Reporting Systems

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Strategic Decision Point
Different accounting patterns of behavior can be identified which are the outcomes of many years of development influenced by factors such as cultural values, legal systems, political orientations, and economic development. The challenge now is to adapt what has served well in the past to the new global imperatives of transparency and credibility of accounting in order to facilitate efficient flows of capital to the world’s financial markets. To do this requires recognition that tradition and... [continues]

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