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Volume 32, Issues 4–5, May–July 2007, Pages 333–362

Transnational regulation of professional services: Governance dynamics of field level organizational change

^a Department of Strategic Management and Organization, 3-23 Business Building, Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2R6
^b Department of Accounting and Management Information Systems, 3-23 Business Building, Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2R6

: Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 780 492 2386; fax: +1 780 492 3325.

Available online 10 October 2006

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2006.08.002, How to Cite or Link Using DOI

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Introduction

Methods and objectives

Shifting governance: from local monopoly to global cartel

Erosion of professional governance

The emergence of a new field: transnational professional services

Discussion and theoretical implications

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

Abstract

This paper examines the role of large accounting firms in the emergence of a transnational regulatory field in professional services. We use neo-institutional theory to illuminate the process by which new fields are created. We observe a shift in the structural boundaries of professional regulation to include new actors, specifically Big Four accounting firms and non-governmental organizations. We also observe a shift in regulatory logics in which historical efforts to separate professional practice from commercial interest are embraced rather than suppressed. New logics also include pressures to adopt new occupational identities. Finally we describe a shift in institutional power structures from coercive structures of domination to inclusive power structures of membership and identity.

Figures and tables from this article:

Table 1. Growth in scale of Big Eight (Five): 1980–2000