Classification of Accounting Systems Using Competencies As A Discriminating Variable: A Great Britain‐United States Study

• Published date: 01 September 1989
• Author: Edward R. Shoenthal
• Date: 01 September 1989
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5957.1989.tb00037.x

Journal

.f

Business

Finance

t3

Accounting,

16(4) Autumn 1989, 0306 686X

$2.50

CLASSIFICATION

OF

ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS USING

COMPETENCIES AS

A

DISCRIMINATING VARIABLE:

A

GREAT BRITAIN-UNITED STATES STUDY

EDWARD

R.

SHOENTHAL'

INTRODUCTION

Accounting

is

a social system much like language and law.

As

such, it tends to evolve

by adapting to its environment. (Report of the Study Group on the Objectives of

Financial Statements,

1973,

p.

13)

Diversity of social systems has led to differences in nationa1 accounting systems;

however, the accounting profession has attempted to accommodate

or

har-

monize the systems.

The extent of the disparity and the underlying reasons have been discussed

by McComb (1979):

Various national accounting systems have each evolved in response to societal need

and demands within the countries concerned. If this is accepted as an explanation

and a justification

for

difference, it would be useful to identify the factors which may

have contributed to each singular national accounting system. (p.6)

When certain factors, i.e. political, economic, sociocultural, are considered,

many countries combine into groups

or

clusters based upon the degree of

similarity for the selected factors. One cluster constitutes a system of account-

ing different from others. This has been confirmed by Seidler (1967), Mueller

(1968), Abu-Jbarah (1972), Previts (1975), Da Costa, Bourgeois and Lawson

(1978), Frank (1979), Nair and Frank (1980), Belkaoui (1983), Nobes (1983),

Doupnik and Taylor (1984), and Amenkhienan, Briner and Pitts (1986).

None of these studies utilized accounting education (including training) and

the resulting competencies as a factor in differentiating countries into account-

ing clusters. Education as a factor in the clustering phenomenon is not new.

It has been acknowledged that accounting education and skills directly influence

the approach to and practice of accounting (Choi and Mueller, 1984,

pp.41-45). There may well be differences between national or regional com-

petencies exhibited by practicing professionals that result from their educa-

tional experiences.

In order to determine whether competencies of professional accountants are

a factor in differentiating accounting systems and clusters, Great Britain (GB)

and the United States

(US)

were studied. Research indicated that these coun-

tries are components of two distinct clusters

or

dissimilar accounting systems.

*

The author

is

Professor in the Department

of

Economics, Brooklyn College, City University

of

New York. (Paper received February 1987, revised November 1987)

549