The complex equilibrium paths towards international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and the Anglo-American model: the case of Japan

We adopt the accounting ecology framework of Gernon and Wallace (1995) to investigate the unique Japanese process of accounting reforms and convergence. The uniqueness of the Japanese accounting framework is primarily the result of the integration of the Japanese traditional accounting system and its surrounding infrastructures with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the Anglo-American model, and the liberal market economies (LMEs). The objective of this study is to demonstrate that accounting as the language of business is deeply embedded in the historical, legal, business and economic environments of each country and that these contextual factors cannot be ignored in the process of significant accounting reforms, including accounting convergence. The paper provides evidence that even in the process of global accounting convergence countries are not achieving de facto convergence because optimal mechanisms of the accounting system and its surrounding infrastructures are contextual and embedded in the accounting ecology of each country.