Research, Standard Setting, and Global Financial Reporting

The objective of this paper is to aid researchers in conducting research relevant to global financial reporting issues, particularly those of interest to financial reporting standard setters. The mission of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is to develop a single set of financial reporting standards that are accepted worldwide. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is committed to convergence of its standards with those of the IASB. Thus, global financial reporting issues relate to particular topics on the agendas of the IASB and the FASB. They also relate to globalization of financial reporting itself. This paper discusses research related to both types of issues and explains how that research can aid standard setters in resolving global financial reporting issues as well as contribute to the academic literature. The issues facing global financial reporting standard setters are broad, difficult, and complex. Research can provide input to their resolution. To do so, researchers need to understand not only the issues themselves, but also how to develop research questions and designs that are relevant to the issues, from the perspective of both standard setting and the academic literature.