An analysis of cultural differences based on the replacement project of IAS 39: financial instruments - recognition and measurement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17524/repec.v9i1.1112Keywords:
Culture, Harmonization, International Accounting Standards, Accounting Systems.Abstract
The accounting culture of individual countries is frequently considered as an obstacle to complete accounting harmonization. This study intends to analyze the differences in terms of culture based on the respondents’ participation in the issuing/change process of the standards of the International Accounting Standard Board (Iasb). Therefore, the comment letters sent to the Iasb where analyzed in the context of the first part of the replacement process of the International Accounting Standard (IAS) 39: Financial Instruments - Recognition and Measurement by the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9. The respondent countries were identified in function of the classification proposed by Gray (1988). Next, the collected data were submitted to the non-parametric chi-square test. The results of this study evidence the existence of cultural differences in the responses obtained from the countries, particularly in the context of the accounting value of conservatism, without identifying evidences of these differences for the values of secrecy, professionalism and uniformity. Thus, it is concluded that the countries classified as conservative prefer more conservative measuring practices, based, namely, on the cost or amortized cost, to the detriment of fair value-based measuring criteria. These study results are intended to support decision making by international standard setters and the national entities responsible for subscribing to these standards.References
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