Abstract

The purpose of this study is to critically synthesize extant research on the legitimacy of private accounting standard setters in order to inform future research opportunities. This study presupposes that legitimacy is an important issue for the survival of private accounting standard setters who face legitimacy claims from stakeholders and regulatory competition from other standard-setting bodies due to their lack of a democratic foundation. Findings show that the definition, typology, sources, and legitimacy characteristics that researchers use depend on the theoretical perspectives that they employ in their analysis. Simultaneously, they do have some common points despite the difference in their perspectives. Regarding legitimacy changes, prior studies suggest that moving from practical toward cultural legitimacy, the importance of due process, and the role of crises all affect these changes. The review also identifies future research directions as well as several challenges for legitimacy studies in accounting, namely defining an analytical framework, focus on the dynamic nature of legitimacy and output legitimacy, and the need for more empirical studies, among others.

摘要

这项研究的目的是批判性地综合有关私人会计准则制定者合法性的现有研究，以便为将来的研究机会提供信息。这项研究以合法性为前提，因为私有会计标准制定者由于缺乏民主基础而面临利益相关者的合法性要求以及来自其他准则制定机构的监管竞争，因此它们的生存是一个重要问题。研究结果表明，研究人员使用的定义，类型，来源和合法性特征取决于他们在分析中所采用的理论观点。同时，尽管他们的观点有所不同，但他们确实有一些共同点。关于合法性的变化，先前的研究表明，从实际合法性转向文化合法性，正当程序的重要性，危机的作用都影响着这些变化。审查还确定了未来的研究方向以及会计合法性研究的几个挑战，即定义分析框架，关注合法性和产出合法性的动态性质以及进行更多实证研究的需求等。