Culture And The Relationship Of Accounting Standards

The accountant survives in a specific cultural environment as a kind of social work activity. The cultural environmental factor is influencing the accounting theory and development of the accountant practice. Cultural difference of the different countries and nation is one of the important factors that cause the difference of accounting criterion system in different nation. This paper researches the relation between culture and accounting criterion, from which it is count for seek a thinking way in terms of culture for the development of criterion.On the research approach, the relatively studied method is in extensive application of this paper. It analyzes and compares from vertical history and culture aspect, horizontal region culture aspect, the divided corporate culture and organization culture aspect in order to find out the inherent connection and difference among them. In addition this paper introduces the relevant theories of new institutional economics, in terms of formal institution and unofficial institution, to analyze the relation between culture and accounting criterion.This paper is divided into 4 parts.Chapter one proceeds with concept of culture--analyze the broadly-definedcultural concept and narrowly-defined cultural concept, and takes for culture as the reflection of the human colony's values. It then analyzes function and characteristic of culture, recommends the cultural orientation theory of Hofstede, and regards this theory as basic theory to study the relation between culture and accounting criterion. Finally it analyzes the corporate culture which is in the inferior layer of culture.Chapter two at first explains the factors which influence the making and implement of criterion, such as the development level factor of social productivity, economic factor, political factor, educational factor and so on, in which the cultural factor is one of the important ones too. Based on Gray's culture values theory, thepaper think culture is influencing accounting criterion from four respects--professionalism and law control, unity and flexibility, solidity and optimism, secret and transparent.Chapter three analyzes the essential feature of the traditional culture of our country emphatically from culture background, and thinks traditional culture in our country is in the transition period of making for modernization at present. Then, it reviews the development of accounting criterion in our country, and through analyzing the difference of Sino-America culture and accounting criterion, it proposes the essential feature of and some problems existed in the development of accounting criterion in terms of culture.Chapter four discusses the development of accounting criterion in our country in terms of improvement of the cultural environment and considers the development and perfection of the cultural environment and accounting criterion system are interactional. If uses the theory of new institutional economics to analyze the relation between the cultural environment development and setting-up of the accounting criterion system, and puts forward that the internationalized development of accounting criterion should suit with the traditional culture environment. Finally, this paper proposes some suggestions on the improvement of the accounting cultural environment mainly aimed to the setting-up of accounting culture.