The mystery of the missing members: the first 600 chartered accountants in England and Wales

There are a number of factual errors within the authoritative literature on the history of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and of its five founder bodies. The aim of this article is to outline some of these errors, explain how and why they arose, and attempt to correct them. Its primary concern is to establish the membership of these early professional accountancy bodies at the time of the granting of a royal charter in May 1880.     

Accounting Principles, Internal Conflict and the State: The Case of the ICAEW, 1948–1966

The series of Recommendations on Accounting Principles (RoAPs) issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) between 1942 and 1969 demonstrated the willingness of a professional accounting body to take a degree of responsibility for the form and content of British corporate financial reports. RoAPs 12 and 15 focused on the enduring problem of whether and how to take account of changing prices when constructing published financial reports. This article reveals disagreement between practising and industrial members in general, concerning how to address this issue, and examines the way in which the Council of the ICAEW sought to resolve this internal conflict within the constraints imposed by the need to be seen to behave in the 'public interest'. Major discord between the two main categories of membership emerged within the operation of the Taxation and Financial Relations (T&FR) Committee. What were judged by the ICAEW's leadership to be the extreme views of the industrial members were marginalized and suppressed by bypassing the normal channel for designing RoAPs and, instead, formulating them at the higher level of the Parliamentary and Law (P&L) Committee. The conflict between practising and industrial members continued in the period following the publication of RoAP 15, when further attempts were made to tackle the problem of accounting for inflation.     

Using photographs in interpreting cultural and symbolic meaning: A reflection on photographs of the Korean Association for Government Accounting

Building on a sociological tradition of using photographs as a methodology, we suggest that accounting researchers more fully utilize photographs to understand accounting actors’ everyday lives. While most accounting studies have focused on the photographic imagery in published documents, such as corporate annual reports, a few authors found photographs can highlight how physical artefacts can deliver symbolic messages. We explored photographs drawn from the Korean Association for Government Accounting (KAGA) to illustrate how social actors used physical artefacts. To guide our analysis, we relied on Bourdieu’s theorization of how physical artefacts reflect forms of capital. We argue that the use of photographs as a methodology provides a deeper insight into the cultural and social meanings of physical artefacts as a form of language open to multiple interpretations by both the author and the reader.     

Reining in auditors: On the dynamics of power surrounding an “innovation” in the regulatory space

In the aftermath of Enron and the collapse of Arthur Andersen, new “independent” institutions were created to oversee financial auditing. Based on a modified version of Lukes’ multidimensional model of power, we first investigate how the creation of the Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) has affected the dynamics of power among the main players enlisted in Canada’s regulation of public accounting. Our findings strengthen the view that a “form of allegiance” was, at the time of data collection, developing between CPAB and the largest Canadian accounting firms. Through a second analytical movement, we extend the boundaries of our argument, showing that patterns of resistance against the logic of arm’s length regulation operate in a variety of audit regulatory sites. Our conclusion points, in particular, to the spatial gap - and incidentally the limitations - of any attempt to control and supervise a globalized industry from a national or regional perspective.     

Accounting education, training and the profession in the Commonwealth Caribbean: Integration or internationalisation?

In light of the January 2006 inauguration of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), regional accountants now face the challenge of reshaping the system of professional education and training inherited from the UK-based ACCA at independence or transferred to the Caribbean economies by the American-based CPA and the Canadian-based CGA after independence, in order to better serve the socio-economic needs of Caribbean economies. This paper therefore examines the way forward for the professional education and training in accountancy in the context of the now independent post-colonial developing economies of the Caribbean. Given the structural, economic and social deficiencies deriving from their colonial history, these countries need to move away from the externally derived model of accounting education and its legacy of inappropriate content, methodology and pedagogy. Available evidence suggests that the integration of the accountancy profession could aid and accelerate the successful operation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy. In fact, such evidence suggests that the integration of the accounting profession represents the preference of the people of the Commonwealth Caribbean. In addition the evidence suggests that the integration of the profession could contribute significantly to the projection of a Caribbean identity, to economic development and could ultimately make a major contribution to the survival of the Commonwealth Caribbean economies in the global economic system.     

Analyzing the state-accounting profession dynamic: Some insights from the professionalization experience in China

The dynamic nature of the state-accounting profession relationship has been mostly explored within a western democratic and capitalist context. Taking into account the unique culture and the system of power in China, this paper contributes by examining the influence of the state over the Chinese public accounting profession during the 1990s. Utilizing a corporatist framework and combined with Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, this paper provides insights into the power relation between the state and the accounting profession, as well as illuminates the ideological influence of the state in the development of the profession. The empirical investigation also pays particular attention to the intra-professional conflicts that took place in the 1990s and provides further insights into the dynamic of the state-accounting profession relationship in that era.     

Conflicts of Interest and Research Quality of Affiliated Analysts in the German Universal Banking System: Evidence from IPO Underwriting

The quality of equity research by financial analysts is a prerequisite for an efficient capital market. This study investigates the quality of earnings forecasts and stock recommendations for initial public offerings (IPOs) in Germany. The empirical study includes 12,605 earnings forecasts and 6,209 stock recommendations of individual analysts for the time period from 1997 to 2004. The focus of this study is on analysing the potential conflicts of interest that arise when the analyst is affiliated with the underwriter of an IPO. In a universal banking system these conflicts of interest are usually more pronounced and therefore interesting to investigate. The empirical findings for the German financial market suggest that earnings forecasts and stock recommendations of the analysts belonging to the lead-underwriter are on average inaccurate and biased, indicating some conflicts of interest. Moreover, the stock recommendations of the analysts that are affiliated with the lead-underwriter are often too optimistic resulting in a significant long-run underperformance for the investor. In contrast, unaffiliated analysts provide better earnings forecasts and stock recommendations that result in a superior performance for the investor.     

官员历练、经济增长与政治擢升——基于1978～2008年中国省级官员的经验证据

本文手工搜集了1978～2008年期间中国省级官员政治生涯变动的经验数据,构建了"官员历练"指数,以GDP增长率的加速度作为经济增长的替代,研究了官员历练和经济增长因素对省级官员的政治擢升产生的竞争性影响。本文研究结果一致表明,官员历练与经济增长因素均显著影响了省级官员的擢升:(1)省级官员(含总体、省委书记子样本、省长子样本)的擢升概率与官员历练(包括虚拟变量及历练指数)、经济增长均显著正相关,但对官员历练因素更为敏感;(2)区分具体的官员历练类型后的结果表明,省级官员的擢升概率与中央工作经历、企业工作经历、经济增长均显著正相关;(3)按照地域与时间区间的分组研究结果表明,官员历练与经济增长对省级官员的擢升具有不对称的影响。     

金融同业活动与实体企业经营风险——来自地区层面同业存单业务的证据

本文研究了地区层面金融同业活动对实体企业经营风险的影响。基于各省份金融机构开启同业存单业务的研究表明,地区层面金融同业活动显著提升了当地上市企业股价大幅下跌的风险。进一步研究表明,随着同业存单业务的发展,当地上市企业债务融资成本和风险水平有所上升,而业绩表现和市场价值有所下降。上述发现表明,企业融资链条变长后,信贷市场道德风险上升,部分企业因风险偏好增强导致经营风险上升,更容易突然出现负面事件而导致股价大幅下跌。本文的发现揭示了金融同业活动存在监管规避的可能性及其影响实体企业的潜在路径,凸显了完善金融监管以更好服务实体经济发展的重要现实意义。     

金融同业活动与实体企业经营风险——来自地区层面同业存单业务的证据

本文研究了地区层面金融同业活动对实体企业经营风险的影响。基于各省份金融机构开启同业存单业务的研究表明,地区层面金融同业活动显著提升了当地上市企业股价大幅下跌的风险。进一步研究表明,随着同业存单业务的发展,当地上市企业债务融资成本和风险水平有所上升,而业绩表现和市场价值有所下降。上述发现表明,企业融资链条变长后,信贷市场道德风险上升,部分企业因风险偏好增强导致经营风险上升,更容易突然出现负面事件而导致股价大幅下跌。本文的发现揭示了金融同业活动存在监管规避的可能性及其影响实体企业的潜在路径,凸显了完善金融监管以更好服务实体经济发展的重要现实意义。     

The change in the value relevance of accounting information after mergers and acquisitions: evidence from the adoption of SFAS 141(R)

This study examines how and why investors change the use of their information sources in valuation between book value and earnings after mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in both pre- and post-SFAS 141(R) periods. We find that investors generally put less weight on earnings but more weight on book value after M&A than before M&A, and that such a change is particularly strong after the adoption of SFAS 141(R). By looking at goodwill, other intangible assets and other balance sheet accounts that SFAS 141(R) amended, we further find that SFAS 141(R) improves the value relevance of book value components after M&A.