ABSTRACT
The regulation of accounting has constituted a major area of research study for many decades (Cooper and Robson, 2006, provide a previous review). Many studies on the regulation of accounting and accountancy have given emphasis to three main themes. First, research on the genesis of accounting regulatory institutions and agencies in professional and national contexts has been a long-standing theme (Zeff, 1972; 1978; Haring, 1979; Robson, 1991; Young, 1994). A second theme has been the close examination of interventions, lobbying and other influences, including the organisational, linguistic and normative framing, involved in the setting of accounting standards and recommendations (Hope and Gray, 1982; Sunder, 1988; Puro, 1984; Francis, 1987; Robson, 1994; Young, 1996; 2003; Ravenscroft and Williams, 2009). Here the focus has tended to shift towards the political influences upon and the consequences of the activities of the major global players in accounting regulation. Third, there has been a growing awareness of the tensions between specific national or regional framings, and the imperatives for the harmonisation and merging of financial regulations both at the institutional and the policy levels (Puxty, Willmott, Cooper and Lowe, 1987; Camfferman and Zeff, 2007; Tamm-Hallstrom, 2004; Power, 2009; Richardson, 2009). While we do not review these research agendas in their entirety, this chapter touches upon issues within each theme, more specifically within the context of exploring the continuing spread of the influence of financial reporting regulation in the global arena. The regulation of accounting is increasingly a process enacted at a global level, this trend being evident in the changing character of studies on the regulation of accounting and accountancy.
