The interplay between global accounting firms and national institutional contexts: The establishment of the Big Four in China from 1978 to 2007
(2022) In Accounting History 27(1). p.95-124- Abstract
- This paper provides an analysis of the establishment of global accounting firms (the ‘Big Four’) in China between 1978 and 2007. Drawing on the extant literature on professional service firms, and the work of Faulconbridge and Muzio (2015), this paper examines how the Big Four entered China following the country’s ‘Reform and Opening-up’ and evolved from tentative representative offices to established accounting firms in the Chinese audit market. Based on an extensive analysis of archival materials and interviews, the findings of this paper show that the Big Four’s establishment in China has been deeply intertwined with the country’s socio-political and economic transition. It reveals important conjunctural moments in history that have... (More)
- This paper provides an analysis of the establishment of global accounting firms (the ‘Big Four’) in China between 1978 and 2007. Drawing on the extant literature on professional service firms, and the work of Faulconbridge and Muzio (2015), this paper examines how the Big Four entered China following the country’s ‘Reform and Opening-up’ and evolved from tentative representative offices to established accounting firms in the Chinese audit market. Based on an extensive analysis of archival materials and interviews, the findings of this paper show that the Big Four’s establishment in China has been deeply intertwined with the country’s socio-political and economic transition. It reveals important conjunctural moments in history that have provided the Big Four with important windows of opportunity to actively shape local institutional change to their own interests. This paper contributes to the extant accounting literature on the expansion of the Big Four in China by highlighting the interplay between their surrounding institutional context and their capacity for agency. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1f15a1cc-8b04-4e0c-90c1-ac6f5b7d6e81
- author
- Wen, Wenjun LU and Sonnerfeldt, Amanda LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- public accounting profession, the Big Four, institutional change, china
- in
- Accounting History
- volume
- 27
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 30 pages
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85112067125
- ISSN
- 1032-3732
- DOI
- 10.1177/10323732211058183
- project
- ‘Standards for assurance in a globalizing world’ funded by Ragnar Söderbergs Stiftelse completed 30/4/2017
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 1f15a1cc-8b04-4e0c-90c1-ac6f5b7d6e81
- date added to LUP
- 2021-12-06 11:55:08
- date last changed
- 2022-04-21 04:42:24
@article{1f15a1cc-8b04-4e0c-90c1-ac6f5b7d6e81, abstract = {{This paper provides an analysis of the establishment of global accounting firms (the ‘Big Four’) in China between 1978 and 2007. Drawing on the extant literature on professional service firms, and the work of Faulconbridge and Muzio (2015), this paper examines how the Big Four entered China following the country’s ‘Reform and Opening-up’ and evolved from tentative representative offices to established accounting firms in the Chinese audit market. Based on an extensive analysis of archival materials and interviews, the findings of this paper show that the Big Four’s establishment in China has been deeply intertwined with the country’s socio-political and economic transition. It reveals important conjunctural moments in history that have provided the Big Four with important windows of opportunity to actively shape local institutional change to their own interests. This paper contributes to the extant accounting literature on the expansion of the Big Four in China by highlighting the interplay between their surrounding institutional context and their capacity for agency.}}, author = {{Wen, Wenjun and Sonnerfeldt, Amanda}}, issn = {{1032-3732}}, keywords = {{public accounting profession; the Big Four; institutional change; china}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{1}}, pages = {{95--124}}, publisher = {{SAGE Publications}}, series = {{Accounting History}}, title = {{The interplay between global accounting firms and national institutional contexts: The establishment of the Big Four in China from 1978 to 2007}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10323732211058183}}, doi = {{10.1177/10323732211058183}}, volume = {{27}}, year = {{2022}}, }