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<p><strong><em>Objective:</em></strong> The IFRSs are getting more popularity all over the world. IAS 39 is one of the most sophisticated standards included in the IFRS jurisdiction, which mainly addresses the recognition and measurement of financial instruments and hedge accounting. When these instruments had been <em>off-balance sheet</em> hidden, accounting scandals were the consequences. Capturing these risky instruments in the body of the financial statements, according to IAS 39, implies diverse accounting choices where the selection is tied to managers' judgment.</p><p>The Swedish GAAPs have been criticized in the literature of being less conservative than the US GAAPs. Sweden as an EU member has mandated the adoption of IFRSs in the consolidated financial statements of all listed companies, since 2005. No published research has studied the effect of IAS 39 diverse accounting practices on <em>de facto</em> harmonization and comparability in Sweden. The current study fills this gap in the literature, and goes beyond to investigate whether the selected accounting choices are associated with the industry sectors.</p><p><strong><em>Methods:</em></strong> A sample of 50 companies listed in NASDAQ, Stockholm in the financial and the industrial sectors is selected. Secondary data are obtained from the 2007 annual reports of the selected companies. Six accounting practice categories are detected under the standard. Herfindahl (H) index and Chi- square test are applied on the data.</p><p><strong><em>Results:</em></strong> The results show a relatively low harmonization and comparability in most of the accounting practices, and variation in associations between accounting practices and sectors. This infers to the risk of producing non-comparable financial statements that may distort the value of accounting numbers, the content of financial statements and negatively affect market participants.</p><p><strong><em>Conclusion:</em></strong> Much effort is still needed to enhance <em>de facto</em> harmonization and comparability of financial reporting. Further research is also motivated in order to develop a harmonization theory that support standard setters in revising the existing standard to eliminate inconsistencies in accounting choice selection and enhance comparability.</p><p> </p>

Objective: The IFRSs are getting more popularity all over the world. IAS 39 is one of the most sophisticated standards included in the IFRS jurisdiction, which mainly addresses the recognition and measurement of financial instruments and hedge accounting. When these instruments had been off-balance sheet hidden, accounting scandals were the consequences. Capturing these risky instruments in the body of the financial statements, according to IAS 39, implies diverse accounting choices where the selection is tied to managers' judgment. The Swedish GAAPs have been criticized in the literature of being less conservative than the US GAAPs. Sweden as an EU member has mandated the adoption of IFRSs in the consolidated financial statements of all listed companies, since 2005. No published research has studied the effect of IAS 39 diverse accounting practices on de facto harmonization and comparability in Sweden. The current study fills this gap in the literature, and goes beyond to investigate whether the selected accounting choices are associated with the industry sectors. Methods: A sample of 50 companies listed in NASDAQ, Stockholm in the financial and the industrial sectors is selected. Secondary data are obtained from the 2007 annual reports of the selected companies. Six accounting practice categories are detected under the standard. Herfindahl (H) index and Chi- square test are applied on the data. Results: The results show a relatively low harmonization and comparability in most of the accounting practices, and variation in associations between accounting practices and sectors. This infers to the risk of producing non-comparable financial statements that may distort the value of accounting numbers, the content of financial statements and negatively affect market participants. Conclusion: Much effort is still needed to enhance de facto harmonization and comparability of financial reporting. Further research is also motivated in order to develop a harmonization theory that support standard setters in revising the existing standard to eliminate inconsistencies in accounting choice selection and enhance comparability.

This thesis investigates the accounting and other practices performed as part of trials experienced by interested actors in forming a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. Prompted by the high visibility of PPP schemes and a lack of understanding about the situated roles and effects of accounting and other practices in motivating and appraising such schemes, two practice-oriented research problems are investigated. Firstly, how does an ambition for a PPP scheme form in particular times and places. Secondly, what is the agency of accounting and other appraisal processes in trialling a proposed PPP scheme. Following an introductory section, this thesis proceeds via three papers. The first paper reviews the extant accounting-related literature on PPP schemes along five research themes adapted from Broadbent & Laughlin (1999, 2004), highlighting the literary contributions and future research opportunities in this area. The second and third papers focus on the experiences of interested actors in trialling possibilities for a public housing PPP in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), using field-based research. The aim of the second paper is to understand how an ambition for a PPP can become accepted through efforts to ??envisage value?? for such schemes in particular times and places. The third paper investigates the roles and effects of accounting and other appraisal practices mobilised to translate an ambition for a PPP scheme into an agreement that promises a ??Value for Money?? (VFM) outcome. Collectively, these papers contribute to extant knowledge about the involvement of accounting and other practices in the performance of ??value?? in PPP schemes by: (i) illustrating how an ambition for a PPP scheme forms through ??envisaging value??; (ii) explicating the agency of accounting and other practices in conferring VFM with situated meaning; (iii) contradicting the dominant status attributed to the involvement of accounting calculations in PPP schemes; and (iv) highlighting the various ways in which interested actors can cope with and act in the face of significant uncertainties. Overall, these contributions further our understanding of how proposed PPP schemes are (per)formed through the complex of activities (including accounting) and interests tied to the achievement of such schemes.

Corporate governance (CG) has recently received much attention because of the wave of financial scandals in the early 2000s and the more recent global financial crisis. CG reforms, including laws, codes and listing rules have been established to protect shareholders’ rights and restore investors’ confidence in the capital market. These reforms have largely contributed to the evolution of internal and external governance mechanisms that are aimed at mitigating agency conflicts between managers and shareholders. However, overemphasis has been placed on the monitoring and control dimensions of governance, which may hinder entrepreneurial activities, obscure business prosperity and contribute to a narrow perspective on CG. It has been argued that there is a need to broaden CG beyond compliance (conformance) to a set of rules and laws, to include the performance aspects of governance that focus on strategy and value creation. In other words, governance should not only focus on monitoring managerial performance to ensure accountability to shareholders, but also on mechanisms that motivate management to optimise shareholders’ wealth. Enterprise governance (EG) framework has been introduced to keep the balance between the conformance and performance dimensions of governance. However, few studies address the possible tension between conformance and performance. Moreover, there is no agreement among these studies on the relationship between conformance and performance in the governance context. Arguably, Value-based Management (VBM) is an appropriate approach to address the issue of EG. VBM adopts value creation as an overall objective, develops a strategy that contributes to value creation and integrates it into decision-making. In this way, VBM can act as an effective mechanism for motivating management to maximise shareholder wealth, which works in parallel with other CG mechanisms, to mitigate agency conflicts resulting from the separation between ownership and management. This study aims to develop a contingency framework of EG through operationalising the conformance using CG and performance using corporate entrepreneurship (CE). This framework examines the inter-relationships between VBM, compliance with the Combined Code on Corporate Governance (CCCG), CE and the ultimate effect on organisational performance. More specifically, the study empirically examines the effect of compliance with the CCCG on CE, and whether VBM can achieve a balance between compliance with the CCCG and CE, should a conflict exist. The study also examines whether a fit between contingency variables (company size, agency conflicts, uncertainty, strategy and decentralisation), VBM, compliance with the CCCG codes and CE is associated with organisational performance. To achieve the aim of this study a cross-sectional survey, based on a questionnaire, is conducted to identify the level of VBM implementation, contextual and organisational factors in the large and medium quoted companies in the UK. The questionnaire targets the Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in these companies as key informants. In addition, a content analysis of the annual reports of the sampled companies is undertaken to measure the level of compliance with the CCCG. Financial data (e.g. organisational performance) have been obtained from the DataStream, Fame and Thomson One Banker databases. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) is adopted for data analysis and hypotheses testing. The results suggest that VBM implementation is positively associated with agency conflicts, low cost strategies and decentralisation. Compliance with the CCCG is positively associated with agency conflicts and company size. CE is positively associated with company size, uncertainty and differentiation strategies. In addition, the fit between compliance with the CCCG and contingency factors significantly predicts the marketbased performance. The fit between CE and the contingency factors significantly predict the perceived performance. However, the results regarding the effect of VBM on organisational performance are mixed. While VBM has no significant direct effect on the market-based performance, VBM has indirect positive effect on the market-based performance acting through compliance with the CCCG as an intervening variable. VBM is significantly associated with compliance with the CCCG but not with CE. No evidence is found for negative association between compliance with the CCCG and CE. The results support a large number of the proposed relationships between the contingency factors, VBM, compliance with the CCCG and CE. The results also suggest that using both compliance with the CCCG and CE as intervening variables in the relationship between VBM and organisational performance contributes to explaining the mixed results in the VBM literature. In terms of the EG framework, VBM does not keep a balance between conformance and performance. VBM emphasises the compliance with the CCCG (conformance) at the expense of CE (performance). The results did not provide significant evidence of a conflict between compliance with the CCCG and CE, the area which lacks empirical evidence. This study contributes to the literature at different levels. At the theoretical level, this study develops a theoretical model that links a performance management system (PMS), i.e. VBM, to CG practices and CE. This model attempts to bridge the gap between different disciplines, including management accounting, CG and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, combining both the contingency theory and the agency theory lenses contributes to the development of a comprehensive model of EG. At the methodological level, unlike previous studies, this study measures VBM practices on a continuum, rather than categories. Multiple data collection methods are used, and a powerful statistical technique (PLS-SEM) is adopted for data analysis. At the empirical level, the study is conducted in the UK. Though it is different from the US in many aspects, very few studies have been conducted in this context in many research areas such as VBM, CG and CE.

Using China as the case of a developing country, this study empirically evaluates whether the efforts made by China since the early 1990s to harmonize their domestic standards with IAS have been successful. Four research questions are addressed and eight hypotheses are developed to investigate the current level of harmonization and whether the extent of harmonization improves with the issuance of the most recent Chinese GAAP. Chinese 1992 GAAP, 1998 GAAP, and 2001 GAAP are reviewed and compared with IAS to evaluate de jure harmonization of Chinese GAAP with IAS (that is, harmonization in standards). Firms that issue both A and B-shares in China are used to evaluate de facto harmonization of Chinese GAAP with IAS (that is, harmonization of practices). The final sample includes the 1999 and 2002 annual reports of 79 Chinese listed firms that issue both A and B-shares. A checklist instrument containing 77 measurement items was developed from IAS1-40. Different measures are used to evaluate harmonization, including rank of closeness, compliance index, consistency index, and conservatism index.Overall, the findings of this study indicate that the accounting reform in China has been effective in harmonizing Chinese GAAP with IAS. Nevertheless, noticeable variances between Chinese GAAP and IAS still exist in key financial measures. The study provides strong evidence showing that the harmonization of accounting regulations is highly relevant to the harmonization of accounting practices, as improved compliance of Chinese listed firms with IAS, improved comparability of firms ' accounting choices in their annual reports prepared under Chinese GAAP and IAS, and reduced earning gap between Chinese GAAP-based and IAS-based net incomes are detected with the issuance of the most recent Chinese GAAP in 2001.

Diante dos problemas econômicos e sociais ocasionados pelo fenômeno da inflação nas últimas décadas, foi instituído, no Brasil, em 1994, o Plano Real, cujo objetivo era controlar os altos níveis de inflação vivenciados nas últimas décadas e alcançar a estabilidade econômica. Nesse contexto, a obrigatoriedade das práticas de correção monetária institucionalizadas foi destituída e institui-se Lei proibindo a publicação de demonstrações contábeis corrigidas. Iniciou-se, então, o processo de desinstitucionalização das práticas contábeis de correção monetária nas empresas brasileiras. Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar o processo de desinstitucionalização das práticas contábeis de correção monetárias em empresas brasileiras. Os pressupostos teóricos utilizados nesta pesquisa foram baseados na teoria institucional que representa uma abordagem sociológica interpretativa do comportamento humano, que reconhece fenômenos de racionalidade limitada e o caráter político da ação social. Esta abordagem fundamenta-se num modelo político, no qual o comportamento social é pautado pela legitimização e pela conformidade a padrões socialmente impostos pela socialização dos indivíduos, pelos contextos das organizações e pelos mercados. Os modelos utilizados nas análises empíricas foram baseados nas abordagens propostas por Oliver (1992) e DiMaggio e Powell (1983). A estratégia de pesquisa utilizada compreendeu aplicação de questionários e entrevistas numa população de 118 empresas brasileiras, de grande porte, constantes da Revista Exame 500 Maiores Empresas e teve como principais respondentes os contadores e gerentes de controladoria. Foram utilizados a técnica estatística multivariada Análise Fatorial, o teste ANOVA one way e o teste Kruskal-Wallis. Constatou-se que o uso e manutenção das práticas contábeis de correção monetária, no contexto brasileiro, mantêm um relacionamento estreito como fatores isomórficos: coercitivos e normativos. Sendo que as variáveis mais relevantes foram: a) obrigatoriedade imposta pela lei; b) poder institucional das entidades reguladoras; c) regulamentação do governo; e d) recomendações das empresas consultoria e auditoria. Em relação ao grau de influência das pressões políticas, funcionais e sociais no processo de desinstitucionalização destacam: a) diminuição dos índices de inflação na economia; b) mudança das leis sobre publicação; c) declínio da exigência por parte do mercado financeiro; d) custos de manter a prática; e) surgimento de novas tecnologias contábeis; f) níveis de inflação no período (mês e ano); e g) harmonização internacional das práticas contábeis. A estratégia de realizar entrevistas como os gestores das empresas que mantiveram ou ainda mantém a prática contábil de correção monetária representou um recurso de grande utilidade no delineamento do fenômeno pesquisado. Pois possibilitou, basicamente, a triangulação dos resultados. Portanto, a explicação do processo de desinstitucionalização das práticas contábeis de correção monetária é decorrente de uma combinação distinta de fatores institucionais. Sendo que os fatores observados estão aderentes aos pressupostos da teoria institucional e estão em consonância com os resultados das pesquisas realizadas no mercado americano e no Reino Unido. / In face of the economic and social costs caused by inflation in previous decades, Plano Real was brought to being in Brazil in1994. Its aim was to control the existing high inflation rates and reach economic stability. In this scenario, the enforced use of institutionalized inflation adjusted practices was withdrawn and a law is passed to forbid the issuance of adjusted accounting statements. The process of desinstitutionalization of accounting practices then began in Brazilian enterprises. This thesis aimed at analyzing the desinstitutionalization of accounting practices of inflation adjustment in Brazilian enterprises. The theoretical framework used is based on the institutional theory that represents a sociological approach to interpret human behavior; it acknowledges limited rationality phenomena and the political attribute of the social action. This approach is based on a political model in which social behavior is guided by legitimization and compliance to social patterns imposed by the socialization of individuals, by the scenario of enterprises and by the markets. The models used in the empirical analyses were founded on the approaches proposed by Oliver (1992), and DiMaggio & Powell (1983). The research strategy comprised questionnaires and interviews, carried out with a population of 118 enterprises listed among the top 500 according to Revista Exame 500 Maiores Empresas, and the main respondents were accountants and controllership managers. Data Reduction Analysis, ANOVA one way test, and Kruskal-Wallis test were used. Analysis shows that, as for the Brazilian scenario, the use and continuance of inflation-adjusted practices bear close relationship with isomorphic institutional factors: coercive and regulatory. The most relevant variables were: (i) law enforcement; (ii) institutional power of regulatory organizations; (iii) governmental regulation; and (d) advice by consulting and auditing offices. Regarding the level of influence of political, functional and social pressure for the desinstitutionalization, we can emphasize: (a) the decrease of inflation rates in the economy; (b) the changes in laws on disclosure; (c) lack of demand by financial markets; (d) costs to keep the practice; (e) the emergence of new accounting technologies; (f) levels of inflation in the period (month/year), and (g) international harmonization of accounting practices. The strategy of interviewing managers of enterprises that performed or still perform inflation-adjusted practices proved a very useful tool in the characterization of the phenomenon researched. It made the triangulation of results possible. Thus, the explanation of the process of desinstitutionalization of inflation adjustment practices results from a distinct combination of institutional aspects. These adhere to the assumptions of the institutional theory and are in agreement with the results of research carried out in the markets in The USA and The United Kingdom.

In our study the purpose was to examine the influence of Continuing Professional Education on small and medium sized auditing- and accounting practices. The study also aims to analyze possible similarities and differences in how small and medium sized auditing and accounting practices are affected of the requirements regarding Continuing Professional Education. In order to fulfill our purpose in the study we conducted interviews with auditors and accounting consultants on small and medium sized auditing- and accounting practices. Totally did we conduct seven interviews with four auditors and three accounting consultants. The majority of auditors and accounting consultants we interviewed are satisfied with the current requirements on Continuing Professional Education and think they contribute to the increase of quality and status of the work tasks performed by auditors and accounting consultants. Respondents also stressed the importance of Continuing Professional Education to maintain and develop the skills among employees. Our respondents prefer two forms of Continuing Professional Education, namely intensive seminars and topical courses. Demand for intensive seminars and topical courses will probably continue to increase, given that these two forms makes it possible for small and medium sized practices to keep current in a time efficient and economical way. Our findings also show that auditors prefer a training where they start out as beginners and end as an expert. On the other hand accounting consultants focus on training that is practical and provides direct benefit to the everyday work.

Diante dos problemas econômicos e sociais ocasionados pelo fenômeno da inflação nas últimas décadas, foi instituído, no Brasil, em 1994, o Plano Real, cujo objetivo era controlar os altos níveis de inflação vivenciados nas últimas décadas e alcançar a estabilidade econômica. Nesse contexto, a obrigatoriedade das práticas de correção monetária institucionalizadas foi destituída e institui-se Lei proibindo a publicação de demonstrações contábeis corrigidas. Iniciou-se, então, o processo de desinstitucionalização das práticas contábeis de correção monetária nas empresas brasileiras. Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar o processo de desinstitucionalização das práticas contábeis de correção monetárias em empresas brasileiras. Os pressupostos teóricos utilizados nesta pesquisa foram baseados na teoria institucional que representa uma abordagem sociológica interpretativa do comportamento humano, que reconhece fenômenos de racionalidade limitada e o caráter político da ação social. Esta abordagem fundamenta-se num modelo político, no qual o comportamento social é pautado pela legitimização e pela conformidade a padrões socialmente impostos pela socialização dos indivíduos, pelos contextos das organizações e pelos mercados. Os modelos utilizados nas análises empíricas foram baseados nas abordagens propostas por Oliver (1992) e DiMaggio e Powell (1983). A estratégia de pesquisa utilizada compreendeu aplicação de questionários e entrevistas numa população de 118 empresas brasileiras, de grande porte, constantes da Revista Exame 500 Maiores Empresas e teve como principais respondentes os contadores e gerentes de controladoria. Foram utilizados a técnica estatística multivariada Análise Fatorial, o teste ANOVA one way e o teste Kruskal-Wallis. Constatou-se que o uso e manutenção das práticas contábeis de correção monetária, no contexto brasileiro, mantêm um relacionamento estreito como fatores isomórficos: coercitivos e normativos. Sendo que as variáveis mais relevantes foram: a) obrigatoriedade imposta pela lei; b) poder institucional das entidades reguladoras; c) regulamentação do governo; e d) recomendações das empresas consultoria e auditoria. Em relação ao grau de influência das pressões políticas, funcionais e sociais no processo de desinstitucionalização destacam: a) diminuição dos índices de inflação na economia; b) mudança das leis sobre publicação; c) declínio da exigência por parte do mercado financeiro; d) custos de manter a prática; e) surgimento de novas tecnologias contábeis; f) níveis de inflação no período (mês e ano); e g) harmonização internacional das práticas contábeis. A estratégia de realizar entrevistas como os gestores das empresas que mantiveram ou ainda mantém a prática contábil de correção monetária representou um recurso de grande utilidade no delineamento do fenômeno pesquisado. Pois possibilitou, basicamente, a triangulação dos resultados. Portanto, a explicação do processo de desinstitucionalização das práticas contábeis de correção monetária é decorrente de uma combinação distinta de fatores institucionais. Sendo que os fatores observados estão aderentes aos pressupostos da teoria institucional e estão em consonância com os resultados das pesquisas realizadas no mercado americano e no Reino Unido. / In face of the economic and social costs caused by inflation in previous decades, Plano Real was brought to being in Brazil in1994. Its aim was to control the existing high inflation rates and reach economic stability. In this scenario, the enforced use of institutionalized inflation adjusted practices was withdrawn and a law is passed to forbid the issuance of adjusted accounting statements. The process of desinstitutionalization of accounting practices then began in Brazilian enterprises. This thesis aimed at analyzing the desinstitutionalization of accounting practices of inflation adjustment in Brazilian enterprises. The theoretical framework used is based on the institutional theory that represents a sociological approach to interpret human behavior; it acknowledges limited rationality phenomena and the political attribute of the social action. This approach is based on a political model in which social behavior is guided by legitimization and compliance to social patterns imposed by the socialization of individuals, by the scenario of enterprises and by the markets. The models used in the empirical analyses were founded on the approaches proposed by Oliver (1992), and DiMaggio & Powell (1983). The research strategy comprised questionnaires and interviews, carried out with a population of 118 enterprises listed among the top 500 according to Revista Exame 500 Maiores Empresas, and the main respondents were accountants and controllership managers. Data Reduction Analysis, ANOVA one way test, and Kruskal-Wallis test were used. Analysis shows that, as for the Brazilian scenario, the use and continuance of inflation-adjusted practices bear close relationship with isomorphic institutional factors: coercive and regulatory. The most relevant variables were: (i) law enforcement; (ii) institutional power of regulatory organizations; (iii) governmental regulation; and (d) advice by consulting and auditing offices. Regarding the level of influence of political, functional and social pressure for the desinstitutionalization, we can emphasize: (a) the decrease of inflation rates in the economy; (b) the changes in laws on disclosure; (c) lack of demand by financial markets; (d) costs to keep the practice; (e) the emergence of new accounting technologies; (f) levels of inflation in the period (month/year), and (g) international harmonization of accounting practices. The strategy of interviewing managers of enterprises that performed or still perform inflation-adjusted practices proved a very useful tool in the characterization of the phenomenon researched. It made the triangulation of results possible. Thus, the explanation of the process of desinstitutionalization of inflation adjustment practices results from a distinct combination of institutional aspects. These adhere to the assumptions of the institutional theory and are in agreement with the results of research carried out in the markets in The USA and The United Kingdom.