Contenu du sommaire : Varia

1880-1914, the failure to achieve standardised balance-sheet : A massed opportunity of standardisationDespite a long tradition of state intervention, at the beginning of this century France was one of the European countries with the most liberal accounting rules. Nevertheless, the spectacular increase in the number of limited liability companies occurring during this period produced financial scandals which led to periodical attempts at accounting reforms. There were even proposals for balance sheet standardisation. As a result of the success of liberal ideas, of lobbying and of lack of organization among accountants, no reform were achieved. The codification of accounting rules subsequently became the task of the tax administration, following the establishment of an income-tax in 1914. In consequence, tax considerations weigh heavly on freneh accountings.

Accounting low an business law: a renewed approach of proprietorshipThis paper points out the ties between accounting theory (or accounting law) and business law, and propose a new approach of accounting law and of the french accounting proprietorship principle. The scientific contribution of business law to accounting law is significant, especially because business law incorporates economic references into juridical reasoningThe conceptual contribution of business law allows first to overcome a descriptive approach of accounting law and to propose a definition of the main principles leading accounting law. The methodological contribution of business law allows then to acknowledge the principle of substance over form as a main component of the french proprietorship principle.

Strategic income management: the case of firms issuing forecasts prior to an initial public offeringIn this paper, we investigate the motivation for managers to engage in strategic earnings management following the issue of forecasts for purposes of initials public offerings (IPO's). Firms issuing forecasts in their prospectuses are expected to differ from non-forecasters in their level of earnings management during the year following the public offering. Results from a sample of Quebec IPO firms indicate that earnings management is driven by contractual obligations and that the decision to include a forecast influences a firm's subsequent accruals behaviour. The study provides further evidence as to the validity of contracting hypotheses when attempting to explain managers' motivation underlying accounting decisions. This research gives some support for positive accounting theory in a new and unique context in which forecasts are identified as a form of implicit contract between a firm and its contracting parties.

Activity based costing: a question of meaning(s)New costing systems and specifically ABC, are based on a new vision of the operations of the firm and a new approach to value. The first part of the text illustrates the shift from a vertical vision of the firm focused on the main fonctions, to a horizontal vision in which process play the main role. This vision shift finds its translation in the new approach to cost calculation. The second part of the text explains how the new costing system, and the associated performance measuring system, modify the process of creation of meaning inside the firm. This modification alters the behaviour of the firm's actors and leads the firm on a new route that will be difficult to anticipate.

Researchers a European perspective in accounting and management controlThis paper aims to emphasize and illustrate the relevance of international comparative approaches which focus on better understanding cultural differences in management accounting and control. Such approaches are particularly fruitful in the European context where they highlight diversity — an essential character of any « European management model ».We first describe, as an initial example of comparative analysis, the various processes of emerging organisational research and schools of management thought in Europe, as distinct from the US. Some different management and accounting information systems in France and the UK, compared on the basis of field research, provide a second illustration in support of comparative approaches.