Chapter 1 Globalization and Accounting Convergence – Overview

This research monograph critically examines convergence with the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Germany by taking into account the influence of political, legal, economic, social, cultural, and historical factors on accounting principles and practices. This study makes a contribution by examining issues in the convergence process that may create constraints in achieving global comparability and, importantly, may challenge the International Accounting Standards Board's (IASB) main objective: “to develop, in the public interest, a single set of high-quality, understandable, enforceable and globally accepted financial reporting standards based on clearly articulated principles” ( IFRS Foundation, 2011a , Preface to IFRS). Specifically, this research monograph examines convergence in Germany by analyzing the development of German accounting and examining issues and attitudes concerning the application of professional judgment, which has increasingly been recognized as an important and controversial topic in international accounting ( Barth, Landsman, & Rendleman, 2000 ; Chand & White, 2006 ; Dechow, Myers, & Shakespeare, 2010 ; Patel, 2006 ; Theile, 2003 ).