Table Of Contents:

Financial Reporting in The Global Arena 1(32)

Introduction 1(2)

Interaction Between Accounting and Its Environment 3(8)

Nature of Capital Markets 3(1)

Type of Reporting Regime 4(1)

Size and Complexity of Business Entities 5(1)

Type of Legal System 5(1)

Level of Enforcement of Regulations 6(1)

Rate of Inflation 6(1)

Political and Economic Ties 7(1)

Stature of the Accounting Profession 8(1)

Existence of a Conceptual Framework 9(1)

Quality of Accounting Education 10(1)

Diverse Roles of Accounting in Countries 11(5)

Policy Choices in Accounting 13(3)

Effects of Diversity on Capital Markets 16(3)

Classification of Financial Accounting and Reporting Systems 19(3)

Review of Selected Classification Studies 19(3)

Major Challenges Facing Accounting Globally 22(2)

Global Convergence 22(1)

Quality of Financial Reporting in Developed and Emerging Economies 22(1)

Social Responsibilty Reporting 22(1)

Financial Reporting in the High Technology Era 23(1)

Summary 24(1)

Questions 24(1)

Exercises 25(2)

Cases 27(2)

References 29(4)

The Move to International Financial Reporting Standards 33(38)

Introduction 33(1)

Rationale for Harmonization 34(2)

Pressures for Harmonization 36(1)

Investors 36(1)

Multinational Companies 36(1)

Regulators 36(1)

The Securities Industry and Stock Exchanges 37(1)

Emerging Economies 37(1)

Obstacles to Harmonization 37(2)

Measuring Harmonization 39(1)

Supra-national Organizations Engaged in Accounting Harmonization 40(11)

International Accounting Standards Committee 40(1)

International Accounting Standards Board 41(1)

International Federation of Accountants 42(7)

International Organization of Securities Commissions 49(1)

United Nations 50(1)

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 50(1)

Other Harmonization Efforts 51(2)

Bilateral or Mutual Agreemetns 51(1)

World-Class Issuer 52(1)

The IASC/IOSCO Initiative 53(1)

Transition to IFRS in the US 53(1)

Evidence on Harmonization 54(7)

Global 54(1)

Regional 55(6)

Summary 61(1)

Questions 61(2)

Exercises 63(1)

Cases 64(3)

References 67(4)

Accounting for Currency Exchange Rate Changes 71(28)

Introduction 71(1)

Overview of Foreign Currency Markets and Exchange Rates 72(1)

Foreign Exchange Exposure 73(2)

Accounting for Exchange Rate Fluctuations 75(6)

Foreign Currency Transaction Versus Translation 75(3)

Translation Methods 78(3)

Foreign Currency Translation in the United States 81(10)

FASB Statement No. 8 (SFAS No. 8) 82(1)

FASB Statement No. 52 (SFAS No. 52) 83(3)

SFAS No. 52 and the Functional Currency Concept 86(2)

SFAS No. 52 Translation in Highly Inflationary Economies 88(1)

SFAS No. 133 - Accounting for Derivatives and Hedging Activities 89(1)

SFAS No. 161 - Disclosures About Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities 90(1)

The International Accounting Standard on Foreign Currency Translation 91(1)

Summary 92(1)

Questions 92(1)

Exercises 93(1)

Cases 94(1)

References 95(4)

Selected Financial Reporting and Disclosure Issues in the Global Context 99(52)

Introduction 99(1)

Accounting for Changing Prices 100(9)

Inflation-Adjusted Accounting Models 102(1)

General Price Level Adjusted (GPLA) Model 103(4)

Current Cost-Adjusted (CCA) Model 107(2)

Accounting for Intangible Assets 109(5)

Goodwill 110(1)

Brands, Patents, and Trademarks 111(2)

Research and Development 113(1)

Geographic Segment Reporting 114(9)

Research Evidence on Geographic Segment Reporting 115(6)

Developments in Geographic Segment Reporting 121(2)

Environmental and Social Reporting 123(18)

Environmental Disclosures 123(8)

Employee Disclosures 131(4)

Global Reporting Intitiative (GRI) 135(3)

Value-added Statement 138(3)

Summary 141(1)

Questions 141(2)

Exercises 143(2)

Cases 145(2)

References 147(4)

Using Corporate Financial Reports Across Borders 151(38)

Introduction 151(1)

Corporate Responses to Foreign Users of Financial Statements 152(12)

Coping With Transnational Financial Reporting 164(3)

Preparer Response to Transnational Financial Reporting 164(1)

User Response to Transnational Financial Reporting 165(2)

International Financial Statement Analysis 167(8)

Depreciation and Revaluation of Long-lived Assets 168(1)

Goodwill 168(1)

Foreign Exchange 169(1)

Pension and Other Post-employment Benefits 170(1)

Consolidation and Group Reporting 171(1)

Taxation 171(4)

Additional Issues in International Financial Statement Analysis 175(3)

Availability of Data 175(1)

Reliability of Data 175(1)

Timeliness of Data 176(1)

Language, Terminology, and Format 176(2)

Summary 178(1)

Questions 178(1)

Exercises 179(3)

Cases 182(5)

References 187(2)

Financial Reporting in Emerging Capital Markets 189(34)

Introduction 189(2)

The Nature and Importance of Emerging Capital Markets 191(2)

The Role of Financial Reporting in Emerging Capital Markets 193(1)

Characteristics of Financial Reporting in Emerging Capital Markets 194(8)

Availability 194(2)

Reliability 196(4)

Comparability 200(2)

Financial Reporting Policy Issues in Emerging Capital Markets 202(4)

Information Availability 202(1)

Strengthening Enforcement Capability 203(2)

Convergence of Accounting Standards 205(1)

Caveats Based on Recent Developments 205(1)

Accounting in Selected Emerging Capital Markets 206(7)

Mexico 206(3)

People's Republic of China (PRC) 209(4)

Summary 213(1)

Questions 214(1)

Exercises 215(2)

Cases 217(2)

References 219(4)

Managerial Issues In International Accounting 223(34)

Introduction 223(1)

Budgeting and Performance Evaluation 224(3)

Using Appropriate Performance Measures 224(1)

Using Appropriate Currencies 225(1)

Transfer Pricing Policies 225(1)

Other Considerations 226(1)

Distinguishing Between Manager Performance and Subsidiary Performance 226(1)

Some Comparative Evidence on Budgets and Performance Evaluation Systems 227(1)

Global Risk Management 227(5)

Multinational Capital Budgeting 228(1)

Managing Foreign Exchange Risk 229(3)

Transfer Pricing 232(8)

Major Constituents Affected by Transfer Pricing Choices 232(1)

Internal Constituents 233(1)

External Constituents 233(2)

Transfer Pricing Methods 235(2)

Advanced Pricing Agreements 237(1)

Research Evidence on Determinats of International Transfer Pricing Methods 238(2)

Information Technology 240(3)

Complexities Involving IT Systems for MNCs 240(1)

Global IT Challenges and Strategies 241(2)

Summary 243(1)

Questions 243(1)

Exercises 244(2)

Cases 246(2)

References 248(3)

APPENDICES

List of Abbreviations 251(2)

Directory of Relevant Web Sites 253(4)
Subject Index 257