Does greater user representation lead to more user focused standards? An empirical investigation of IASB's approach to standard setting

Bhimani, A; Bond, D; Sivabalan, P

Does greater user representation lead to more user focused standards? An empirical investigation of IASB's approach to standard setting

Bhimani, A Bond, D

Sivabalan, P

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 2019, 38 (2), pp. 65 - 88
Issue Date:: 2019-03-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Bhimani, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Bond, D https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5134-4469	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Sivabalan, P https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7112-2385	en_US
dc.date.issued	2019-03-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 2019, 38 (2), pp. 65 - 88	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0278-4254	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/131459
dc.description.abstract	© 2019 Elsevier Inc. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has faced calls to act in the interest of users of financial statements given the perception of the greater influence exerted by preparers and professional accounting firm stakeholders. In response, the IASB has, over more than a decade, sought to increase user centricity, adapting its people and processes to more fully engage the views of users. We report on our empirical analysis from the standard setter's perspective of user engagement which is a research objective not documented in the prior literature. Our results draw on interviews conducted with 31 IASB representatives, comprised of 26 staff and 5 Board members representing approximately 60% of IASB's non-support staff as well as publically available archival data. We deploy the Griffiths (1960) citizenship participation framework in reporting on the procedural rigor directed at user utility, to assess IASB's attempt to enhance its perceived relevance (existential enhancement) as a standard setting body. We explain how a “clash” between new user centric practices and the extant practices led to challenges for the IASB in factoring the views of, and acting in the interest of users, as demanded by regulatory authorities. We discuss some of the tensions this has made evident in IASB's objective to function as an effective standard setter. Conceptually, our paper clarifies how more embedded representation modes per Griffith (1960) elicited greater user feedback, but that tensions arose in relation to the IASB's broader objectives to more directly serve users’ interests. Functionally, we offer a more nuanced appreciation for why the IASB might not unilaterally seek to be “user-focused” in the interests of both users and other stakeholders, and in doing so, serve the longer term objectives of accounting standard setting.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Accounting and Public Policy	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2019.02.004	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Accounting	en_US
dc.title	Does greater user representation lead to more user focused standards? An empirical investigation of IASB's approach to standard setting	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	38	en_US
utslib.for	1501 Accounting, Auditing and Accountability	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Accounting Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	38	en_US

Abstract:

© 2019 Elsevier Inc. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has faced calls to act in the interest of users of financial statements given the perception of the greater influence exerted by preparers and professional accounting firm stakeholders. In response, the IASB has, over more than a decade, sought to increase user centricity, adapting its people and processes to more fully engage the views of users. We report on our empirical analysis from the standard setter's perspective of user engagement which is a research objective not documented in the prior literature. Our results draw on interviews conducted with 31 IASB representatives, comprised of 26 staff and 5 Board members representing approximately 60% of IASB's non-support staff as well as publically available archival data. We deploy the Griffiths (1960) citizenship participation framework in reporting on the procedural rigor directed at user utility, to assess IASB's attempt to enhance its perceived relevance (existential enhancement) as a standard setting body. We explain how a “clash” between new user centric practices and the extant practices led to challenges for the IASB in factoring the views of, and acting in the interest of users, as demanded by regulatory authorities. We discuss some of the tensions this has made evident in IASB's objective to function as an effective standard setter. Conceptually, our paper clarifies how more embedded representation modes per Griffith (1960) elicited greater user feedback, but that tensions arose in relation to the IASB's broader objectives to more directly serve users’ interests. Functionally, we offer a more nuanced appreciation for why the IASB might not unilaterally seek to be “user-focused” in the interests of both users and other stakeholders, and in doing so, serve the longer term objectives of accounting standard setting.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/131459