Honors Theses

Date of Award

Spring 5-4-2022

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Accountancy

First Advisor

Christian Sellar

Second Advisor

Jeffrey Pickered

Third Advisor

Mark Wilder

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This research investigates the United States and Germany’s implementation of the OECD’s Inclusive Framework on BEPS and assesses the degree to which each country’s response was influenced by its culture. The objective of this research is to present a perspective on how international accounting regulations can take cultural characteristics into consideration in order to produce their desired outcomes. For the purpose of this thesis culture is defined and quantified through the framework developed by Geert Hofstede. Furthermore, this thesis investigates the relationship between the neoliberal political paradigm and the role of culture in accounting. This research uses a combination of primary and secondary research including an analysis of legislative actions, corporate statistics and BEPS indicators, survey responses, and interviews, in order to analyze the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the US and Germany’s BEPS response within the context of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. This analysis finds that both the US and Germany were heavily influenced by their respective cultural dimensions in their institutional perception and implementation of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS. Furthermore, many of the differences between the two country’s responses are found to be attributable to cultural dimensions on an individual level, specifically those of independence vs. collectivism and long-term vs. short term orientation. The results of this thesis find that in order for international regulations to be effective in jurisdictions with varying cultural dimensions they must focus on controlling financial functions over legislative functions and must be able to operate without absolute compliance.

Accessibility Status

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Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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