Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The interplay between global accounting firms and national institutional contexts: The establishment of the Big Four in China from 1978 to 2007

Wen, Wenjun LU and Sonnerfeldt, Amanda LU (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:
author
and
organization
publishing date
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}},
}