ABSTRACT
In the development stages, fair value accounting was a notable impediment to the full adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and hence received special attention from both standard setters and accounting academics. The authors offer a critical perspective on the institutional, political and social environments that may act as drivers of China’s IFRS adoption and the implementation of fair value accounting, along with contrasting aspects that may impede convergence or challenge its fundamental appropriateness. They suggest that an understanding of the drivers of acceptance of particular accounting methods, and their economic consequences for society, can enhance future accounting standard setting and practice.
