The Economics and Politics of Accounting

Christian Leuz is Assistant Professor in Accounting at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to this position, he lectured at the Otto Beisheim Graduate School of Management, the University of Tübingen, and Goethe University Frankfurt. He was the Harry Reynolds International Visiting Professor at the Wharton School and a visiting post-doctoral fellow at the Simon School of Business, University of Rochester. Professor Leuz earned his doctoral degree in 1996 at the Goethe University Frankfurt where he also received his "Habilitation" in Business Administration in 2000. He has published numerous articles. Currently, he is an associate editor of the European Accounting Review. Professor Leuz is a Fellow of the Financial Institutions Center and received several grants and honors, of which the 'Best Paper Award 2002' granted by the German Association of Business Professors is the latest. Dieter Pfaff is Professor of Accounting in the Department of Economics, Business Administration, and Information Technology, at the University of Zurich. Prior to this position Professor Pfaff lectured at the University of Frankfurt. Professor Pfaff has published a number of works on accounting. Anthony Hopwood is the Peter Moores Dean of the Saïd Business School, the American Standard Companies Professor of Operations Management, and Student of Christ Church at the University of Oxford. Educated at the London School of Economics and the University of Chicago, prior to moving to Oxford in 1995 Professor Hopwood had held professorships at the London Business School and the London School of Economics. He also is the President of the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, Brussels. Professor Hopwood is also Editor-in-Chief of the major international research journal, Accounting, Organizations and Society. He has served as a consultant to commercial, governmental and international organizations. Professor Hopwood holds honorary doctorates from universities in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

PART I: ONE THE ECONOMICS AND ROLES OF ACCOUNTING; ROLES OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING: EQUITY VALUATION; ROLES OF FIANANCIAL ACCOUNTING: PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE; PART II: ON THE REGULATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF ACCOUNTING; DISCLOSURE REGULATION; ENFORCEMENT OF ACCOUNTING STANDARDS; PART III: ON THE POLITICS AND STANDARD SETTING OF ACCOUNTING; THE ROLE OF ACCOUNTING IN SOCIETY AND CONSTITUENT LOBBYING; STANDARD SETTING PROCESSES AND INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS