Institutionalising XBRL for financial reporting: resorting to regulation

By integrating and streamlining financial information within and among various organisations, XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) has been developed with a view to enhancing the efficiency, accuracy, and transparency of corporate accounting information. Taking an inter-organisational focus, this paper investigates the process of how XBRL was institutionalised. It explains and offers insight on how institutional arrangements emerge and become relevant as heterogeneous organisations consider adopting accounting innovations whilst evidence concerning their benefits is unavailable. The original and overall contribution of this study is that it improves current understanding of coal-face actors’ perceptions, behaviours, and strategies as they interact in the organisational field and become engaged in developing accounting innovations to produce the macro-level observations documented in existing institutional theory studies.