Standard-Setters' Responsiveness to Submissions on Exposure Drafts: Australian Evidence

In this paper, we examine specific aspects of the responsiveness of the accounting profession in Australia to the written submissions of respondents to exposure drafts of accounting standards. Our findings suggest that the accounting profession has released standards which are consistent with the views of a majority of respondents to exposure drafts. Moreover, the content of the standards do not appear to be aligned with the stated preferences of any particular respondent group. Finally, there is a significant positive correlation between publication lags and the level of respondent dissonance on policies contained in official exposure drafts. This suggests that controversial aspects of exposure drafts may be reassessed by the standards-setter before authoritative statements of accounting standards are released.