Responsibility Accounting in China: Towards an Exploratory Framework

Yau, Shiu Wing Joseph (1998) Responsibility Accounting in China: Towards an Exploratory Framework. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

One of the economic reforms started in the People's Republic of China since 1979 is to enhance the productivity and profitability of the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) which still accounted for over 40% of the National Industrial Output and over 60% of the working population in 1996. However, over one-third of all the SOEs in China have incurred financial losses since the early 1990s and how to revive their efficiency and profitability has become one of the most important work plans for the Chinese government in recent years. In July 1992, the State Council of China implemented the "Regulations for State-Owned Industrial Enterprises Operation Mechanisms Transformation" whose major aim is to delegate more autonomy to the SOEs to ensure that they are self-financed, self-managed, self-regulated and selfdeveloped. In addition, the promulgation of the "Socialist Market Economy" by the 14th People's Congress held in October 1992 would make the SOEs more market driven in planning, operation and control. Furthermore, in the same year more SOEs on a selective basis were allowed by the central government to be transformed into "Shareholding Enterprises" where boards of directors have been empowered by the authorities to manage their own businesses. The focus of this doctoral research is to study the actual impact of the above legislation, economic and ownership changes on "Responsibility Accounting" which is the most widely used management accounting technique employed by the large- and medium-sized SOEs in China since 1987 The non-existence of systematic empirical research on this management accounting aspect in China justifies the use of an "Exploratory Case Study" approach to investigate a sample of 20 SOEs through repeated interviews over a period from 1991 to 1995. This type of longitudinal field study has verified that there have been significant changes in the responsibility accounting styles and the associated planning and control systems in these 20 SOEs before and after 1992. Further minor variables or factors have also been identified to explain these changes. This research provides observations, findings and comparisons with the literature which can generate ideas and hypotheses on many aspects related to the responsibility (management) accounting development in China which can be subject to rigorous empirical testing by the researcher and other academics or practitioners in the future.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Adviser: Clive R Emmanuel
• Keywords: Accounting, Asian studies
• Date of Award: 1998
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1998-75396
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 19 Nov 2019 20:16
• Last Modified: 19 Nov 2019 20:16
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/75396