Competing Institutional Logics in Islamic Financial Reporting Standardisation: A Comparative Study

Recognising the accounting implications of Islamic business principles, initiatives have been taken to develop a framework that primarily aims to serve the financial reporting needs of Islamic financial industry. Those initiatives started with the objective of developing separate Islamic accounting standards. However, they have ended up with significantly heterogeneous objectives. Employing Institutional Logics Perspective (ILP) as a theoretical framework and case-study approach as a research design, this study provides comparative accounts into the role of selected institutional logics (religion, profession, market, community and state) in shaping two Islamic financial reporting standardisation projects initiated by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the Malaysian Accounting Standard Board (MASB). Moreover, utilising ILP supplemented by remarks from the institutional entrepreneurship concept, this study examines the role of actors in initiating and then differently shaping the standardisation policies of these projects. Research findings informed by semi-structured interviews and document analysis indicate that Islamic financial reporting standardisation projects have been historically mapped by certain institutional logics. The dominance of those logics has experienced significant changes over time, resulting in subsequent changes in the standardisation strategies of those projects. Influential actors have also played an important role in shaping those projects through promoting certain organisational strategies in line with the institutional logics in which they are embedded This study concludes that the heterogeneity which AAOFI and MASB have shown in their standardisation strategies is attributed to: the relative dominance of certain logics in each institutional context; the centrality of those logics to organisational mission and goals; the extent to which prevailing institutional logics are represented within the organisation and the balance of power between different logics' representatives; and the extent to which actors have been able to promote their entrepreneurial vision and mobilise allies behind it.