The Interplay between Conflicting Institutions, Power Relations and Maket Forces in Finnish Accounting Harmonization

Drawing on institutional theory, this paper analyses the interplay between institutionalized accounting practices of conflicting institutions, power relations and market forces on the harmonization of Finnish financial accounting over the past thirty years. The study applies a discourse analysis approach and examines the change in Finnish financial accounting under three discourses, which are labelled: national, European and international. The study frames the history of the transition to international financial reporting standards (IFRS) within a European context to better understand how accounting has been shaped by transformations in the macroeconomics as well as influenced by powerful institutional actors and institutions. The findings indicate that macro-economic thinking and powerful actors caused pressure to harmonize financial accounting, although the opposition argued for the preservation of the institutionalized national accounting theory. The paper ends with a discussion and some suggestions for further research.