IFRS, BRICs, Accounting and culture

The author revisits his work on the culturally derived accounting orientations of the BRIC countries, based on Geert Hofstedes work on cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 1980) and the hypothetical derivation of four related cultural accounting dimensions (professionalism, uniformity, conservatism, and secrecy) by S. J. Gray. (Gray, 1988) (Borker, 2012a) The study is updated and re-evaluated through the application of the authors more recently developed tools for quantifying the degree of IFRS orientation -- the Composite IFRS Orientation Index and the Expanded IFRS Orientation Index. (Borker, 2014b) The study goes beyond the inputs considered in the previous BRIC analysis to include important socio-cultural factors such as corruption, political risk, educational level and business regulatory climate. These factors are considered as attributes of a new proposed fifth cultural accounting dimension beyond Greys original four, designated as stewardship.