This paper studies the identity transitions of East German audit recruits during the fundamental ideological, economic, and societal change brought about by the reunification of Germany in 1990. Integrating the identity work literature with key concepts from Pierre Bourdieu and Erving Goffman, we build on semi-structured interviews with two groups of recruits—university graduates and former state auditors—to explore and theorize the marked differences observed in these recruits' transition processes. In line with wider processes of territorial stigmatization, we argue that the West German audit firms pragmatically instrumentalized their local personnel, seeking to deploy them without intending to integrate them into the profession. In turn, the audit recruits met with this exertion of symbolic violence by managing a ‘spoiled identity’. The university graduates found it easier to recognize and accumulate legitimate forms of capital, thereby submitting themselves to the inculcation of the profession's socialization process, which ultimately yielded their institution into the profession. In contrast, the former state auditors' local knowledge and access to client networks provided immediately useful capital to the West German firms, which, however, sought to retain a status differential vis-à-vis these recruits. As a result of such strategies of condescension, the former state auditors maintained key aspects of their identity as a salient part of their self-conception. We further highlight the role of the local audit offices in the recruits' transition processes, as they evolved from flexible spaces, which allowed for experimentation and improvisation, into more structured units. This process embedded professional values and practices, thereby creating localized office identities.

This article studies accountability demands at an educational institution following extreme changes of societal conditions, as observed in Nazi Germany (1933–1945). We refer to the Handelshochschule Leipzig founded as the first free-standing business school in Germany to show how the Nazi doctrine made its way into this university, affecting academics on both the organizational and the individual levels. As political accountability became a dominant governance instrument, most academics submitted to this new accountability regime. They became subjects of accountability, who can only be understood by the norms that were imposed on them. The change in accountability demands created considerable challenges for individuals, and, ex post, it may be impossible to ascertain their moral attitudes and how they attempted to cope with ensuing ethical dilemmas.

This case originated from a real-life business situation and illustrates the application of impairment tests in accordance with IFRS and US GAAP. In the first part of the case study, students examine conceptual questions of impairment tests under IFRS and US GAAP with respect to applicable accounting standards, definitions, value concepts and frequency of application. In addition, the case encourages students to discuss the impairment regime from an economic point of view. The second part of the instructional resource continues to provide instructors with the flexibility of applying US GAAP and/or IFRS when students are asked to test a long-lived asset for impairment and, if necessary, allocate any potential impairment. This latter part demonstrates that impairment tests require professional judgment that students are to exercise in the case.

This article examines the regulatory history of asset valuation in Germany from the fifteenth century to the implementation of the European Economic Community’s Fourth Directive in 1986. Aiming to explain regulatory changes by reference to preceding socio-economic and political developments, we find that accounting requirements often became more restrictive following economic crises, after which regulation was perceived to be inadequate. In the nineteenth century, fair valuation replaced the early practice of historical cost accounting. Following a severe economic crisis in the 1870s, historical costs were reintroduced as an upper valuation boundary for Aktiengesellschaften (stock companies). However, the requirements were unspecific and discretionary and provoked a lively debate on principles-based accounting after 1900. The interwar years and the Great Depression encouraged the Government also to implement historical cost as a lower boundary to asset valuation. Following the Second World War, the valuation principle was extended to all company forms.

This cumulative dissertation covers the conceptual foundations and historical evolution of various aspects in accounting. The first article discusses the conceptual framework of the U.S. standard setter FASB and shows that the evolution of the U.S. GAAP conceptual framework in the 1970s and 1980s was considerably influenced by economic factors. The second manuscript employs a conditional-normative approach to analyze the 2010 joint conceptual framework of the international and the U.S. standard setter, in particular the qualitative characteristics of useful financial information. The paper shows that the qualitative characteristics are not a sufficient basis for developing accounting standards. The third article focuses on the regulatory history of asset valuation in Germany and explains regulatory changes by socio-economic and political events. The fourth and final article contains a historical-critical analysis of the concept of accountability, which forms the basis of accounting. The article analyzes accountability at a German university during the Nazi regime and illustrates the limits of the concept.

Der Beitrag diskutiert die schon in 2003 vom DCGK bestimmte und im Zuge des VorstAG in 2009 ins Aktiengesetz eingegangene Regelung der Begrenzung variabler Vergütungsbestandteile. Anhand einer Untersuchung von europäischen Unternehmensübernahmen wird gezeigt, dass eine unbegrenzte variable Kurzfristvergütung mit der Bilanzierung eines höheren Geschäfts- oder Firmenwerts einhergeht. In auf die Übernahme folgenden Jahren impliziert dies ein höheres Impairmentrisiko. Im Ergebnis kann die kürzlich im AktG verankerte Bestimmung des VorstAG somit unterstützt werden.

Der Beitrag befasst sich mit Phase A des gemeinsamen Rahmenkonzepts („Conceptual Framework“) von IASB und FASB. Neben Neuerungen, die diese erste Phase bringt, werden praktische Implikationen für die Behandlung von IFRS-Regelungslücken und das IFRS-Standardsetzungsverfahren erläutert.