Les acteurs de la normalisation comptable internationale : une communauté épistémique ?

The purpose of this paper is to characterize the participants involved in the setting of international accounting standards since 2001. The reference to studies on the role of the expert in standard-setting on the one hand, and in the field of transnational governance on the other hand leads to suggest the concept of epistemic community in order to describe the international standard setters' community. Following a historical description of the international accounting standard-setting institutions and an analysis of the successive constitutions on the required profiles, the relevance of this concept is discussed. An analysis of the membership of some of the bodies of the international institution highlights the nature of the expertise, the existence of shared values and the adhesion to a one best way of making standards.