IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ausman/v38y2013i3p523-551.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The politics of accounting standard-setting: A review of empirical research

Author

Listed:
  • Brandon Gipper

    (Booth School of Business, The University of Chicago, USA)

  • Brett J Lombardi

    (Booth School of Business, The University of Chicago, USA)

  • Douglas J Skinner

    (Booth School of Business, The University of Chicago, USA)

Abstract

We provide an overview of the empirical literature on the politics of accounting standard-setting, focusing on the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Although it is clear from casual observation that politics sometimes plays a first-order role in the determination of accounting standards, we argue that more can be done to improve our understanding of this important topic. Based on our review, we outline what we see to be a number of potentially fruitful directions for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Brandon Gipper & Brett J Lombardi & Douglas J Skinner, 2013. "The politics of accounting standard-setting: A review of empirical research," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 38(3), pages 523-551, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:38:y:2013:i:3:p:523-551
    DOI: 10.1177/0312896213510713
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0312896213510713
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0312896213510713?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. S.P. Kothari & Karthik Ramanna & Douglas J. Skinner, 2009. "Implications for GAAP from an Analysis of Positive Research in Accounting," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-137, Harvard Business School, revised Sep 2010.
    2. Francis, Jere R., 1987. "Lobbying against proposed accounting standards: The case of employers' pension accounting," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 35-57.
    3. Allen, Abigail & Ramanna, Karthik, 2013. "Towards an understanding of the role of standard setters in standard setting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 66-90.
    4. Dechow, PM & Hutton, AP & Sloan, RG, 1996. "Economic consequences of accounting for stock-based compensation," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34, pages 1-20.
    5. George J. Stigler, 1971. "The Theory of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 2(1), pages 3-21, Spring.
    6. Ramanna, Karthik, 2008. "The implications of unverifiable fair-value accounting: Evidence from the political economy of goodwill accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 253-281, August.
    7. Skinner, Douglas J., 2008. "Discussion of "The implications of unverifiable fair-value accounting: Evidence from the political economy of goodwill accounting"," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 282-288, August.
    8. Skinner, Douglas J., 2008. "The rise of deferred tax assets in Japan: The role of deferred tax accounting in the Japanese banking crisis," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2-3), pages 218-239, December.
    9. Ball, R & Foster, G, 1982. "Corporate Financial-Reporting - A Methodological Review Of Empirical-Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20, pages 161-234.
    10. Leftwich, Richard, 1980. "Market failure fallacies and accounting information," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 193-211, December.
    11. Ray Ball, 2009. "Market and Political/Regulatory Perspectives on the Recent Accounting Scandals," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 277-323, May.
    12. Kelly, L, 1985. "Corporate-Management Lobbying On Fas No-8 - Some Further Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 619-632.
    13. Leftwich, Richard, 1990. "Aggregation of test statistics: Statistics vs. economics," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1-3), pages 37-44, January.
    14. Holthausen, Robert W. & Leftwich, Richard W., 1983. "The economic consequences of accounting choice implications of costly contracting and monitoring," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 77-117, April.
    15. Nancy Thorley Hill & Sandra Waller Shelton & Kevin T. Stevens, 2002. "Corporate Lobbying Behaviour on Accounting for Stock‐Based Compensation: Venue and Format Choices," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 38(1), pages 78-90, February.
    16. Richard A. Posner, 1974. "Theories of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 5(2), pages 335-358, Autumn.
    17. Bryan A. Howieson, 2009. "Agenda formation and accounting standards setting: lessons from the standards setters," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 49(3), pages 577-598, September.
    18. Amershi, Amin H. & Demski, Joel S. & Wolfson, Mark A., 1982. "Strategic behavior and regulation research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 19-32.
    19. Kalt, Joseph P & Zupan, Mark A, 1984. "Capture and Ideology in the Economic Theory of Politics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 279-300, June.
    20. Kau, James B & Rubin, Paul H, 1979. "Self-Interest, Ideology, and Logrolling in Congressional Voting," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 365-384, October.
    21. Paul André & Anne Cazavan-Jeny & Wolfgang Dick & Chrystelle Richard & Peter Walton, 2009. "Fair Value Accounting and the Banking Crisis in 2008: Shooting the Messenger," Accounting in Europe, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 3-24, June.
    22. Johnston, Derek & Jones, Denise A., 2006. "How does accounting fit into a firm's political strategy?," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 195-228.
    23. Puro, M, 1984. "Audit Firm Lobbying Before The Financial Accounting Standards Board - An Empirical-Study," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 624-646.
    24. Watts, Ross L & Zimmerman, Jerold L, 1983. "Agency Problems, Auditing, and the Theory of the Firm: Some Evidence," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(3), pages 613-633, October.
    25. Ball, R & Foster, G, 1982. "Corporate Financial-Reporting - A Methodological Review Of Empirical-Research - Reply," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20, pages 245-248.
    26. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5008 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Brown, Pr, 1981. "A Descriptive Analysis Of Select Input Bases Of The Financial-Accounting-Standards-Board," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(1), pages 232-246.
    28. Ross Watts, 2006. "What has the invisible hand achieved?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(S1), pages 51-61.
    29. Kothari, S.P. & Ramanna, Karthik & Skinner, Douglas J., 2010. "Implications for GAAP from an analysis of positive research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 246-286, December.
    30. Gonedes, Nj & Dopuch, N, 1974. "Capital Market Equilibrium, Information Production, And Selecting Accounting Techniques - Theoretical Framework And Review Of Empirical Work," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12, pages 48-169.
    31. Bertomeu, Jeremy & Magee, Robert P., 2011. "From low-quality reporting to financial crises: Politics of disclosure regulation along the economic cycle," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 209-227.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. David Procházka, 2015. "Is a Full International Accounting Convergence Desirable? [Je žádoucí úplná konvergence účetního výkaznictví?]," Český finanční a účetní časopis, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2015(3), pages 7-23.
    2. Jivas Chakravarthy, 2019. "Ideological diversity in standard setting," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 113-155, March.
    3. Anantharaman, Divya, 2015. "Understanding the evolution of SFAS 141 and 142: An analysis of comment letters," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 99-110.
    4. Karen Benson & Peter M Clarkson & Tom Smith & Irene Tutticci, 2015. "A review of accounting research in the Asia Pacific region," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 40(1), pages 36-88, February.
    5. Burke, Qing L., 2019. "Why haven’t U.S. GAAP and IFRS on insurance contracts converged? Evidence from an unsuccessful joint project," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 131-144.
    6. Millicent Chang & Andrew B. Jackson & Marvin Wee, 2018. "A review of research on regulation changes in the Asia‐Pacific region," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(3), pages 635-667, September.
    7. Jiang, John (Xuefeng) & Wang, Isabel Yanyan & Wangerin, Daniel D., 2018. "How does the FASB make decisions? A descriptive study of agenda-setting and the role of individual board members," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 30-46.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kothari, S.P. & Ramanna, Karthik & Skinner, Douglas J., 2010. "Implications for GAAP from an analysis of positive research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 246-286, December.
    2. Roland Königsgruber, 2013. "Expertise-based lobbying and accounting regulation," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(4), pages 1009-1025, November.
    3. Jannis Bischof & Holger Daske & Christoph J. Sextroh, 2020. "Why Do Politicians Intervene in Accounting Regulation? The Role of Ideology and Special Interests," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 589-642, June.
    4. Hans B. Christensen & Valeri V. Nikolaev, 2017. "Contracting on GAAP Changes: Large Sample Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(5), pages 1021-1050, December.
    5. S. P. Kothari & Charles Wasley, 2019. "Commemorating the 50‐Year Anniversary of Ball and Brown (1968): The Evolution of Capital Market Research over the Past 50 Years," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 1117-1159, December.
    6. Jiang, John (Xuefeng) & Wang, Isabel Yanyan & Wangerin, Daniel D., 2018. "How does the FASB make decisions? A descriptive study of agenda-setting and the role of individual board members," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 30-46.
    7. Allen, Abigail & Ramanna, Karthik, 2013. "Towards an understanding of the role of standard setters in standard setting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 66-90.
    8. Christian Leuz & Peter D. Wysocki, 2016. "The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 525-622, May.
    9. Ying Zhou, 2022. "Proprietary Costs and Corporate Lobbying Against Changes in Mandatory Disclosure," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 8483-8505, November.
    10. Jivas Chakravarthy, 2019. "Ideological diversity in standard setting," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 113-155, March.
    11. Matt Pinnuck & Kevin Stevenson, 2021. "Enhancing the Interface between Standard‐setters and Academic Research," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 31(3), pages 169-185, September.
    12. Giner Inchausti, Begoña, 2014. "Instituciones e intereses en conflicto ante la regulación contable internacional: el caso del sector financiero español," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 143-152.
    13. Dain C. Donelson & John Mcinnis & Richard D. Mergenthaler, 2016. "Explaining Rules‐Based Characteristics in U.S. GAAP: Theories and Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 827-861, June.
    14. Koh, Wei Chern, 2011. "What drives firms' decisions to lobby and determinants of their lobbying positions: Evidence from firms' comment letter submissions during FASB's stock option expensing proposal in 2004," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-24, March.
    15. Abigail Allen & Reining C. Petacchi, 2023. "Preparer Opposition and Strategic Implementation of Governmental Accounting Standards: Evidence from Public Pension Accounting Reform," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(7), pages 4259-4282, July.
    16. Oleh Pasko, 2018. "Theories of Regulation in the Context of Modern Practice of Accounting Regulation," Oblik i finansi, Institute of Accounting and Finance, issue 2, pages 37-46, June.
    17. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    18. Renata Stenka & Peter Taylor, 2010. "Setting UK standards on the concept of control: An analysis of lobbying behaviour," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 109-130.
    19. Ormazabal, Gaizka, 2018. "The Role of Stakeholders in Corporate Governance: A View from Accounting Research," CEPR Discussion Papers 12775, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Richard Barker & Anne McGeachin, 2015. "An Analysis of Concepts and Evidence on the Question of Whether IFRS Should be Conservative," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 51(2), pages 169-207, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:38:y:2013:i:3:p:523-551. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.agsm.edu.au .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.