a b s t r a c t
Following influential studies on the operation of the world economic system and the development of
accounting, this paper synthesizes elements of political economy and insti- tutional theories to
illuminate the processes which have led to the Anglo-Americanization of local auditing practices.
By focusing on the history of modern Greece, this paper demonstrates how broader
politico-economic ties created the backdrop for the devel- opment of coercive, mimetic and
normative processes whose intertwinement gave rise to a professional cognitive basis and
organizational practices conducive to the dominant Anglo-American models, long before the emergence
of influential international accoun- tancy organizations.
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