ACCOUNTING REGULATION: AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE

This paper analyses the debate over accounting regulation. Accepting the need for regulation, it first rejects the view of accounts as maps before going on question the conventional wisdom that the incompatibility of "interests" means that lack of agreement on standards is inevitable. It argues that conflicts over accounting standards are the result of clashes of worldview rather than interest, and provides evidence of this by analysing the debate over three contentious standards. The conclusion is that an agreed conceptual framework is feasible, although not on the basis currently envisaged.     

ACCOUNTING REGULATION: AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE: A REPLY

The comments by Willmott on the desirability of extending the argument of Laughlin and Puxty (1983) are welcomed. The roles of class and the State in accounting regulation are discussed, and Habermas's theory of communicative competence briefly alluded to as a means of dissolving conflict as an extension of the earlier paper.     

ACCOUNTANTS AND ACCOUNTING: A STUDENT PERSPECTIVE

The concept of a stereotype accountant has previously been researched and reported in the literature. This study examines the attitudes of management studies students towards accounting and the accounting profession. The attitudes were measured using semantic differential and Likert-type scales. Differences between year of study and intended major were examined.     

TOWARDS A VALUE-NEUTRAL POSITIVE SCIENCE OF ACCOUNTING: A COMMENT

This comment points out that Thomas (1981) has misrepresented the views of Lakatos and has misunderstood the role of empirical research in the development of science.     

FUND ACCOUNTING IN NONPROFIT HOSPITALS: A LOBBYING PERSPECTIVE

Are comment letters submitted by nonprofit hospitals, as part of the accounting standard setting process, consistent with economic incentives as described by agency theory? In this study, thirteen identifiable hospital letters commenting on Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Statement No. 8 were analyzed in illustrating the association of economic attributes and lobbying positions within a segment of the healthcare industry. Independent hospitals with relatively greater amounts of endowment income were found to be among those who lobbied against single fund reporting, while larger, more profitable healthcare organizations with smaller endowments lobbied for single fund reporting. Although this small sample is not necessarily representative of the total input received by the HFMA in the formulation of Statement No. 8, the observations are consistent with the agency theoretic framework, and illustrate its potential usefulness in analyzing specialized industries such as healthcare.     

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING REPORTS: A MARKET MODEL OF DISCLOSURE: A COMMENT

In a recent paper Bird and Locke concluded "that a freely operating market for accounting information, unencumbered with disclosure requirements, can work efficiently". The purpose of this Comment is to explain why this conclusion is unjustified. In particular it argues that our present understanding of the socalled 'Market' for information is so limited that no presumption, either for or against the efficiency of this market, can be given unequivocal theoretical support.     

THE ACCOUNTING SERVICES MARKET: THEORY AND EVIDENCE: A COMMENT

This Comment discusses tests on the extent of oligopolistic pricing and product differentiation in the accounting services market made by Pound and Francis recently in this journal. It is argued that the results obtained from that study are misleading, primarily because the testing does not include data on price mark-ups.     

CORPORATIZATION AND THE REGULATION OF ACCOUNTING SERVICES

The litigation explosion in the professional practice environment of accountants is contributing to changes in the ownership structure of accounting firms. The changes have, however, been implemented with little debate. This paper examines the impact that ownership structure of accounting firms has on the ability of the profession to self-regulate, especially when the firm, rather than the individual professional, takes responsibility for the services provided. It is shown that the corporatization of professional practice could seriously impede the profession's ability to self-regulate. Since self-regulation is an important function of a professional association, the paper highlights the need for further debate and research on the effects of corporatization.     

REACTIONS TO REGULATION OF ACCOUNTING FOR GOODWILL

Regulations designed to achieve “uniformity in practice” in Australian firms' reporting of goodwill were first adopted in 1985 with the introduction of AAS18. Because of the requirement to amortise purchased goodwill, a number of firms either did not comply or took evasive actions to mitigate the effects of the standard. This paper documents and explains the pre-regulation cross-sectional variation in accounting practices. Reactions to the set of regulations introduced between 1985 and 1989 are then described and explained through a longitudinal study of accounting policy choice. We develop hypotheses which explain why the goodwill accounting rules reversed relations between the accounting methods adopted by firms and both the earnings effect of compliance and the market value of the firm's goodwill. The results are confirmatory.     

STUDENT ATTITUDES TOWARD ALTERNATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHES IN INTRODUCTORY ACCOUNTING

This paper reports the results of a survey of student attitudes towards a first year accounting program at the tertiary level. The program incorporates innovatory features including syllabi defined in terms of behavioural objectives, content broken into modules, a range of learning resources for each module and flexible assessment at the student's option. Analysis of responses from two groups of students is presented, those studying in the program and those who had completed the program the previous year. Strong support for the program is apparent from the response analysis. Conclusions indicate that students generally view the program as providing a sound foundation for later accounting studies. In addition, many students consider the program's features would be beneficial in other subject areas.     

THE ROLE OF TIME SERIES ANALYSIS IN STUDIES OF ACCOUNTING POLICY CHOICE: A COMMENT

The study by Anderson and Zimmer [1992] of goodwill accounting policies uses a pooled time series experimental design. This approach can add substantially to our understanding of accounting policy choices, but not in the manner used by Anderson and Zimmer. Where accounting policy choices are believed to be independent from one period to the next, then a time series approach can greatly enhance our ability to capture the influence on such policy choices of changing circumstances, more so than a simple cross-sectional test. Conversely, if accounting policy choices are not independent between periods, pooling over time can overstate significance levels of statistical tests. The nature of Anderson and Zimmer's data makes the impact indeterminate. However, even under an extreme assumption, pre-regulation evidence remains significant at conventional levels.     

GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF ACCOUNTING HISTORY: A REPLY TO KEENAN

Keenan's methodological criticisms of “Genealogies of Calculation” are shown to be either innocuous or invalid. His sketch of a nonteleological evolutionary explanation of the transition from charge and discharge accounting to double-entry in nineteenth century Britain is criticized, and an alternative genealogical sketch is provided.