Cutting to the core? A reflection upon recent education policy debates within the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

Knowledge is widely regarded as a characteristic of professions, but given the ever-increasing knowledge base, professional accountancy bodies have begun to question whether professional examinations can continue to cover all areas relevant to the work of accountants. At the heart of the debate about how the professional knowledge base is to be defined lie questions about how chartered accountants are ‘made’. This paper discusses the introduction of a ‘core and options’ model for professional accountancy education as a possible means of ‘making the chartered accountant’. Using Porter's (1981) theory of historical explanation, it discusses an episode in the recent history of education policy at The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) which illuminates aspects of the core and options model. The paper concludes that, while the introduction of core curricula in accounting education can be justified on educational grounds, the rejection of core curricula by ICAEW suggests that educational debates were strongly influenced by the wider political, economic, social and professional environments and the resultant educational policy can be viewed as the product of a variety of competing agendas.     

Has progress a future?

Despite the scepticism of some about the possibility of progress being sustained, progress does remain possible if there is a wise balance struck between the interactions of material and social/individual change. Forecasting and planning within an appropriate policy framework, together with appropriate educational and industrial policies, can assist in attaining beneficial progress based on scientific and technological opportunity. There are dangers in drift and some common vision of the future is needed, although our expectations must be tempered by awareness of, and willingness to overcome pitfalls.     

Why the far-future matters to democracy today

As the complexity of social and political interaction becomes increasingly over-whelming it is only natural that the pragmatic, technocratic, and expert-driven character of contemporary policy-making is even further consolidated. Though making use of existing knowledge this approach may lead to a deprivation of the democratic debate as the time horizons are shortened and the number of significantly different policies is restrained by the framework within which decisions are to be made.

This article analyses the tension between a more holistic or even ‘utopian’ attitude to policy-making and the trial-and-error piecemeal approach which today seems to be prevailing in the industrial countries. It is argued that a theoretical distinction made by Leszek Kolakowski may help us overcome that tension. The distinction is then applied to the classical stage-heuristic for policy-making leading to a discussion about how the power of far-future visions can be brought into the nexus of democratic deliberation.

The article also examines how different time-frames may cause diverging practical policy-recommendations. Finally, the paradoxical merit of negative visions, as in the dystopian literary genre, is presented.     

The State, university, and the construction of civil society in the Middle East

Education in the Middle East is a site of ongoing conflicts between the state and non-state forces. The state, in most countries of the region, has owned and run the educational system, and used it primarily as a means of state-building and nation-building. Non-state actors have generally been excluded from the creation of higher educational institutions; and when such initiatives are allowed, the institutions are politically and academically controlled by the state. The universities have, however, led a very complex life. They have been hotbeds of struggle for democracy, independence and socialism. Since these conflicts are continuing, the universities, the students and faculty, will be actively involved in changing the status quo. A condition for the rise of civil society in the region is the civilising of the state, and the universities will pose a serious challenge to the status quo. The future trend, as far as the students are concerned, is to a large extent a struggle for democratisation of social and political life in each country, and the autonomy of the university from the power of the state and the market.     

Scientific Utopia and accounting

This paper approaches the question of the role of accounting in society by studying utopian social literature. Particular consideration is given to the work of Proudhon who proposed that accounting should be regarded as a means of solving the most important of all social problems, i.e. those of economy and justice. In spite of the fact that Proudhon presented accounting as a social scientific theory and technique for solving the problem of equality in society, the paper argues that such a view reflects a predominantly utopian vision of the world. Though Proudhon rightly pointed out the normative character of accounting, its juridical value and its capacity to reflect economic life, he failed to detach himself from the belief that there could exist a universal means of economic control and planning leading to a state of complete justice in society. However, the Proudhonian association between accounting and justice is not irrelevant in the modern debate on the role of accounting in society. If accounting has not taken the form envisaged by Proudhon it has at least evolved towards the similar objective of determining what is true in the context of economy. If only for this reason, Proudhon's general theory of accounting is worthy of attention.     

Governmentality in accounting and accountability: A case study of embedding sustainability in a supply chain

This paper examines how the introduction of sustainability accounting has been used by an organization as a means to seek to govern social, economic and environmental issues relating to suppliers. The concept of governmentality and four analytics of government are proposed as a means to examine systematic ways of exercising power and authority. This theoretical framework illuminates the specific rationales and practices of government that enable particular aspirations of reform – such as sustainability – to be constituted. The analysis is informed by the discussion of the implementation of sustainability-orientated regimes of practice in the context of a single supply chain within a major supermarket chain in the UK against the theoretical analytics of government. The paper provides novel empirical insights into how sustainability accounting shaped forms of power, rationales and practices in a supply chain. It explores the extent to which senior decision-takers frame and use sustainability accounting to foster disciplinary effects based ostensibly upon social and environmental goals. These are found in practice to be reformulated primarily according to an economic (rather than social or environmental) regime of practice.     

新时期公平城乡收入分配的财税政策研究

效率和公平是经济学研究的永恒主题。党的十七届五中全会强调,应更加注重全面协调可持续发展,更加注重社会公平正义。公平收入分配,必将是十二五期间经济工作的重中之重,其中,城乡收入分配不公平问题尤为突出。因此,新时期公平城乡收入分配,应在总结分析历史经验、教训的基础上,重新审视造成城乡收入差距扩大的因素,采用新思维、新举措,大力发挥财税政策的积极作用,有效缩小城乡收入差距。     

Life-cycle effects of social security in an open economy: A theoretical and empirical survey

Conventional wisdom views demographic change as a set of exogenous shocks impinging on social security, with the economy treated as a closed system. This contribution argues that demographics is nothing but the aggregate of individual decisions, which are influenced by social security. This claim is supported by both theoretical argument and empirical evidence with regard to decisions over the life cycle, ranging from educational effort, marriage, number of children, divorce, retirement, and effort to extend one's life. Distinguishing the effects of contributions and benefits of social security, these feedback relationships are shown to in the main hamper employment and growth, thus undermining the financial viability of today's social security schemes, with increasing openness of the economy (`globalization') exacerbating problems.     

个人收入分配研究中必须澄清的几个问题

所谓公平，从根本上讲是生活水平的公平，这样定义不仅符合社会现状，也使国家有了更多的实现公平的手段。不同性质的收入与效率的关系不同，对社会稳定和经济效益的影响程度不同，有的收入方式明显不具备一般的公平与效率的关系。作为判定分配结构状态的基尼系数在不同的国家说明的问题不完全一样，应当结合一些具体因素，对该数值进行适当修正。国家要调节分配结构，最有效率的方式是事先调节，通过提高义务教育资金保障程度等方式，提升农民及其他低收入的收入获取能力，应当被放在更为优先的位置。     

CONTRADICTIONS AND UNCERTAINTIES: LECTURERS' CONCEPTIONS OF TEACHING INTRODUCTORY ACCOUNTING

This paper draws upon educational research to examine lecturers' conceptions of teaching introductory accounting. A critical review of relevant research indicates that lecturers' conceptions of teaching may be specific to particular disciplinary and educational contexts. Thus the context of introductory accounting may yield its own unique domain of lecturers' conceptions of the objectives, approaches, outcomes and problems of teaching. A model of teaching conceptions (Fox, 1983) is identified as particularly relevant for the analysis of conceptions within a disciplinary context. The phenomenographic research study reported in this paper analyses lecturers' conceptions of teaching introductory accounting within the framework of Fox's model. Results indicate both the relevance of Fox's model as well as some key contradictions and uncertainties within conceptions of the teaching of introductory accounting. Such contradictions and uncertainties have to do with, amongst others, a tension between a professed priority for conceptual understanding, a difficulty in articulating concepts and an emphasis upon technical mastery of topics and problems. The results indicate the need for further research but also provide a conceptual framework through which lecturers might reflect upon the manner in which introductory accounting is, and can be, taught.     

Privatized Utilities and the 'Third Way'

The Government is planning new regulations to ensure that utility companies 'reflect a sense of social responsibility'. Their intention to overlay social objectives on the regulatory frameworks inspired by free market economics can be seen as an attempt to find a 'Third Way' policy for the utilities. Neoliberals would argue that social policy has no place in the privatized utility sector, which is now well established. Interference in regulatory processes to achieve social objectives is likely to be counter-productive by distorting prices and inhibiting the incentive system designed to achieve efficiencies. Rather than requiring the companies to act as instruments of government policy, the Government could achieve its social objectives through subsidies, or through the social security system, leaving the regulatory framework to operate unfettered.     

义务教育能提高代际流动性吗？

提高代际流动、促进机会均等对经济社会健康发展至关重要。本文基于2013年中国家庭收入调查数据和2005年全国1%人口抽样调查数据,利用1986年颁布的义务教育法在省份间的实施时间差异作为外生冲击,使用双重差分方法探究义务教育政策对代际流动的影响及其作用机制。研究发现,义务教育显著提高了代际之间的教育流动性,原因在于父母教育水平、职业层次、收入水平较低的孩子,受教育年限提升得更多。本文的政策含义在于,应当进一步发挥公共政策在提高代际流动性方面的作用,通过教育机会均等化来促进社会公平正义。     

Students' Perceptions of a Scaffolded Approach to Learning Financial Planning: An Empirical Study

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis (GFC), one understandable area of scrutiny and pressure for reform is the educational background and professionalism of personal financial advisers. This Australian study reports on a three-year investigation into students' perceptions of ‘scaffolded’ instruction in financial planning. The scaffolded approach was used to assist learning in areas that previously had caused difficulty. The results indicate that students perceived the scaffolded tasks to be valuable learning experiences which increased their appreciation of the skills and knowledge required by financial advisers. Although students may bring different frames of reference to their learning, and the positiveness of perceived value of scaffolded instruction may vary between different demographic groupings, scaffolding techniques are shown to provide strong potential to assist university educators and their students in financial planning.     

The nation in heterogeneous time

Following a critique of homogenous time, one that is so central to Benedict Anderson's reading of social history, the paper builds on the notion of heterogeneous time, with particular reference to governmentality, in the narrativization of the nation. The examples of B.R. Ambedkar and the fictional character of Satinath Bhaduri's Dhorai are then brought in to show the continuing tension between the utopian dimension of the homogeneous time of capital and the real space constituted by the heterogeneous time of governmentality and the effects produced by this tension on efforts to narrativize the nation. The paper ends with the claim that it is morally illegitimate to uphold the universalist ideals of nationalism without simultaneously demanding that the politics spawned by governmentality be recognized as an equally legitimate part of the real time-space of the modern political life of the nation.     

Cities of the imagination: Science fiction, urban space, and community engagement in urban planning

Stories, dreams, histories and myths, Michel de Certeau argues, connect people to particular places and makes place concrete and inhabitable. These narratives generate an imaginary, poetic geography that haunts the abstract city of street maps and development plans, and makes it socially meaningful. This paper is concerned with one particular kind of story-telling - science fiction - and its relationship with the city, urban planning, and questions of community engagement. The paper argues that the ‘cities of the imagination’ generated by science fiction and other forms of narrative provide a powerful means of understanding, communicating and enriching the connections to place in urban communities. Moreover, science fiction is often characterised by its ability to explore the future of cities. This gives the genre a fascinating and potentially useful resonance with urban planning as a discourse and set of practices; and, in particular, strategies for engaging communities in the design process and, thus, designing for future social sustainability. These ideas will be tested through a reading of near-future urban spatiality in the cyberpunk stories of William Gibson. The theorisation of the relationship between urban space and narrative in the work of de Certeau and other theorists will be used to help frame this discussion.     

Do gender,educational level,religiosity, and work experience affect the ethical decision-making of U.S. accountants?

Accounting plays a key role in the social and economic progress of a nation. Ethical standards are a hallmark of the accounting profession. An important question is what factors affect the ethical choices made by accountants. Past research suggests that factors such as gender, educational level, religiosity, and work experience may be related to the development of a person's ethical standards. This study attempts to do two things. First, the study provides a short review of contemporary ethical models, including the hermeneutical model. Second, the study examines factors affecting a person's ethical perspectives. Understanding the factors which shape the ethical standards of future accountants will help educational institutions develop appropriate ethics curriculum and help firms develop appropriate ethics training for their employees. Failure to bring appropriate ethical standards to the workplace will most assuredly hamper the profession's time-honored commitment to serve the public interest. The findings suggest that there are differences in individual ethical standards based on gender, college level (graduate versus undergraduate), religiosity, and work experience.     

Accounting and corporate accountability

The rationale for and techniques of social responsibility accounting are examined analytically. The fear that corporate managers might act contrary to the interests of shareholders and not be concerned with those with whom the corporation contracts (creditors, workers and consumers) is not supported. But others may be harmed by corporate actions (externalities). The ways in which social responsibility accounting can be used to measure and serve as a means of controlling externalities are delineated, analyzed and rejected.     

From vision to action: Framing the Leitbild concept in the context of landscape planning

Reviewing landscape developments in the last decades evidently shows that in the future most pressing changes can be expected for the land surface. This indispensably calls for strategic approaches based on visions and transdisciplinary creativity. Hence, this paper critically reviews the Leitbild concept, an idea on spatial planning which has been widely discussed in the German-speaking planning literature but which has received scant attention elsewhere. Although the term has been translated as a ‘vision’, this paper shows that the concept is far richer in its content than these casual translations suggest. The paper shows that it defines a particular paradigm for landscape planning that embodies a transdisciplinary approach in which lay-people and experts develop both goals and strategies for realising their joint visions. A systematic overview of the key characteristics that make up the Leitbild approach is provided and set in relation to already available approaches for decision makers. Although there are similarities between the Leitbild approach and other planning and decision-support tools, such as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Impact Assessment (SEA) and Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA-sust), the paper shows that the particular combination of issues considered when developing a Leitbild makes it distinctive. Through an iterative process, the development of a Leitbild allows new approaches to spatial planning in which space and place can be considered as a social construct, and in which the values and understandings of local actors can be better represented.     

Enticing Employees to Lie: Using Role Play to Understand and Mitigate Unintended Consequences of Budgeting*

This role play is a short, in‐class interactive exercise that places students in the role of a factory worker who is asked to commit to a future production amount. The role play demonstrates why employees may be tempted to lie when asked to reveal their future productive capacities. The experiential exercise illustrates the tension between using budget information for both planning and control purposes, and then asks students to propose how senior managers may effectively manage this tension. The role play provides an opportunity to enhance students' moral sensitivities as it concludes with a review of the fundamental ethical principles of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), noting that although budgetary slack is a widespread phenomenon, it clearly violates IFAC's principles.     

University education in futures studies: A Mark III survey

Following two earlier analyses (1970 and 1972), the Mark III survey of 1974 explores the extent and quality of university education in disciplines identifiable as future-oriented. The initial research revealed a somewhat stagnant situation. There is a decline in systematic futures courses at the university level, while there is now a stronger trend towards “futurisation” of conventional subjects on one hand, and to practice-oriented non-university educational activities on the other. The most significant developments appeared in long-range planning, policy studies and peace research. Representation of methodologies shows systems research as perhaps the most, and social sciences as a less important contributor. Identification of “futurism” and clarification of the concept remains the dominant problem.