From Accounting Systems to Accounting Behavior

Since Gray’s extension of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions into the accounting domain, culture has become one of the most influential explanations for international differences in financial reporting. However, the widespread adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has raised questions regarding the continued relevance of cultural explanations in increasingly harmonized accounting environments. This study revisits four decades of Hofstede–Gray-based accounting research through a theory-building systematic literature review. Based on a sample of seventy peer-reviewed studies published between 1988 and 2024, this review synthesizes evidence on the mechanisms through which culture continues to influence accounting outcomes despite regulatory convergence. The findings reveal three dominant channels of influence: financial reporting transparency and disclosure behavior, professional judgment in the interpretation and application of accounting standards, and managerial reporting incentives associated with earnings management. The review shows that culture remains a significant determinant of accounting outcomes, although its influence has shifted from the development of national accounting systems toward behavioral and organizational processes. Furthermore, institutional quality, enforcement mechanisms, and governance structures are found to moderate cultural effects. Based on these findings, this study proposes a revised Hofstede–Gray framework in which culture influences accounting outcomes indirectly through behavioral mechanisms operating within harmonized reporting environments. The article contributes to the literature by integrating fragmented findings across multiple accounting domains and offering a contemporary theoretical perspective on the persistence of accounting diversity in the post-IFRS era.