You, Her and Me: Exploring the Dynamics of Accounting Regulatory Space Alignment in a Transnational Setting

Seminar summary

The purpose of this longitudinal study is to explore the dynamics of accounting regulatory space realignment in the context of Bangladesh, characterised by the presence of a weak accountancy profession, the traditional dominance of the World Bank, and emergence of a new national level accounting regulator in the form of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).

The paper draws on the concept of regulatory space (Hancher and Mora, 1984) and Oliver's (1991) typology of strategic responses to institutional pressures to theorise the dynamics of relationships between the three major actors and the legitimisation process of the new regulator.

The empirical work for this paper is based on 42 interviews taken between 2009 and 2018 with major actors in accountancy profession, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), and the World Bank, as well as the author's participation in three events organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) and the World Bank.

The longitudinal nature of this study was helpful in developing a deeper understanding of the changing nature of relationships between the ICAB, the World Bank and the GoB over time.

• The accountancy profession adopted a strategy of defiance at the prospect of new regulations, it went into a compromise mode once the new FRC was established.
• The World Bank faced aggressive regulatee resistance through the adoption of a defiance strategy, however due to changes in the nature if its relationship with the GoB, it later pursued a strategy of compromise.
• The GoB on the other hand, initially adopted a strategy of passive acquiescence in response to the World Bank's pressure for setting up a new regulatory body. Due to the changing nature of its relationship with the World Bank, it later rejected a number of proposals made by the World Bank regarding the structure of the FRC and delayed the establishment of the body. 

After the stock market crash of 2009, the GoB defied resistance from the local accountancy profession and established the FRC, Once established, the newly formulated FRC adopted a strategy of compromise prompted by concerns regarding its legitimacy.

By highlighting the interactions between two regulators and a regulatee, this paper extends prior work on regulatory realignment in an accounting regulatory area (Canning and O'Dwyer, 2013; Artiach et. al, 2016). The findings of this study also confirm the importance of national politics and social context on the development of accounting regulations, even within a transnational regulatory space.

Booking

This is an open event. Please feel free to bring your colleagues, friends and classmates along.

Speaker bio

Dr Javed Siddiqui is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at the University of Manchester. He also the Director of the newly introduced MSc Accounting programme. He joined Manchester Business School as a Lecturer in 2008 and was promoted to a Senior Lecturer in 2015.

Javed's primary fields of research are

• auditing
• corporate governance
• corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, especially in the context of developing economies

His research has been funded by the Institute of Charted Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) and the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, UK.

Dr Siddiqui works as a consultant for

• a number of international development agencies, such as the World Bank and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),
• Big four accountancy firms (such as Ernst & Young)
• national level professional accountancy bodies (such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants if Bangladesh).

Javed has supervised a number of PhD students ad works as an ad-hoc reviewer for internationally reputed journals. He was also the programme director for MSc Accounting and Finance Programme and is an undergraduate awards examiner at the University of Essex and the University of Hull