A Comparative Study of the Institutionalization of the Accrual Accounting System in the United Kingdom and the United States

Abstract

In the 1970s, many countries were in financial crisis as a result of the burden of maintaining the welfare state and repeated oil shocks. To solve these kinds of economic and financial problems, many countires have attempted to reform the public sector by implementing an accrual basis accounting system. But ehre are significant differences among countries in the foundation and evolution of the institution because of differences in institutional structure. In the case of the United Kingdom, institutional structure had been operated seems like there were not veto points. Once a decision had been made in the executive arena, Parliament was unlikely to change it, as the executive government rest on stable parliamentary majorities. However, the institutional structure of the United States works differently from that of the United Kingdom. A lot of decisions made by executive branch could be vetoed by Congress, or vice versa, because they don not share the same resources of power.