Influences on the continuing professional development of Portuguese certified accountants: an institutional perspective

This study investigates how the continuing professional development (CPD) of Portuguese certified accountants has been influenced by many institutional actors. It adopts the case study methodology and uses the lens of the theoretical model of Dillard et al., 2004 which considers the relationships between actors from three institutional levels. This study contributes to the literature on accounting education by addressing the need to study the influence of multiple institutional actors on the CPD provided by national regulatory organisations, and by adopting a novel theoretical approach in this research topic. It also contributes to the accounting literature in terms of understanding processes of institutional change.