| Abstract: | The starting-point of the present paper are systematic differences between the answers of German corporate managers and professors in an empirical study by C&L Deutsche Revision AG (1995) on accounting harmonization. In this study, managers expressed themselves in all questions more positively towards current German accounting and more negatively towards US accounting than professors. The fundamental assumption put forward in this paper is that these differences are due to differences in the economic interests of the two groups. To test this empirically, hypotheses are deduced with regard to the accounting-related interests of the executive managers. The idea behind the hypotheses is that managers' answers to questions in the C&L Industry Study can be explained by structural features of their respective companies. The hypotheses are tested using multiple regression analysis. The results of the tests show that managers' answers can, to some extent, be explained by the suggested multiple regression approach. However, the answers to the rather general and abstract question (the preferred balance between the true-and-fair-view and prudence accounting principles) are much better explained than the answers with regard to detailed US-GAAP regulations. We must assume that the managers' attitudes towards concrete US-GAAP, which are directly related to corporate accounting practice, are influenced by a multitude of firm-specific and personal factors. |
