Accounting regulation, like any other institution, must be legitimate in order to be complied with. A key component for the legitimacy achievement is a legitimate regulation process. Consequently, the legitimacy of the accounting regulation process has real economic consequences for society as a whole. By building on a framework of prerequisites for a legitimate standard-setting process, the study develops a theoretical model for the analysis of an accounting regulation process’ legitimacy. The empirical setting of the study is distinct from the empirical setting of the literature included in the literature review, as it captures the regulation process of the new municipal accounting act in Sweden. By analyzing all the official documents corresponding to the regulation process of the new municipal accounting act, the study analyses the legitimacy achievement of the accounting regulation process. The results of the study showcase a heavily politically influenced regulation process, where there were deficiencies with the legitimacy achievement. Based on the results of the study, avenues for further research are suggested.

This dissertation consists of three separate, but related, studies on the institutionalization of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The first study examines the relationship between the national variables and the level of IFRS adoption. Theoretical insights regarding the level of national IFRS adoption come from the world-level institutional theory (Meyer et. al., 1997). Archival data are utilized for the study. The findings indicate that countries with weaker national governance structures and lower economic development demonstrate the highest level of commitment to IFRS. Nationalism was found to influence the extent of adoption. The study contributes to IFRS adoption literature by recognizing the multi-level possibilities of IFRS adoption and discovering the factors that drive the degree of IFRS adoption on a national level. The second study examines the ongoing change in the U.S. accounting regulation related to IFRS. The specific event investigated is an historic ruling by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made in 2007 to accept IFRS filings from foreign issuers. This move toward acceptance of IFRS by the primary U.S. regulator is of academic interest because it represents an opportunity to study regulatory institutional change. The event is analyzed using a qualitative study of the rhetoric found in the comment letters submitted to the SEC. The following theoretical frameworks were used to interpret the qualitative findings: a model of institutional change (Greenwood et. al., 2002), the role of rhetoric in legitimating institutional change (Suddaby & Greenwood, 2005), and the agents of change model (Djelic & Quack, 2003b). The conversation of opponents and proponents through the comment letters revealed the struggle of the participants to legitimize their positions. As expected, rhetorical themes associated with the moral and pragmatic legitimacy of their positions were utilized. Unexpectedly, the shifting site of regulation and the related power of SEC were troubling for proponents and opponents of the change. The study contributes to transnational accounting regulation literature in a number of ways. It presents a synthesis of different theoretical perspectives to investigate institutional change in accounting regulation. It also deepens the understanding of how institutional change is theorized by evaluating the rhetoric of domestic, foreign, and transnational participants. The third study evaluates the diffusion of IFRS in developing countries, using the specific case of Russia. The study investigates whether individual perceptions of various aspects of financial reporting and reforms are associated with IFRS adoption. Particularly of interest is whether there are differences between voluntary adopters and those for which adoption was mandated. The data were obtained from a 2007 survey exploring Russia's transition to IFRS. In general, adopters had a more positive view of transition toward IFRS and financial reforms in Russia. Further, the perceptions of reforms by adopters did not vary based on whether the adoption was required by a national or a foreign mandate. The study contributes both theoretically and empirically to the literature on IFRS in developing countries. Taken together, these three studies focus on issues that have not been addressed previously in the accounting literature. They will advance the international accounting literature on factors related to IFRS adoption, regulations, and influences.

<p>Background: Many different parties in the society are affected by the financial information delivered by the companies. Therefore, different interests want their ideas to have an impact on the accountning standards. The construction of the accounting standards are illustrated as a pure political process, where lobbying and conflicts of interest are determining factors. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose is to understand the underlying interests behind regulation of financial accounting in Sweden and how these interests are manifestated in the establishment of accounting standards. </p><p>Method: The thesis is designed as a casestudy of the regulation process which induced the legislation of the Årsredovisningslagen 6 kap 1 § 3st. The case process has been analysed through interviews and document studies from the arise of the intention of regulation of different interest parties, until the accounting law was established. </p><p>Results: Lobbying and interest of conflicts exists in accounting regulation processes. Depending on the subject of reglulation, different parties feel their interests beeing challenged. The intensity in the conflict of interest and the incentive to lobby depends on the “matter” of the regulation. The process are governed in the constitution of the private individuals of the deciding regulation body.</p>

Background: Many different parties in the society are affected by the financial information delivered by the companies. Therefore, different interests want their ideas to have an impact on the accountning standards. The construction of the accounting standards are illustrated as a pure political process, where lobbying and conflicts of interest are determining factors. Purpose: The purpose is to understand the underlying interests behind regulation of financial accounting in Sweden and how these interests are manifestated in the establishment of accounting standards. Method: The thesis is designed as a casestudy of the regulation process which induced the legislation of the Årsredovisningslagen 6 kap 1 § 3st. The case process has been analysed through interviews and document studies from the arise of the intention of regulation of different interest parties, until the accounting law was established. Results: Lobbying and interest of conflicts exists in accounting regulation processes. Depending on the subject of reglulation, different parties feel their interests beeing challenged. The intensity in the conflict of interest and the incentive to lobby depends on the “matter” of the regulation. The process are governed in the constitution of the private individuals of the deciding regulation body.

The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has been a significant event in the accounting profession, as it provides a common language for financial reporting across the globe. The impact of IFRS adoption on earnings management practices in South Korean and Swedish manufacturing companies is studied in this research. The study aims to explore the influence of accounting regulation on companies' behavior towards earnings management practices. Applying insights from the Positive accounting theory (PAT) and Enforcement theory, the research provides a nuanced understanding of the role of regulations and enforcement in shaping corporate earnings management behaviors following the adoption of FRS. The study uses a comparative approach to examine the differences in IFRS adoption and earnings management practices in South Korea and Sweden. Data are collected from 21 manufacturing companies in each country, using secondary sources such as annual reports, financial statements, and other public records. South Korea shows the high frequency of manipulating income reports, while Sweden is among the countries with the lowest earning management level. Despite the difference in earnings management behavior, this study results indicate that after adoption of IFRS has reduced earnings management in both South Korean and Swedish manufacturing companies. The study concludes that the regulatory environment in each country had a bigger impact on Korean manufacturing companies on earnings management practices, compared to Sweden.

A ascensão de um organismo internacional e privado como o IASB e a adesão maciça de inúmeros países às suas normas, trouxeram mudanças na dinâmica da regulação dos relatórios financeiros em diversos países, que assim como o Brasil, tiveram historicamente as normas contábeis de suas empresas definidas por legislações nacionais sob a responsabilidade de entes públicos. Essa nova dinâmica levanta preocupações para as empresas, normatizadores nacionais, governos, investidores, acadêmicos e outros interessados pelas normas contábeis. Esta pesquisa buscou analisar a associação das características específicas dos participantes do processo de regulação contábil internacional promovido pelo IASB e a sua influência na elaboração das IFRS, investigando o alinhamento entre as decisões do órgão e as opiniões manifestadas por stakeholders específicos. Para isso, foram utilizadas as cartas de comentários enviadas no processo de elaboração da nova norma sobre reconhecimento de receita, Revenue from contracts with Customers. Foi realizada a análise de conteúdo de 1.177 cartas relativas à consulta pública ao Discussion Paper, de dezembro de 2008 e ao Exposure Draft de junho de 2010. Os resultados iniciais demonstraram que o IASB atendeu as preferências da maioria dos participantes. No entanto, algumas características dos lobistas se revelaram mais associadas às decisões do regulador do que outras. Os resultados do modelo de regressão logística revelaram que os comentários emitidos pelas empresas preparadoras de demonstrações contábeis tiveram maior associação com as decisões do IASB, do que os comentários de reguladores nacionais, profissionais em geral, acadêmicos ou usuários. Essa associação foi ainda maior quando ocorrem divergências com as preferências prévias do regulador e este modificou a sua opinião. Empresas estadunidenses que discordaram dos procedimentos propostos tiveram maiores chances de ter seu comentário aceito do que as sugestões feitas por preparadores de outro país. Constatou-se ainda a existência de associação entre os comentários das grandes firmas multinacionais de auditoria e as decisões do IASB. Os comentários das Big Four mostraram ter até 5 vezes mais chances de ser aceito pelo regulador, do que os comentários feitos por outros interessados. Esses aspectos vão de encontro às pesquisas que relatam que a maior homogeneidade de interesses entre os preparadores funciona como incentivo para o exercício de lobbying e que essa pressão está associada às decisões tomadas pelos reguladores. Adicionalmente, a análise da história e da estrutura do IASB, aliadas a um conjunto de pesquisas empíricas, trazem evidencias que sugerem os mesmos resultados em relação a associação entre as decisões do regulador e as preferencias das grandes firmas de auditoria. A cumplicidade ideológica documentada nas pesquisas, entre as Big Four e o regulador internacional, facilita a associação entre as ideias das entidades e implica na possibilidade de influência dessas firmas sobre as decisões do IASB. A teoria dos grupos de interesses (Becker, 1983), em conjunto com os resultados desta pesquisa, contribuem para explicar que a falta de um mandato legal para impor suas normas e a necessidade de construir legitimidade fazem com que o IASB funcione como um mediador de interesses. Nesse cenário, a escolha de determinado tratamento contábil reflete uma decisão onde os reguladores procuram gerenciar os conflitos, mas acabam por atender com maior atenção as preferencias daqueles que forem mais efetivos em convencê-lo. / The rise of an international and private body like the IASB and the massive convergence of many countries to its standards, have brought changes in the dynamics of the financial reporting regulation in different countries that, just like Brazil, historically had their accounting standard set by national laws under the responsibility of governmental entities. This new dynamic raises concerns for businesses, national standard-setters, governments, investors, academics and others interested in accounting standards. This research aimed to assess the association of specific characteristics of the participants of the international accounting regulation process promoted by the IASB and their influence in the definition of IFRS, investigating the alignment between the decisions of the Board and the opinions expressed by specific stakeholders during the period that draft standards were publicly exposed. For this, the comment letters sent to the IASB during the process of drafting the new standard on revenue recognition, Revenue from contracts with Customers were read and a content analysis was performed of 1,177 letters relating to both the public consultation to the Discussion Paper (December 2008) and the subsequent Exposure Draft (June 2010). Initial results showed that the IASB has met the preferences of most participants. However, some features of the lobbyists proved more associated with the regulatory decisions than others. The results of the logistic regression model revealed that the comments made by preparers of financial statements have a greater association with the decisions of the IASB, than the comments of national regulators, professionals in general, academics or users. This association is even greater when diverging views areraised in relation with the previous preferences of the regulator and their view is ultimately changed. If the company was American and showed disagreement with the proposed procedure, the chances of having its comment accepted were greater than if the suggestion came from a preparer from another country. Another finding was the existence of a strong association between the comments of the large multinational audit firms and the decisions of the IASB. A comment from one of the Big Four showed up to 5 times more probability to beaccepted by the regulator than a comment made by any other stakeholder. These aspects confirm the researches that report that the greater homogeneity of interest between preparers act as incentives for the exercise of lobbying and pressure that is associated with the decisions taken by the regulator. Additionally, analysis of the history and structure of the IASB, as well as a group of empirical studies are rich in reporting evidence that confirms the results in the association relationship between the decisions of the regulator and the preferences of the large audit firms. The ideological complicity among the Big Four and IASB, documented in researches, facilitates the association between the ideas of these organizations and imply in the possibility of influence of these firms on IASB´s decisions. Thus, the use of the theory of interest groups (Becker, 1983) together with the results presented in this research, explain the lack of a legal mandate to enforce its rules and the need to build legitimacy makes the IASB to act as a mediator interests. In this scenario, the choice of a particular accounting treatment reflects a decision in that regulators seek to manage conflicts, but eventually meet more closely the preferences of those who are most effective in convincing him.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo principal identificar os fatores determinantes à adoção de estratégias de lobbying sobre a regulação contábil do setor petrolífero, bem como avaliar a qualidade das informações contábeis das empresas desse setor. Para atender a esse objetivo, recorreu-se a três estudos direcionados para cada um dos seguintes aspectos: determinantes do lobbying e características dos grupos de interesses (estudo 1); estágio atual da qualidade da informação contábil do setor petrolífero (estudo 2) e evidências empíricas às questões do Discussion Paper Extractive Activities (estudo 3). Para operacionalizar os estudos, utilizaram-se as cartas comentários enviadas ao IASB e a base de dados da Evaluate Energy®, empregando-se diversas técnicas econométricas como regressão linear simples e múltipla, regressão logística binomial e multinomial e regressão de Poisson a diversos planos amostrais contendo informações de empresas petrolíferas. Os resultados indicam que o grupo de interesse formado pelos preparadores de demonstrações financeiras do setor petrolífero possui incentivos econômicos para realizar lobbying sobre determinada regulamentação contábil no sentido de defender seus interesses como prega a teoria da regulação econômica, notadamente quanto ao fator tamanho. Tal grupo de interesse, dentro do plano das escolhas contábeis, é favorável à utilização do custo histórico como base de valor e da possibilidade de escolha entre dois modelos contábeis concorrentes (successful efforts e full cost) e desfavoráveis às mudanças que levem ao aumento do nível de divulgação das informações. Suportando essa posição, tem-se a visão dos usuários primários das demonstrações financeiras que sugerem que as informações contábeis disponibilizadas pelas empresas petrolíferas são de qualidade, ao menos sob o prisma da relevância e conservadorismo, e indicam, ainda, que o atual conjunto de informações baseado no custo histórico é relevante para as suas decisões econômicas. Levando-se em consideração o grande apoio recebido pela proposta de ampliação das divulgações obrigatórias, aí incluída a proposta do Publish What You Pay, tem-se a rejeição por parte dos participantes do mercado de capitais indicando que os benefícios decorrentes da ampliação da divulgação não serão maiores do que os existentes, considerando as regras atuais. Em contraponto, tem-se a concepção de que a informação contábil produzida pelas empresas petrolíferas é inoportuna. Nesse particular, não se vislumbram alterações nessa constatação uma vez que a proposta de um novo modelo contábil de reconhecimento apresentada no DPEA se aproxima do método full cost, enquanto que as evidências do segundo estudo apontam para direção contrária ao sugerir que o método successful efforts gera informações mais oportunas do que o método concorrente. Assim, tem-se um cenário para se acreditar na manutenção do status quo vigente. / This paper aimed to identify the determining factors for the adoption of lobbying strategies regarding the accounting regulation of the oil sector, as well as to assess the quality of the accounting information of the companies from this sector. To meet these goals, three studies directed to each of the underlined aspects were used: determinants of the lobbying and characteristics of the interest groups (study 1); current status of the quality of accounting information from the oil sector (study 2) and empirical evidence for the questions of Discussion Paper Extractive Activities (study 3). To operationalize the studies, letters and comments sent to the IASB and the database of Evaluate Energy® were deployed, through the use of several econometric techniques such as simple and multiple linear regressions, binomial and multinomial logistic regression and Poisson regression in various sampling plans featuring information of the oil companies. The results indicate that the interest group formed by preparers of financial statements for the oil sector has economic incentives to undertake lobbying for an accounting regulation, in the sense of defending their interests according to the economic regulation theory, notably when size is taken into account. This interest group, within the plane of accounting choices, is in favor of using the historical cost as a basis of value and of the possibility of choice between two competitor accounting models (successful efforts and full cost) and unfavorable to the changes that lead to the increase of the disclosure level of the information. Supporting this position, there is the view of the primary users of financial statements that suggests that the accounting information provided by oil companies is valuable, at least from the perspective of relevance and conservatism, and indicates, yet, that the current group of information based on the historical cost is relevant to their economic decisions. Considering the huge support received by the proposal to expand the required disclosures, therein included the proposal of Publish What You Pay, there is rejection by the participants of the capital market indicating that the benefit resulting from the expansion of the disclosure shall not be greater than those already in existence, considering the current rules. In contrast, there is the view that the accounting information produced by oil companies is untimely. In this, particularly, alterations in this finding are not envisaged once the proposal of the new accounting model of recognition presented at DPEA approaches the full cost method, whereas evidence of the second study points to the opposite direction by suggesting that the successful efforts method generates more appropriate information than does the current method. Therefore, there is scenario to believe in the maintenance of the present status quo.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo principal identificar os fatores determinantes à adoção de estratégias de lobbying sobre a regulação contábil do setor petrolífero, bem como avaliar a qualidade das informações contábeis das empresas desse setor. Para atender a esse objetivo, recorreu-se a três estudos direcionados para cada um dos seguintes aspectos: determinantes do lobbying e características dos grupos de interesses (estudo 1); estágio atual da qualidade da informação contábil do setor petrolífero (estudo 2) e evidências empíricas às questões do Discussion Paper Extractive Activities (estudo 3). Para operacionalizar os estudos, utilizaram-se as cartas comentários enviadas ao IASB e a base de dados da Evaluate Energy®, empregando-se diversas técnicas econométricas como regressão linear simples e múltipla, regressão logística binomial e multinomial e regressão de Poisson a diversos planos amostrais contendo informações de empresas petrolíferas. Os resultados indicam que o grupo de interesse formado pelos preparadores de demonstrações financeiras do setor petrolífero possui incentivos econômicos para realizar lobbying sobre determinada regulamentação contábil no sentido de defender seus interesses como prega a teoria da regulação econômica, notadamente quanto ao fator tamanho. Tal grupo de interesse, dentro do plano das escolhas contábeis, é favorável à utilização do custo histórico como base de valor e da possibilidade de escolha entre dois modelos contábeis concorrentes (successful efforts e full cost) e desfavoráveis às mudanças que levem ao aumento do nível de divulgação das informações. Suportando essa posição, tem-se a visão dos usuários primários das demonstrações financeiras que sugerem que as informações contábeis disponibilizadas pelas empresas petrolíferas são de qualidade, ao menos sob o prisma da relevância e conservadorismo, e indicam, ainda, que o atual conjunto de informações baseado no custo histórico é relevante para as suas decisões econômicas. Levando-se em consideração o grande apoio recebido pela proposta de ampliação das divulgações obrigatórias, aí incluída a proposta do Publish What You Pay, tem-se a rejeição por parte dos participantes do mercado de capitais indicando que os benefícios decorrentes da ampliação da divulgação não serão maiores do que os existentes, considerando as regras atuais. Em contraponto, tem-se a concepção de que a informação contábil produzida pelas empresas petrolíferas é inoportuna. Nesse particular, não se vislumbram alterações nessa constatação uma vez que a proposta de um novo modelo contábil de reconhecimento apresentada no DPEA se aproxima do método full cost, enquanto que as evidências do segundo estudo apontam para direção contrária ao sugerir que o método successful efforts gera informações mais oportunas do que o método concorrente. Assim, tem-se um cenário para se acreditar na manutenção do status quo vigente. / This paper aimed to identify the determining factors for the adoption of lobbying strategies regarding the accounting regulation of the oil sector, as well as to assess the quality of the accounting information of the companies from this sector. To meet these goals, three studies directed to each of the underlined aspects were used: determinants of the lobbying and characteristics of the interest groups (study 1); current status of the quality of accounting information from the oil sector (study 2) and empirical evidence for the questions of Discussion Paper Extractive Activities (study 3). To operationalize the studies, letters and comments sent to the IASB and the database of Evaluate Energy® were deployed, through the use of several econometric techniques such as simple and multiple linear regressions, binomial and multinomial logistic regression and Poisson regression in various sampling plans featuring information of the oil companies. The results indicate that the interest group formed by preparers of financial statements for the oil sector has economic incentives to undertake lobbying for an accounting regulation, in the sense of defending their interests according to the economic regulation theory, notably when size is taken into account. This interest group, within the plane of accounting choices, is in favor of using the historical cost as a basis of value and of the possibility of choice between two competitor accounting models (successful efforts and full cost) and unfavorable to the changes that lead to the increase of the disclosure level of the information. Supporting this position, there is the view of the primary users of financial statements that suggests that the accounting information provided by oil companies is valuable, at least from the perspective of relevance and conservatism, and indicates, yet, that the current group of information based on the historical cost is relevant to their economic decisions. Considering the huge support received by the proposal to expand the required disclosures, therein included the proposal of Publish What You Pay, there is rejection by the participants of the capital market indicating that the benefit resulting from the expansion of the disclosure shall not be greater than those already in existence, considering the current rules. In contrast, there is the view that the accounting information produced by oil companies is untimely. In this, particularly, alterations in this finding are not envisaged once the proposal of the new accounting model of recognition presented at DPEA approaches the full cost method, whereas evidence of the second study points to the opposite direction by suggesting that the successful efforts method generates more appropriate information than does the current method. Therefore, there is scenario to believe in the maintenance of the present status quo.

A ascensão de um organismo internacional e privado como o IASB e a adesão maciça de inúmeros países às suas normas, trouxeram mudanças na dinâmica da regulação dos relatórios financeiros em diversos países, que assim como o Brasil, tiveram historicamente as normas contábeis de suas empresas definidas por legislações nacionais sob a responsabilidade de entes públicos. Essa nova dinâmica levanta preocupações para as empresas, normatizadores nacionais, governos, investidores, acadêmicos e outros interessados pelas normas contábeis. Esta pesquisa buscou analisar a associação das características específicas dos participantes do processo de regulação contábil internacional promovido pelo IASB e a sua influência na elaboração das IFRS, investigando o alinhamento entre as decisões do órgão e as opiniões manifestadas por stakeholders específicos. Para isso, foram utilizadas as cartas de comentários enviadas no processo de elaboração da nova norma sobre reconhecimento de receita, Revenue from contracts with Customers. Foi realizada a análise de conteúdo de 1.177 cartas relativas à consulta pública ao Discussion Paper, de dezembro de 2008 e ao Exposure Draft de junho de 2010. Os resultados iniciais demonstraram que o IASB atendeu as preferências da maioria dos participantes. No entanto, algumas características dos lobistas se revelaram mais associadas às decisões do regulador do que outras. Os resultados do modelo de regressão logística revelaram que os comentários emitidos pelas empresas preparadoras de demonstrações contábeis tiveram maior associação com as decisões do IASB, do que os comentários de reguladores nacionais, profissionais em geral, acadêmicos ou usuários. Essa associação foi ainda maior quando ocorrem divergências com as preferências prévias do regulador e este modificou a sua opinião. Empresas estadunidenses que discordaram dos procedimentos propostos tiveram maiores chances de ter seu comentário aceito do que as sugestões feitas por preparadores de outro país. Constatou-se ainda a existência de associação entre os comentários das grandes firmas multinacionais de auditoria e as decisões do IASB. Os comentários das Big Four mostraram ter até 5 vezes mais chances de ser aceito pelo regulador, do que os comentários feitos por outros interessados. Esses aspectos vão de encontro às pesquisas que relatam que a maior homogeneidade de interesses entre os preparadores funciona como incentivo para o exercício de lobbying e que essa pressão está associada às decisões tomadas pelos reguladores. Adicionalmente, a análise da história e da estrutura do IASB, aliadas a um conjunto de pesquisas empíricas, trazem evidencias que sugerem os mesmos resultados em relação a associação entre as decisões do regulador e as preferencias das grandes firmas de auditoria. A cumplicidade ideológica documentada nas pesquisas, entre as Big Four e o regulador internacional, facilita a associação entre as ideias das entidades e implica na possibilidade de influência dessas firmas sobre as decisões do IASB. A teoria dos grupos de interesses (Becker, 1983), em conjunto com os resultados desta pesquisa, contribuem para explicar que a falta de um mandato legal para impor suas normas e a necessidade de construir legitimidade fazem com que o IASB funcione como um mediador de interesses. Nesse cenário, a escolha de determinado tratamento contábil reflete uma decisão onde os reguladores procuram gerenciar os conflitos, mas acabam por atender com maior atenção as preferencias daqueles que forem mais efetivos em convencê-lo. / The rise of an international and private body like the IASB and the massive convergence of many countries to its standards, have brought changes in the dynamics of the financial reporting regulation in different countries that, just like Brazil, historically had their accounting standard set by national laws under the responsibility of governmental entities. This new dynamic raises concerns for businesses, national standard-setters, governments, investors, academics and others interested in accounting standards. This research aimed to assess the association of specific characteristics of the participants of the international accounting regulation process promoted by the IASB and their influence in the definition of IFRS, investigating the alignment between the decisions of the Board and the opinions expressed by specific stakeholders during the period that draft standards were publicly exposed. For this, the comment letters sent to the IASB during the process of drafting the new standard on revenue recognition, Revenue from contracts with Customers were read and a content analysis was performed of 1,177 letters relating to both the public consultation to the Discussion Paper (December 2008) and the subsequent Exposure Draft (June 2010). Initial results showed that the IASB has met the preferences of most participants. However, some features of the lobbyists proved more associated with the regulatory decisions than others. The results of the logistic regression model revealed that the comments made by preparers of financial statements have a greater association with the decisions of the IASB, than the comments of national regulators, professionals in general, academics or users. This association is even greater when diverging views areraised in relation with the previous preferences of the regulator and their view is ultimately changed. If the company was American and showed disagreement with the proposed procedure, the chances of having its comment accepted were greater than if the suggestion came from a preparer from another country. Another finding was the existence of a strong association between the comments of the large multinational audit firms and the decisions of the IASB. A comment from one of the Big Four showed up to 5 times more probability to beaccepted by the regulator than a comment made by any other stakeholder. These aspects confirm the researches that report that the greater homogeneity of interest between preparers act as incentives for the exercise of lobbying and pressure that is associated with the decisions taken by the regulator. Additionally, analysis of the history and structure of the IASB, as well as a group of empirical studies are rich in reporting evidence that confirms the results in the association relationship between the decisions of the regulator and the preferences of the large audit firms. The ideological complicity among the Big Four and IASB, documented in researches, facilitates the association between the ideas of these organizations and imply in the possibility of influence of these firms on IASB´s decisions. Thus, the use of the theory of interest groups (Becker, 1983) together with the results presented in this research, explain the lack of a legal mandate to enforce its rules and the need to build legitimacy makes the IASB to act as a mediator interests. In this scenario, the choice of a particular accounting treatment reflects a decision in that regulators seek to manage conflicts, but eventually meet more closely the preferences of those who are most effective in convincing him.

The perennial controversy in business combinations accounting and its dialectic with stakeholders’ interests under the complexity of the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity is the centrepiece of analysis in this thesis. It is argued here that the accounting regulation should be as neutral as possible for the economic activity, although it is recognised that accounting changes may result in economic effects. In the case of the changes for business combinations accounting in the USA, lobbying was so fierce that in order to achieve the abolition of accounting choice in M&A accounting, it forced the standard-setter to compromise and to change substantially some of its earlier proposals. Such fierce lobbying cast doubts about whether it was effectively possible to mitigate such economic effects, resulting in a possible impact of the accounting changes on the M&A activity. The occurrence of M&A in waves is yet to be fully theorised. Nevertheless, existing literature established relationships between M&A activity and some key economic and financial factors, and has provided several interesting theories and other meaningful contributions for this thesis. It was therefore possible to examine whether the changes in the accounting rules produced any significant impact on the M&A activity. The findings obtained from the testing of the research hypotheses suggest that the new M&A accounting rules did not result in significant impacts on overall M&A activity. Nevertheless, from the study of managers’ perceptions, and from the examination of annual reports of S&P 500 companies, a considerable impact on the financial reporting was found.