Accounting Reform In Transition And Developing Economies

The editor has assembled a stellar group of experts to address such topics as: accounting reform in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Armenia, Serbia, China, and Spain; accounting education and development of the accounting profession in several transition economies; and corporate governance issues in the developing world.

Much has been written about the economic and political problems of countries that are in the process of changing from centrally planned systems to market systems. Most studies have focused on the economic, legal, political, and sociological problems these economies have had to face during the transition period. However, not much has been written about the dramatic changes that have to be made to the accounting and financial system of a transition economy. Accounting and Financial System Reform in a Transition Economy: A Case Study of Russia was written to help fill that gap.

Much has been written about the economic and political problems of countries that are in the process of changing from centrally planned systems to market systems. Most studies have focused on the economic, legal, political, and sociological pr- lems these economies have had to face during the transition period. However, not much has been written about the dramatic changes that have to be made to the accounting and ? nancial system of a transition economy. This book was written to help ? ll that gap. This book is the sixth in a series to examine accounting and ? nancial system reform in transition and developing economies. The ? rst book (Accounting and Financial System Reform in a Transition Economy: A Case Study of Russia) used Russia as a case study. The second volume in the series (Accounting and Financial System Reform in Eastern Europe and Asia) examined some additional aspects of the reform in Russia and also looked at the accounting and ? nancial system reform efforts that are being made in Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. The third volume (Taxation and Public Finance in Tran- tion and Developing Economies) examined taxation and public ? nance in transition and developing economies. The fourth volume (Accounting Reform in Transition and Developing Economies) examines accounting reform in transition and devel- ing economies.

"Corporate Governance in Transition Economies" will appeal to a wide segment of the academic market including accounting and finance professors and students because the main theme of the book deals with accounting and financial system reform. Economists in the subfields of transition economics and development economics for it addresses current issues in their field. It will also appeal to scholars in the field of Russian and East European Studies because the book discusses topics involving Russia, Ukraine and other East European countries. Policy analysts who deal with accounting, finance, transition economics or Russia or Eastern Europe will also find this book to be a valuable reference and source of current information.

Topics in this comprehensive survey include bureaucracy, corruption and tax compliance; public finance in developing economies; taxation in several former Soviet republics, Eastern Europe and China; taxation in the enlarged European Union; tax harmonization vs. tax competition; and the philosophy of taxation and public finance. The editor has assembled a stellar group of authorities to write about their areas of expertise.

Much has been written about the economic and political problems of countries that are in the process of changing from centrally planned systems to market systems. Most studies have focused on the economic, legal, political and sociological problems these economies have had to face during the transition period. However, not much has been written about the dramatic changes that have to be made to the accounting and financial system of a transition economy. This book was written to help fill that gap. This book is the second in a series to examine accounting and financial system reform in transition economies. The first book used Russia as a case study. The present volume in the series examines some additional aspects of the reform in Russia and also looks at the accounting and financial system reform efforts that are being made in Ukraine, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Armenia and five Central Asian republics.

This paper reviews the role of accounting in budget system reform from the perspective of emerging economies who wish to adopt the OECD's performance budgeting reforms. While many OECD countries, pursuing the reforms associated with the New Public Management, have moved their accounting systems from a cash to an accrual basis, this paper argues that given the costs involved, such a move is perhaps only worthwhile in the context of adopting much wider public sector management reforms. Moreover, while recognizing that accrual accounting does support public expenditure management best practices, it is also argued that many of the objectives of performance-oriented budgeting can be attained by less than full accrual accounting, and that unless certain preconditions are met it is safer for countries to remain with, and improve, their cash-based accounting systems. For those countries with sound enough cash-based systems the paper describes a possible phased approach to the introduction of accruals, as well as the parallel stages of adopting the new international GFSM 2001 reporting requirements.

Accounting in Transition will prove useful to all readers interested in international accounting. Also those who wish to learn more about the nature of the changes which have occurred in Europe and the consequent problems which have arisen.