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1、Towards a Theory of Cultural Influence on the Development of Accounting Systems InternationallyS. J. GRAYAbstract：Research has shown that accounting follows different patterns in different parts of the world. There have

2、 been claims that national systems are determined by environmental factors. In this context, cultural factors have not been fully considered. This paper proposes four hypotheses on the relationship between identified cu

3、ltural characteristics and the development of accounting systems, the regulation of the accounting profession and attitudes towards financial management and disclosure. The hypotheses are not operationalized, and empiric

4、al tests have not been carried out. They are proposed here as a first step in the development of a theory of cultural influence on the development of accounting systems.Key words: Accounting policies; Culture; Financial

5、 reporting.IntroductionThis paper explores the extent to which international differences in accounting, with specific reference to corporate financial reporting systems, may be explained andpredicted by differences in cu

6、ltural factors.While prior research has shown that there are different patterns of accountinginternationally and that the development of national systems tends to be a functionof environmental factors, it is a matter of

7、some controversy as to the identificationof the patterns and influential factors involved. In this context the significance of culture does not appear to have been fully appreciated and thus the purpose of this paper is

8、to propose a framework which links culture with the development of accounting systems internationally.The first section of the paper reviews prior research on international classificationand the influence of environment

9、al factors. The second section addresses the significance of the cultural dimension and its application to accounting. The thirdsection proposes a framework and develops hypotheses linking culture with thedevelopment of

10、 accounting attitudes and systems internationally, based on the cross- cultural work of Hofstede. In the fourth section some culture area classifications are proposed. They have been developed on a judgmental basis, in

11、the context of combinations of accounting attitudes or 'values' which determine (a) the authority for and enforcement of accounting systems, and (b) the measurement and disclosure characteristics of accounting s

12、ystems.developed Western nations. Nobes adopted a hierarchical scheme of classification in an endeavour to provide more subtlety and discrimination to the assessment of country differences. However, similarly to Mueller

13、, no explicit mention was made of cultural factors. A basic distinction between microeconomic and macroeconomic systems was made together with a disaggregation between business economics and business practice orientati

14、ons under a micro-based classification. This classification system was then tested by means of a judgmental analysis of national financial reporting systems in fourteen countries.By way of contrast, the inductive approa

15、ch to identifying accounting patterns begins with an analysis of accounting practices. Perhaps the most important contribution of this type was by Nair and Frank , who carried out a statistical analysis of accounting pr

16、actices in forty-four countries. An empirical distinction was made between measurement and disclosure practices as these were seen to have different patterns of development.The empirical results, using factor analysis ap

17、plied to individual practices, showedthat in respect of the Price Waterhouse data it was possible to identify five groupings of countries, with Chile as a single-country 'group', in terms of measurement practices

18、. The number of groupings increased to seven when disclosure practices were considered. The disclosure groupings, on the other hand, could not be described plausibly on a similar 'spheres-of-influence' classific

19、ation on account of their apparent diversity.Subsequent to the identification of groupings, Nair and Frank attempted to assessthe relationships of these groupings with a number of explanatory variables. While relationshi

20、ps were established in respect of some of the variables which included language (as a proxy for culture), various aspects of economic structure and tradingties, it was clear that there were differences as between the mea

21、surement and disclosuregroupings. However, the hypotheses that (a) cultural and economic variables mightbe more closely associated with disclosure practices, and (b) trading variables mightbe more closely associated with

22、 measurement practices were not supported. It is curious to note here that the language variable, as a proxy for culture, was perceived to bea means of capturing similarities in legal systems which were thought to be pa

23、rticularly important in the determination of disclosure patterns. This is questionable in itself,but in any event no justification was given for the use of language as a proxy for culture.From this brief review of some

24、of the major studies in international classificationit seems clear that to date only very broad country groupings or accounting patterns have been identified. At the same time, only very general relationships betweenenvi

25、ronmental factors and accounting patterns have been established.The significance of culture in the context of prior classification research is far from clear. It may be that cultural influences have been generally subsu

26、med in thepredominant concern with economic factors but this has not been made explicit. Accordingly, the influence of culture on accounting would seem to have been largelyneglected in the development of ideas about inte