Undergraduate student research programs: Are they as viable for accounting as they are in science and humanities?

This paper reviews a recent thrust in academia to stimulate more undergraduate research in the USA, including a rapidly growing annual conference. The paper also describes programs in which significant foundation grants have been received to fund undergraduate research projects in the sciences and humanities. In particular, selected humanities students working in teams in a new “Philosophy Lab” are allowed to embark on long-term research projects of their own choosing. Several completed projects are briefly reviewed in this paper.In April 1989, Trinity University hosted the Third National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) and purposely expanded the scope of the conference to include a broad range of disciplines. At this conference, 632 papers and posters were presented representing the research activities of 873 undergraduate students from 163 institutions. About 40% of the papers were outside the natural sciences and included research in music and literature. Only 13 of those papers were in the area of business administration; none were even submitted by accounting students. In 1990 at Union College, 791 papers were presented; none were submitted by accountants. In 1991 at Cal Tech, the first accounting paper appeared as one of 853 papers presented.This paper suggests a number of obstacles to stimulating and encouraging accounting undergraduates to embark on research endeavours. These impediments are somewhat unique to accounting, and it appears that accounting education programs are lagging in what is being done to break down obstacles in science, pre-med, engineering, humanities, etc. This paper proposes how to overcome these obstacles in accounting. One of the anticipated benefits of accounting student research, apart from the educational and creative value, is the attraction of more and better students seeking creativity opportunities in addition to rote learning of CPA exam requirements. This, in part, might help to counter industry complaints that top students are being turned away from accounting careers nationwide.     

Symposium on Welfare Reform under the Labour Government: Part I,Editorial Note

This symposium arises from a one‐day conference held at the Institute for Fiscal Studies on 22 May 2002. The papers presented on that day considered the social security reforms during the first term of the Labour government from a number of perspectives. The three articles published here — and the further three that will follow in Part II of the symposium — are drawn from a broader range of disciplines than is usual for Fiscal Studies papers.     

Management Accounting Research: 20 years on

This Editorial Report charts the progress of Management Accounting Research in its second decade. Starting by noting that in 2009 there were almost a quarter of a million downloads of papers from Management Accounting Research, it describes the range and diversity of the papers published in the Journal, their topics, research settings, and the theories and research methods used. It emphasises that the editors strongly encourage the use of a broad range of theories and research methods, and they want such diversity to continue to be a defining feature of the papers published in Management Accounting Research in the future. Finally, they urge management accounting researchers to undertake innovative research and to be both original and creative, thereby avoiding the homogeneity and narrowness which seem to be an increasing feature of accounting research more generally. In this way Management Accounting Research will continue to be the major source of leading edge research in the field of management accounting.     

理论·实践·创新:洞悉国际前沿 推进会计发展——2010北美华人会计教授年会述评

北美华人会计教授年会(CAPANA,以下简称年会)是海内外会计学者分享最新研究成果、探讨热点会计问题、创新会计理论的学术盛宴。第三届年会由北美华人会计教授协会主办,西南财经大学承办,本次年会收到大量海内外学者的研究论文,内容涵盖了目前北美实证会计领域的最新动向,包括了股票期权、信息披露、盈余管理以及债券投资者保护等在学界长期存在争议的一系列理论问题。本文以摘选出的八篇会议论文为基础,扼要介绍了这些蕴涵重要学术价值和深刻实践意义的最新研究成果,并结合国内外研究现状加以简短评述。最后总结了此次年会对于中国会计学界在会计理论、实务研究等方面所带来的启发与思考。     

Using the 2019 JBE conference and 2017 JIS themed issue as natural experiments to examine the role of editors as gatekeepers of the research literature in AIS and ethics

In April 2019, the Journal of Business Ethics (JBE) held a conference devoted to the “The Impact of Technology on Ethics, Professionalism and Judgement in Accounting”. This follows the summer 2017 Journal of Information Systems (JIS) themed issue on “Accounting Information Systems and Ethics” I treat this conference and the themed issue as two natural experiments into the evolution of the research literature on Accounting Information Systems (AIS) and ethics. I label this literature as “AIS-ethics”, which I describe as the intersection of the fields of accounting, ethics and information systems. The choice of papers for these two initiatives is amongst the best available metrics of both the latest research on AIS-ethics, and of the kind of research considered desirable by editors/gatekeepers. In particular, I analyze whether these editors/gatekeepers desire papers that fit unambiguously into AIS-ethics, or whether they are willing to accept papers with a more tenuous connection in order to encourage broader participation by researchers. I find that of nine papers selected for special issues or conferences in AIS-ethics over the last three years, only three clearly fall into this domain, suggesting that achieving a critical mass of papers is prioritized over specialization at this stage in the development of a research literature into AIS and ethics.     

Capitalization of the Property-Liability Insurance Industry: Overview

The 1990s witnessed an unprecedented decline in leverage ratios in the United States property-liability insurance industry. The premiums-to-surplus ratio, the most commonly used leverage ratio in the industry, fell from its historical average of 2.0 to less than 1.0 by the end of 2000; and the industry-wide capital-to-asset ratio increased from an historical average of about 25% to 35%. The international reinsurance industry also experienced significant capital increases and leverage declines during the 1990s (Cummins and Weiss, 2000).¹ These unusual trends raised widespread concerns that the property-liability insurance industry had become over-capitalized (The Economist, 1999; Bowers, 2001; Seifert, 2001). To investigate the growth in capitalization and its potential causes, the Conference on Capitalization in the Property-Liability Insurance Industry was held at the Wharton School in September 2000 under the joint sponsorship of the Wharton Financial Institutions Center and AON. Selected papers from the conference comprise this issue of the Journal of Financial Services Research (JFSR).     

Retrospective on Twenty Years of the FDIC-JFSR Bank Research Conference

Journal of Financial Services Research - The first annual Bank Research Conference was held at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 2000. The conference has served to disseminate...     

Ranking Journals Using Social Science Research Network Downloads

I use a new approach to rank journals, namely the number and percent frequency of articles a journal publishes that are heavily downloaded from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). I rank 18 accounting and finance journals, and I identify five journals not considered by the two most recent major published ranking studies of publications by accounting faculty, namely (in rank order): Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Accounting Studies, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Journal of Corporate Finance, and Journal of International Financial Management and Accounting. I show that financial accounting faculties are more likely to post their working papers to SSRN, and papers posted by financial faculties generate more downloads. I mitigate this bias in favor of the financial area by providing separate rankings based on authors in the financial versus non-financial areas.     

Payment economics: studying the mechanics of exchange

The five papers that follow this essay were presented at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's Conference on Payment Economics held October 23–24, 2000, in Williamsburg, Virginia. The conference was motivated by the convergence of lines of research in monetary and banking theory that are focused on the institutional arrangements that facilitate exchange. At the same time, central bank policymakers concerned about the efficiency implications of their involvement in and regulation of clearing and settlement arrangements increasingly seek an economic understanding of these activities. It appears that a distinct and coherent field of inquiry is emerging, focused on the mechanics of exchange. This field, which we call payment economics, studies both the instruments agents use to make payments and the central role of bank intermediation in facilitating the use of private liabilities in exchange.     

中国会计研究成效问题分析——以《会计研究》(1980～2002)为样本

本文运用“中国会计研究规范问题探讨”一文中建立的“原创”与“后继”标准,以《会计研究》1980年至2002年各期发表的有关文章为样本,对《会计研究》所发表文章的学术价值作出尝试性评价,试图对最近20年中国会计研究的成效作一个大致的描述。     

No System Is Perfect: Understanding How Registration‐Based Editorial Processes Affect Reproducibility and Investment in Research Quality

The papers in this volume were published through a Registration‐based Editorial Process (REP). Authors submitted proposals to gather and analyze data; successful proposals were guaranteed publication as long as the authors lived up to their commitments, regardless of whether results supported their predictions. To understand how REP differs from the Traditional Editorial Process (TEP), we analyze the papers themselves; conference comments; a survey of conference authors, reviewers, and attendees; and a survey of authors who have successfully published under TEP. We find that REP increases up‐front investment in planning, data gathering, and analysis, but reduces follow‐up investment after results are known. This shift in investment makes individual results more reproducible, but leaves articles less thorough and refined. REP could be improved by encouraging selected forms of follow‐up investment that survey respondents believe are usually used under TEP to make papers more informative, focused, and accurate at little risk of overstatement.     

Accounting information systems research: Is it another QWERTY?

This article examines the research within accounting information systems (AIS) as found in articles published in leading accounting, management information systems, and computer science journals from 1982 to 1998. Trend analysis is performed on AIS articles found in the following journals: The Journal of Information Systems; Advances in Accounting Information Systems; Journal of Accounting Research; The Accounting Review; Journal of Accounting and Economics, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory; Behavioral Research in Accounting; Journal of Management Accounting Research; Management Science; MIS Quarterly; Decision Sciences; Information Systems Research; and Communications of the ACM, among others. The trend analysis is structured across underlying theory, research method, and information systems lifecycle topics of AIS articles in these journals. This article identifies the extant research streams in AIS, where AIS research has been published from 1982 to 1998, and seeks to provide insight into the question: should AIS exist as its own separate research domain? Is AIS research like the QWERTY keyboard (David, 1985), widely adopted due to popular demand, but ineffective and inefficient, with a better AIS research and teaching model available?     

Potential model misspecification bias: Formative indicators enhancing theory for accounting researchers

This paper describes why and when formative factors, in combination with reflective measures, can be used in accounting research to better represent complex theoretical constructs. We argue that the exclusive use of reflective factors constrains theory development and may lead to imprecise measurement. We provide a review of 66 published research papers from Accounting, Organization and Society, The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Accounting, Auditing, & Accountability Journal, Behavioral Research in Accounting, International Journal of Accounting, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Management Accounting Research, Abacus, and Journal of Management Accounting Research using Structural Equation Models (SEM) from 1992 to 2008 to illustrate improvement of misspecification bias in leading accounting journals. Our findings suggest that most of the studies modeled constructs that did not include formative indicators.     

Financial challenges for the new millennium

This article highlights the main issues raised in 13 articles that were selected from papers presented at the 12th Australasian Finance and Banking Conference held in Sydney in December 1999. It also analyses the issues related to global financial coordination and integration for the new millennium. It highlights the cost associated with foreign exchange volatility and the significance of macroeconomic coordination at the global level for further integration of the financial market. It also highlights the challenges facing international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the need for global financial institutions with greater influence, which could address the major financial challenges facing the new millennium.     

Special issue: Australian Accounting Standards Board Research Forum

The Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) engages with academics and encourages them to make practical recommendations for the standard‐setter across three sectors: for‐profit, public and other not‐for‐profit sectors. In doing so, the AASB organised Research Forums in 2016 and 2017 that were of great value to researchers, practitioners and the standard‐setters. Four papers from the Forums in 2016 and 2017 were submitted and accepted for publication in this special issue. This paper provides an overview of the Forum, discusses the impact of conducting research and how the findings of the researchers informed the AASB’s standard‐setting process.     

Accounting education literature review (1997–1999)

By reviewing a subset ot the accounting education literature published during the period 1997–1999, this paper updates literature reviews by Rebele, Apostolou, Buckless, Hassell, Paquette, and Stout [Rebele, J.E., Apostolou, B.A., Buckless, F.A., Hassell, J.M., Paquette, L.R., & Stout, D.E. (1998a). Accounting education literature review (1991–1997), part I: curriculum and instructional approaches. Journal of Accounting Education, 16(1), 1–51.] [Rebele, J.E., Apostolou, B.A., Buckless, F.A., Hassell, J.M., Paquette, L.R., & Stout, D.E. (1998b). Accounting education literature review (1991–1997), part II: students, educational technology, assessment, and faculty issues. Journal of Accounting Education, 16(2), 179–245.]; Rebele, Stout, and Hassell [Rebele, J.E., Stout, D.E., & Hassell, J.M. (1991). A review of empirical research in accounting education: 1985–1991. Journal of Accounting Education, 9(2), 167–231.]; and Rebele and Tiller [Rebele, J.E., & Tiller, M.G. (1986). Empirical research in accounting education: a review and evaluation. In A. C. Bishop, E. K. St. Pierre & R. L. Benke (Eds.), Research in accounting education (pp. 1–54). Harrisonburg, VA: Center for Research in Accounting Education, James Madison University]. We review published articles related to the topics of assessment, curriculum and instructional approaches, educational technology, faculty issues, and students from the following five journals: Journal of Accounting Education, Issues in Accounting Education, Accounting Education, The Accounting Educators’ Journal, and Advances in Accounting Education. A large number of accounting educators have contributed to the literature between 1997 and 1999, with over 390 different authors cited in the body of the text (30 authors published two articles, 11 published three, and one author published four articles). More than 120 individuals are cited as authors of cases and instructional resources (seven authors published two cases and one published three). Recommendations for research are offered at the end of each major section. An appendix identifies instructional cases and educational resources published during the 1997–1999 period by journal and topic.     

Discussion of Accounting Discretion in Fair Value Estimates: An Examination of SFAS 142 Goodwill Impairments

Beatty and Weber examine an accounting choice that managers made upon adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 142: whether to record a goodwill asset impairment as a cumulative effect of an accounting change at the time of adoption or delay the recognition of such an impairment to the future (perhaps indefinitely) when they would be recorded as expenses in earnings from continuing operations. The authors consider several factors that might influence management's reporting of transition effects, including contracting, equity market incentives, and regulatory forces. Participants at the 2005 Journal of Accounting Research Conference questioned whether such a complex accounting decision can be captured with simple linear models and noisy proxy variables, while also speculating upon whether the results would generalize to other settings. In this discussion, I summarize Beatty and Weber's research, highlight its contribution to the accounting literature, and provide a record of the main issues raised by the conference participants.     

关于开展我国财务管理理论研究的若干建议

本文以1996—2005年《会计研究》等七种核心刊物中关于财务管理的627篇文献为样本对我国财务管理理论研究进行了回顾和梳理。针对存在的问题,我们构建了适合中国特色的财务管理理论研究的框架体系：以财务管理环境为起点、行为财务理论和效率市场假说为两条主线,研究公司治理特别是控制权与财务决策行为的交互作用关系,最终传递到公司价值的形成。在此基础上,我们提出了若干适合我国财务管理理论研究的建议。     

会计的社会功用:基于非历史成本研究的回顾

本文回顾了《会计研究》自创刊以来所发表的非历史成本计量属性研究的学术论文,按照"以义制利"和"趋利舍义"两分法,将所有非历史成本计量属性的论文分为两组,分别讨论这两组研究的逻辑思路和主要观点。与通常的回顾类学术文献不同,本文将非历史成本计量属性回顾与目前国际上关于金融危机和公允价值的争论联系起来,提出会计事实上已经承担了一种全新的社会功用:替罪羊角色。本文认为,会计之所以被赋予经济危机事件替罪羊,除了会计系统自身特征外,包括非历史成本计量属性在内的会计理论研究中过分强调会计方法选择的经济后果,也为会计事后被指责提供了相应的理论准备。本文为当前关于经济危机和公允价值的争论提供了一种新的解释视角。     

对本科院校会展管理专业会议类课程设置的探讨

会议类知识是会展管理专业学生需要掌握的专业知识的重要组成部分,本文对会展管理专业会议类课程设置的状况进行探讨,指出会议类课程设置存在的问题,并在此基础上对会议类课程的设置问题进行进一步探讨,提出了有效建议。