Institutional Change in Transitional Economies: The Case of Accounting in China

A major economic mystery of the 1990s is why the transition to market-based systems has been so difficult. Key strategic services such as financial, legal, and accounting services are relatively deficient in transitional economies due to decades of being supplanted by the command structure. China's deliberate path of institutional change, which has allowed strategic services to evolve along with the market structure, stands in sharp contrast to the Eastern European emphasis on liberalization and privatization. Regenerating the professional personnel, legal framework and standards is a difficult task. We offer a detailed case study of the accounting profession in China, illustrating both the necessity and the complexity of the solution.