Group Participation in Governmental Accounting Standards Setting: A Cluster Analysis

This article analyzed the participation data with respect to the four Governmental Accounting Standards Board Organization Committee (GASBOC) recommendations. It focused on the GASBOC Exposure Draft 1981 in order to examine the level of agreement (disagreement) between the GASBOC recommendations and the expressed preferences of the constituents. The clustering of the local and state government officials and accounting academicians on one side and the auditors and the FASB on the other side generally indicates a lack of consensus among the GASB constituents. It forecasted some of the the problems that GASB is likely to face in years to come.