The Extent of Membership Representation and Non-Representation on the IASB

Abstract

Status groups abound in financial markets and none more so than in the global accounting market. One such group is the powerful and closed International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). This study empirically examines the social control of IASB membership by considering the country affiliation of members, Internet access, and gender composition over a five-year period. The results of the study show that over the period 2001-2005 representation on all four IASB committees was dominated by male members from high Internet access regions of the  United States of America.