Economic Consequences of Global Accounting Convergence: An Experimental Study of a Coordination Game

Abstract

This paper examines whether the movement toward convergence of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has ended. The methodology for this research is based on comparative institutional analysis and experimental game theory. In addition, we adopt a 3 × 3 coordination game because an essential factor of global accounting convergence is the coordination of accounting standards. The results confirm the termination of a movement toward the convergence of IFRS. Namely, our experiments indicate that global accounting convergence toward IFRS may not be successful. This is because some “egoist” countries maintain their initial systems and do not enter long-term cooperation.