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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the reasons why Sri Lanka adopted International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) recently. Many less developed countries (LDCs) have introduced IPSAS during the recent past. However, little research has been conducted to study the New Public Financial Management and accrual accounting and their impact on LDCs.

Using a qualitative approach, the methods of this paper consist of interviews, a documentary review and participatory observation in the Ministry of Finance and Planning (MOFP) and Auditor General’s Department of Sri Lanka, and present a critical interpretation supported by the perspective of globalisation.

The findings of the research indicate that the public sector reforms and the transition from cash accounting to accrual accounting in the public sector have been strongly affected by the global pressures imposed by international agencies such as International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) and the World Bank (WB). Empirical evidence shows the dysfunctional impact of globalisation in the public sector accounting standards as there are major structural issues yet to resolve. There are increasing doubts over whether the change to accrual accounting is worth the costs and the additional risks involved.

The results of the interviews are based on the knowledge and past experiences of interviewees. What is generalisable is an understanding of the processes and mechanisms that relate to the way the public sector accounting functions.

This paper adds new literature on public sector accounting in LDCs, which recognises the nexus and interests of international agencies and practice of public sector accounting.

A cross‐cultural model of international accounting compatibility is offered by blending Perera's (1989) cultural schema with other dynamic theories. Rahman's (1990) explanatory variables of the accounting regulator and the profession are included along with costly contracting theories (Watts and Zimmerman, 1990) regarding management's behaviour. These latter perspectives help explain the dynamic changes in the external environment. An application of the resulting cross‐cultural model follows through an examination of the potential accounting impact of the emerging free trade zone between New Zealand and Australia. The ability of the tuo national systems to harmonise is suggested by similarities in the environmental factors identified by the extended model. Differences in the regulatory approach between New Zealand and Australia are shown to be supported by underlying cultural factors and may be a persistent barrier. Recent initiatives are les sening this gap. The implications for the New Zealand Society of Accountants' ability to retain control over the standard setting process in New Zealand are also considered.

This study investigates the perceived suitability of the international accounting standards among the Jordanian preparers, users and auditors. Multivariate analysis and non‐parametric statistics are applied to test hypotheses. The t‐test was used to measure the suitability of IAS to the Jordanian environment. The results indicated that IASC is a neutral body and therefore is capable of producing neutral and relevant accounting standards that might be applied by developing countries. The ANOVA and the Chisquare tests were applied to test variation in the perceived suitability of IAS to the Jordanian environment. The results indicated that the type of audit firm, years of experience and type of experience affected the respondents’ views towards the suitability of IAS to Jordan. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the most influential factor affecting the adoption of IAS in Jordan. The results indicated that the local need for foreign investments and international audit firms were the most influential factors while local and foreign investors in addition to the international audit firms are the biggest beneficiaries of that adoption. Finally, this study found that no attempt had been made by the Jordanian regulators to benefit from the past experience of other developing countries. The respondents believed that in order to increase the reliability of Jordanian financial information IAS were quickly adopted without any discussion as to whether each IAS was suitable to the Jordanian context.

Accountability has frequently been presented as a rational practice that can and should be implemented in all governance structures including civil society, economic institutions and organizations. In accounting, it has been identified as a primary objective of financial reporting. This paper examines two emotional states, i.e. guilt and shame that are likely to influence accountability. The paper argues that (a) accountability through information disclosure is a cultural practice closely associated with the emotional state of guilt that is common in certain cultures, and (b) in cultures where the emotional state of shame is common, accountability is likely to be weak and, people are likely to be negatively inclined towards information disclosure. Studies in psychology have also shown that “typical” shame experiences were common in collectivistic, large power‐distance and high uncertainty avoidance cultures; while “typical” guilt experiences were more pronounced in individualistic, small power distance and low uncertainty avoidance cultures.

This paper investigates the financial disclosure practices of corporate annual reports published in Asian countries including Bangladesh, Indonesian, Malaysia and the Middle East countries including Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The purpose of the study is to measure the financial disclosure diversity in these countries, with a view to developing a classification of their similarities and differences in respect to their compliance with International Accounting Standards (IAS). Annual reports of 126 public companies liisted on the countries' stock exchanges are the central data source, supplemented with other relevant information about financial disclosure practices in each country. A disclosure checklist adopted from all IASs and summarised in 306 individual items of financial disclosures is used as a means of extending an understanding of financial reporting in these countries. Results show the relative degree of conformity with IASs for each of the countries included in this study.

In this paper, grounded theory is investigated and applied to research on electronic commerce in order to demonstrate its use and potential limitations in accounting research. Grounded theory enables relevant theoretical concepts to emerge from the data and, in this way, leads to discovery. In treating ‘all as data’, grounded theory uses a pragmatic approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data and datagathering methods to encourage a rich understanding of the situation. This enables the generation of theory rather than the confirmation of existing theory. To illustrate this process, this paper demonstrates the emergence, with the use of grounded theory, of a definition for electronic commerce.

This study investigates the impact of environmental influences, particularly a secretive aspect of Chinese culture, on voluntary corporate disclosure practices. Evidence is provided of the similarly low level of voluntary disclosure by Hong Kong (HK) and Singaporian listed industrial companies. Further, a comparative analysis with prior research on UK/US companies indicates that the extent of voluntary disclosure by HK and Singaporian companies is lower overall. However, while this finding applies to both financial and nonfinancial information, it is not so in the case of strategic information for HK companies.

This paper reports the results of a study on the half‐yearly reporting compliance practices of Australian and Singapore listed companies. The possible influence of four contingent variables (country of origin, industry, company size and debt leverage) upon compliance practices is considered. In relation to the issue of half‐yearly reporting, a theoretical framework developed by Thomas (1991) is utilised by linking the variables examined to compliance practices adopted. 186 half‐yearly reports were examined for this study in the 1995/6 fiscal year from Australia and Singapore. The degree of compliance was measured using a compliance index. A series of statistical tools, namely analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent sample t‐test, logistic and multiple regressions, were used to analyse the data collected. Tests conducted to examine whether there was a significant country‐effect upon compliance practices adopted found overwhelming evidence to conclude that Singaporean companies' compliance was significantly higher than their Australian counterparts.