| Abstract: | Observation of UK standard setting between 1970 and 1990 suggests the existence of cyclical patterns. The feature exhibiting the pattern for any topic was the degree of standardisation proposed in documents issued by the Accounting Standards Committee. A model is developed in which the pattern is argued to be caused by the opposition of two forces: a downward force exerted by corporate managers with some professional support; and an upward force exerted by individual senior members of the profession supported by government, press and international influences. The energy to start the cycle comes in the form of a variety of external stimuli. The model is illustrated using five controversial topics: inflation accounting; research and development; deferred tax; merger accounting; and goodwill. |
