Christian Leuz is Assistant Professor in Accounting at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to this position, he lectured at the Otto Beisheim Graduate School of Management, the University of Tübingen, and Goethe University Frankfurt. He was the Harry Reynolds International Visiting Professor at the Wharton School and a visiting post-doctoral fellow at the Simon School of Business, University of Rochester. Professor Leuz earned his doctoral degree in 1996 at the Goethe University Frankfurt where he also received his "Habilitation" in Business Administration in 2000. He has published numerous articles. Currently, he is an associate editor of the European Accounting Review. Professor Leuz is a Fellow of the Financial Institutions Center and received several grants and honors, of which the 'Best Paper Award 2002' granted by the German Association of Business Professors is the latest.

Dieter Pfaff is Professor of Accounting in the Department of Economics, Business Administration, and Information Technology, at the University of Zurich. Prior to this position Professor Pfaff lectured at the University of Frankfurt. Professor Pfaff has published a number of works on accounting.

Anthony Hopwood is the Peter Moores Dean of the Saïd Business School, the American Standard Companies Professor of Operations Management, and Student of Christ Church at the University of Oxford. Educated at the London School of Economics and the University of Chicago, prior to moving to Oxford in 1995 Professor Hopwood had held professorships at the London Business School and the London School of Economics. He also is the President of the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, Brussels. A prolific author, Professor Hopwood is also Editor-in-Chief of the major international research journal, Accounting, Organizations and Society. He has served as a consultant to commercial, governmental and international organizations. Professor Hopwood holds honorary doctorates from universities in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Accounting and the role of Accountants have permeated modern societies. For the most part we have accepted the impartiality and objectivity of accounting and not recognized how accounting systems are embedded in a country's economic and legal framework, much of which is in turn shaped by political processes. This web of interactions results in complex economic and political questions which require accounting researchers to focus on several related trends: information economics, regulatory economics, sociology, and political science. Although considerable progress has been made in the field of accounting, many fundamental questions are still subject to debate. In this book leading international scholars address a number of important questions about the role of accounting in society.

Accounting and the role of Accountants has permeated the modern societies. For the most part we have accepted the impartiality and objectivity of accounting and not recognized how accounting systems are embedded in a country's economic and legal framework, much of which is in turn shaped by political processes. This web of interactions results in complex economic and political questions which require accounting researchers to focus on several related trends: information economics, regulatory economics, sociology, and political science.

Although considerable progress has been made in the field of accounting, many fundamental questions are still subject to debate. In this book leading international scholars address a number of important questions:

· What is the role of accounting in security valuation, decision making and contracting?
· What can we learn from economics-based research in accounting?
· What is the role of auditing and how can accounting standards be enforced?
· What are the cost and benefits of accounting and disclosure regulation?
· What is the role of accounting in society?
· How does lobbying affect the political process of standard setting?
· What are the consequences of the internationalization of standard setting?

This seminal book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and graduate students of Accounting, Finance, Business Studies, Sociology, and Political Economy.