Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Alternative lenses for viewing how China has built its accounting and auditing profession

Alternative lenses for viewing how China has built its accounting and auditing profession The paper reviews some theoretical approaches that have been adopted for understanding the drivers and achievements of the Chinese professional project and the challenges it faces for the future, as a complement and a contrast to previous histories of China and to studies of other developing economies.Design/methodology/approachBased mainly on evaluating the information as obtained from the interviews in mainland China, in Hong Kong and in London reported by Macve (2020), complemented by other published histories.FindingsChina remains a paradox. Since the “reform and open” policy began in 1978 it has been transformed from one of the poorest countries to one of the economically most powerful in just some 40 years. However it remains (per capita) a “developing country”/”emerging economy” and ideologically a Communist country. While the accounting profession in the USA and UK has developed “from the bottom up” over more than a century and a half, the Chinese profession has effectively been created “from the top down” in under 25 years. The paper outlines alternative theorizations of the major stages in this achievement, in the context of the continuing rapid growth of China's economy and its stock markets, and of the overseas expansion of its manufacturing and increasingly service-oriented base.Research limitations/implicationsSpace has restricted the analysis here to a general overview. Application of Gramsci's hegemony theory is argued to be inappropriate in the context of understanding China's professional project. Instead, this study is framed within the neo-institutional theory of “linked ecologies” originally developed to examine “Western” developments and extended to the emergence of glocalization, while offering a comparison with related theorization of Russia's post-Communist development. Further theoretical development outside the Western neo-liberal context is called for.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates how accounting and auditing's development in this globally significant context has differed from that in other developing and transitional economies, reflecting in particular the proactive agency of the state. Given China's economic power, fuller understanding of the interrelated factors shaping its development is important for understanding the likely future shaping of the worldwide profession. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies Emerald Publishing

Alternative lenses for viewing how China has built its accounting and auditing profession

Download PDF
21 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/alternative-lenses-for-viewing-how-china-has-built-its-accounting-and-BmmqdFqsxP
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2042-1168
DOI
10.1108/jaee-01-2019-0029
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The paper reviews some theoretical approaches that have been adopted for understanding the drivers and achievements of the Chinese professional project and the challenges it faces for the future, as a complement and a contrast to previous histories of China and to studies of other developing economies.Design/methodology/approachBased mainly on evaluating the information as obtained from the interviews in mainland China, in Hong Kong and in London reported by Macve (2020), complemented by other published histories.FindingsChina remains a paradox. Since the “reform and open” policy began in 1978 it has been transformed from one of the poorest countries to one of the economically most powerful in just some 40 years. However it remains (per capita) a “developing country”/”emerging economy” and ideologically a Communist country. While the accounting profession in the USA and UK has developed “from the bottom up” over more than a century and a half, the Chinese profession has effectively been created “from the top down” in under 25 years. The paper outlines alternative theorizations of the major stages in this achievement, in the context of the continuing rapid growth of China's economy and its stock markets, and of the overseas expansion of its manufacturing and increasingly service-oriented base.Research limitations/implicationsSpace has restricted the analysis here to a general overview. Application of Gramsci's hegemony theory is argued to be inappropriate in the context of understanding China's professional project. Instead, this study is framed within the neo-institutional theory of “linked ecologies” originally developed to examine “Western” developments and extended to the emergence of glocalization, while offering a comparison with related theorization of Russia's post-Communist development. Further theoretical development outside the Western neo-liberal context is called for.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates how accounting and auditing's development in this globally significant context has differed from that in other developing and transitional economies, reflecting in particular the proactive agency of the state. Given China's economic power, fuller understanding of the interrelated factors shaping its development is important for understanding the likely future shaping of the worldwide profession.

Journal

Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies – Emerald Publishing

Published: Nov 4, 2020

Keywords: Chinese auditing profession; Chinese audit regulation; Glocalization; Hegemony; Linked ecologies

References

  • Linked ecologies: states and universities as environments for professions
    Abbott, A.
  • Importing accounting: the case of Trinidad and Tobago
    Annisette, M.
  • Imperialism and the professions: the education and certification of accountants in Trinidad and Tobago
    Annisette, M.
  • Accounting in the shadow of stalinism
    Bailey, D.T.
  • The creation of the auditing profession in Greece
    Ballas, A.A.
  • Glocalization of accounting standards: observations on neo-institutionalism of IPSAS
    Baskerville, R.; Grossi, G.
  • The impact of globalization on professional accounting firms: evidence from New Zealand
    Baskerville, R.F.; Hay, D.
  • From divergence to convergence: Re-evaluating the history behind China's economic boom
    Brandt, L.; Ma, D.; Rawski, T.
  • International accounting firms versus indigenous auditors: intra-professional conflict in the Greek auditing profession 1990-1993
    Caramanis, C.V.
  • The interplay between professional groups, the state and supranational agents: pax Americana in the age of ‘globalisation’
    Caramanis, C.V.
  • Rationalism, charisma and accounting professionalization: perspectives on the intra-professional conflict in Greece, 1993-2001
    Caramanis, C.V.
  • The Empire Strikes Back? An exploration of centre–periphery interaction between the ICAEW and accounting associations in the self-governing colonies of Australia, Canada and South Africa, 1880–1907
    Chua, W.F.; Poullaos, C.
  • Accounting, professions and regulation: locating the sites of professionalization
    Cooper, D.J.; Robson, K.
  • Globalization and nationalism in a multinational accounting firm: the case of opening new markets in Eastern Europe
    Cooper, D.J.; Greenwood, R.; Hinings, C.; Brown, J.L.
  • McDonald's: a case study in glocalization
    Crawford, A.; Humphries, S. A.; Geddy, M. M
  • Creating a profession ‘out of nothing’? The case of the Belgian auditing profession
    De Beelde, I.
  • Internationalizing the French auditing profession
    De Beelde, I.; Gonthier-Besacier, N.; Mikol, A.
  • Social networks and country-to-country transfer: dense and weak ties in the diffusion of knowledge
    Djelic, M.
  • The development of accounting regulations for foreign invested firms in China: the role of Chinese characteristics
    Ezzamel, M.; Xiao, J.Z.
  • Political ideology and accounting regulation in China
    Ezzamel, M.; Xiao, J.Z.; Pan, A.
  • China, the Big Four and a world of change
    Gillis, P.
  • Globalisation, accounting and developing countries
    Hopper, T.; Lassou, P.; Soobaroyen, T.
  • ShineWing: blazing the trail
    Luk, H.
  • Discussant's comments on Caramanis, C.V
    Macve, R.H.
  • Insights to be gained from the study of ancient accounting history: some reflections on the new edition of Finley's The Ancient Economy
    Macve, R.H.
  • Perspectives from Mainland China, Hong Kong and the UK on the development of China’s auditing firms: implications and a research agenda
    Macve, R.H.
  • A proposal to form a unified Chinese public accountancy profession: an academic perspective
    Macve, R.H.; Liu, Z.-Y.
  • Connecting worlds: the translation of international auditing standards into post-Soviet audit practice
    Mennicken, A.M.
  • From inspection to auditing: audit and markets as linked ecologies
    Mennicken, A.M.
  • Dynamics of regulation of professional service firms: national and transnational developments
    Quack, S.; Schüßler, E.
  • Corporatism and intra-professional hegemony: a study of regulation and internal social order
    Richardson, A.J.
  • Local sites of globalisation: a look at the development of a legislative framework for auditing in Russia
    Samsonova, A.
  • Transnationalism and the transforming roles of professional accounting bodies: towards a research agenda
    Samsonova-Taddei, A.; Humphrey, C.
  • Risk and the construction of a European audit policy agenda: the case of auditor liability
    Samsonova-Taddei, A.; Humphrey, C.
  • Transnational regulation of professional services: governance dynamics of field level organizational change
    Suddaby, R.; Cooper, D.J.; Greenwood, R.
  • The organizational context of professionalism in accounting
    Suddaby, R.; Gendron, Y.; Lam, H.
  • Accounting for growth and transformation of Chinese businesses and economy: implications for transitional and development economics
    Suzuki, T.; Yan, Y.; Chen, B.Y.
  • Bumpy road leading to internationalization: a review of accounting development in China
    Tang, Y.W.
  • State ownership, the institutional environment, and auditor choice: evidence from China
    Wang, Q.; Wong, T.J.; Xia, L.
  • Corporate governance research on listed firms in China: institutions, governance and accountability
    Wong, T.J.
  • The re-emergence of the public accounting profession in China: a hegemonic analysis
    Yee, H.
  • Analyzing the state-accounting profession dynamic: some insights from the professionalization experience in China
    Yee, H.