Macro Drivers of Coopetition – The Convergence Process of the IFRSs and the US GAAPs

Coopetition is a paradoxical strategy combining simultaneously cooperation and competition. The reasons why actors adopt such paradoxical relationships remains underinvestigated. Previous scholars focused their attention on the analysis of a single driver at one level of analysis. Scholars agree on the necessity to study multiple drivers at the same time to understand the phenomenon. However, a very few studies are dedicated to this question. Our research aims to fill this gap. We wonder what the macro drivers of coopetition strategies are. To provide insights on these questions, we conducted a longitudinal case study of coopetition strategies between two institutions the FASB and the IASB in the specific context of the global accounting standard-setting process and more particularly the convergence process between the US GAAPs and the IFRSs. Our findings enable us to identify three different phases in the process. We provide evidence on the role of the third-party (the European Union in the case) in the management of the tension between value creation and value appropriation.The involvement of the third-party encouraged the value creation phase. Its actions modified the value appropriation process. Partners did not obtain an equal value. Our findings evidence economic, structural and institutional drivers. They also insist on the key role of the third-party in coopetition dynamics.