The winnowing away of behavioral accounting research in the US: The process for anointing academic elites

This paper reports the results of a study of the most prolific publishers in the four recognized most prestigious journals in accounting for the period 1963 through 1999. The focus is on learning whether the widespread perception that behavioral accounting research (BAR) has diminished in significance as a prominent paradigm in the US accounting academy has any validity and to identify whether a new generation of US BAR researchers is emerging to join the academic elite. Based on the characteristics of persons who have appeared as authors five or more times during the study period, it seems that BAR is in recession in shaping the US academic agenda in accounting. The power of successful individuals to shape the academic agenda as evidenced by service on editorial boards of prominent journals is dominated by those individuals who are graduates of a set of elite schools utilizing a neoclassical economics based research paradigm. The power of this group seems to be growing in the US. In spite of the interest in BAR among accounting doctoral students and faculty, it is not a pursuit that now leads to academic status, which, in turn, diminishes its potential contribution towards the shaping of the accounting academic agenda.     

Producing Spaces for Academic Discourse: The Impact of Research Assessment Exercises and Journal Quality Rankings

This study examines the impact of national research assessment exercises (NRAEs) and associated journal quality rankings on the development, scope and sustainability of the academic journals in which accounting research is disseminated. The reported exploratory study focused on the United Kingdom (UK), Australia and New Zealand as three countries in which NRAEs are well developed or imminent. Data were collected via a survey of authors, interviews with journal editors, and feedback from publishers responsible for producing academic accounting journals.
The findings suggest that, despite cynicism around the reliability of published journal quality rankings, the entrenchment of NRAE 'rules' and journal quality perceptions has changed authors' submission choices and left lower ranked journals struggling with a diminished quantity and quality of submissions. A clear perception is that NRAEs have done little to improve the overall quality of the accounting literature, but are impeding the diversity, originality and practical relevance of accounting research.
Although strategies are suggested for meeting these challenges, they require strategic partnerships with publishers to enhance the profile and distribution of emerging journals, and depend on the willingness of accounting researchers to form supportive communities around journals that facilitate their research interests. The alternative may be a withering of the spaces for academic discourse, a stifling of innovation and a further entrenchment of current perceptions of what counts as 'quality' research.     

An assessment of patterns of co-authorship for academic accountants within premier journals: Evidence from 1979-2004

This study examines several important aspects of co-authorship by accounting researchers in premier journals for the years 1979-2004. Logistic regression analysis reveals that collaboration is growing significantly. This increasing trend of co-authorship is substantially greater in premier non-accounting journals than premier accounting journals. The extent of co-authorship within taxation research is notably less than financial, managerial, or auditing research. On the other hand, non-specialized articles have significantly higher co-authorship ratios. Meanwhile, trends of co-authorship are not statistically different between U.S. academic researchers and their international academic cohorts. However, co-authorship rates for non-academic researchers are significantly less than academic researchers which may indicate that the ‘publish or perish’ phenomena for academic researchers is a more significant factor of increased co-authorship rates than other universal factors, e.g., decreased cost of sophisticated communication technology. Also, we find no evidence of university tier level or doctoral granting status effects on the co-authorship ratios of researchers.     

Critical accounting in scotland

This paper considers the contemporary role of critical academic accountants. Arguably, academics have been to some extent cut off from the “real world" writing fairly inaccessible papers for each other. Critical accounting academics are certainly concerned with theory but too often they try to develop their theory without active engagement in the outside world. This could have had the effect of making them rather pessimistic about their own agency and the potential for social reform. The paper draws upon the academic and political work of Pierre Bourdieu1as an illustration of an academic who has managed to fuse theory and practice in a more optimistic manner. Critical accounting in Scotland is considered from this perspective. The case of the Clydebank asbestos sufferers is highlighted as an example of where critical accounting researchers might like to test their theoretical skills. The paper also discusses the campaign to end tuition fees in Scotland and the Centre for Social and Environmental Research which is based in Glasgow.     

Capital Allowances and the Incentive to Invest

In recent years many organisations have moved towards a total quality management (TQM) path in their quest for quality. Accounting researchers have become interested in understanding how accounting systems are implicated within a TQM environment. This paper reports on a case study of TQM adoption and changes in management accounting systems (MAS) within a New Zealand construction company. It evaluates organizational approaches to implement TQM as a strategic option and the subsequent change in MAS. The paper suggests that an organisation may initiate TQM practices to promote ‘institutional’ and ‘quality’ culture rather than for purely technical reasons. It also suggests that when an organisation adopts new management practices such as TQM, it may lead to changes in the organisation's internal control mechanisms, such as management accounting and reporting processes.     

Accounting, hybrids and the management of risk

This essay addresses the implications of accounting and hybrids for the management of risk. We argue firstly and most generally for a definition of hybrids that extends beyond organisational forms. The existing literature, we suggest, has been too focused on organisational forms, and has largely neglected the hybrid practices, processes and expertises that make possible lateral information flows and coordination across the boundaries of organisations, firms, and groups of experts or professionals. Secondly, we argue that the management of organisations is rapidly being transformed into and formalised around the management of risk, while much of the management of uncertainty occurs through a variety of hybrids that reside beyond the formalised practices of risk management. Thirdly, we argue that accounting practices are central to these issues, in so far as accounting is constantly engaged in a dual hybridisation process, seeking to make visible and calculable the hybrids that it encounters, while at the same time hybridising itself through encounters with a range of other disciplines. We address these issues in three main stages. The first section considers the ‘discovery’ of hybrid organisational forms by researchers on management and organisations over the course of more than two decades. The second section examines the ways in which economists, lawyers and other social scientists have considered the issue of hybrids. Here, the preoccupation with hybrid organisational forms largely continues, with its attendant neglect of hybrid practices, processes and expertises. The third section considers the discovery of a wider range of hybrids by researchers in accounting, and examines two specific arenas in which the hybridising of accounting expertise has been central: the microprocessor industry, and the various encounters between medical and financial expertise in the context of the ‘New Public Management’ reforms. The essay concludes with a discussion of the implications of this broader definition of hybrids for accounting and the management of risk.     

Perceptions of master of accountancy graduates concerning their job search and employment experiences with public accounting firms

The public accounting profession has been calling for a 150-hour education requirement for new entrants to the profession for over two decades. The rationale for increasing the entry-level education requirement is that since the business world is more dynamic and complex than ever before, new professionals need broader knowledge and skills to be able to cope. Graduates of master of accountancy (MSA) programs would appear to be the type of students that public accounting firms are seeking since they often have intellectual breadth gained through undergraduate degrees in areas other than accountancy, current technical competence in accountancy, and frequently have work experience. This paper reports the results of a study undertaken to determine the perceptions of MSA graduates concerning: (1) how recruiters from public accounting firms viewed their non-accounting academic backgrounds and work experience; (2) how well prepared they were for their first jobs in public accounting as compared to traditional undergraduate accounting majors; and (3) any bias they experienced during the hiring process. The results of this study indicate that although a majority of the respondents who desired careers in public accounting were able to secure jobs in the field, they believed it was harder for them to get jobs in public accounting than their peers with just undergraduate degrees. The majority did not feel that public accounting firms viewed their non-accounting academic backgrounds and work experience favorably. Although more than half believed that they were paid more than their peers who held only undergraduate degrees, less than half felt that they were given more responsibility. The results also indicate that older MSA graduates believed that they were subject to age bias during the interview process.     

Management accounting in Europe: a view from Canada

On the basis of a reading ofManagement Accounting: European Perspectivesedited by Al Bhimani (1996) there appears to be no historical pan-European perspective on management accounting. However, following the advent of the relevance lost and strategic cost management movements, and especially activity-based costing, there does seem to be emerging a certain homogeneity in European management accounting practices. This commentary questions the intellectual and practical basis for these movements and activity-based costing. It also identifies some of the particular achievements of European management accounting researchers which are not covered in the book.     

Educational standards for management accountants: A critical need

The last five years have seen the development of a trend that may be characterized as “the professionalization of accounting education”. One major element of this movement has been the development of a formal recommended curriculum for students planning a career in public accounting. However, a similar proposed curriculum for management accounting students has not resulted. Although the management accounting profession has made great advances during the past few years, a single formal recommended curriculum has not been developed.This article expresses concern over the lack of such a curriculum, and urges the management accounting arm of the profession to join in developing a single recommended academic curriculum for management accountants.     

A commentary on the applications of activity-based costing

Activity-based costing (ABC) has, within the last decade, generated a voluminous literature which has paralleled its increase in popularity with practitioners. This paper reviews ABC's potential by examining applications of it which extend throughout the core areas of management accounting. Consideration is given not only to how it has positively contributed to practice in these areas but also to its rationale and limitations to particular applications. Assessment is also made of how it interacts with longer established management accounting issues such as the variable versus fixed costing debate for income measurement and decision-making, the use of contribution margin analysis, organizational slack in the budgetary control process and conventional variance analysis. Some conclusions are drawn on its value to practitioners and researchers.     

The role and impact of professional accountancy associations on accounting education research: An international study

This paper explores the relative influence of the accounting academy and accountancy professional associations in the debate concerning the profile and quality of accounting education research. This research analyses 13 semi-structured interviews undertaken with members of key accounting professional associations in Australia, New Zealand (ANZ) and the United Kingdom and Ireland (UKI). The paper makes a theoretical contribution by the novel application of the institutional logics theory to the literature concerning professional accounting associations (PAAs) demonstrating the dominant commercial logic of the education function and the more traditional fiduciary logic of the technical function. The research finds that the primary stakeholders in the professional accounting curriculum development model are the PAAs and employers, whilst the accounting academy is relatively absent. The relative independence of the education and research and technical functions within PAAs is also identified: academic research and technical activity has little influence on professional education and vice versa. However, PAAs’ funding of academic research is common across all four countries for brand recognition and in some instances to influence policy rather than informing the professional curriculum.     

A possible explanation of the gender gap among accounting academics: evidence from the choice of research field

Despite the significant increase in the number of women in accounting research over past decades, the percentage of female full professors in accounting is still low. One of the problems may relate to the research area(s) they choose to specialize in. Is the relatively slow promotion of women due to their decision to concentrate in ‘nonmainstream’ fields of research? In this study, we collect data on 1,042 male and female accounting academics. Using the research interests declared on each academic web page, we find that accounting researchers show no significant gender differences in their choice of research fields. Hence, we conclude that the underpromotion of women cannot be attributed to their choice of ‘nonmainstream’ fields.     

Knowledge creation for practice in public sector management accounting by consultants and academics: Preliminary findings and directions for future research

This study is about knowledge creation for practice in public sector management accounting by consultants and academics. It shows that researchers emphasize the importance of practice, but worry about the prospects of a successful cross-fertilization between practice and research, because of the pressure they feel to publish in international research journals. Their contacts with consultants are limited. Consultants have limited access to academic research, because of pressures from their daily work. Knowledge created by consultants is initiated by problems coming from practice; it has to be ready-made for application in practice, and is often a combination of explicit and tacit knowledge. However, our interviews with researchers show a more diffuse picture; the knowledge created by some of them is disciplinary-driven and fundamental, whereas the research of others is more problem-driven and applied. Our study hints at two intermediary groups, i.e. consultant-researchers and consultants working in the expertise centres of their firms, both of which can potentially overcome hindrances in the communication between consultancy and research.     

Foundations of Technical Analysis: Computational Algorithms, Statistical Inference, and Empirical Implementation

Technical analysis, also known as 'charting,' has been a part of financial practice for many decades, but this discipline has not received the same level of academic scrutiny and acceptance as more traditional approaches such as fundamental analysis. One of the main obstacles is the highly subjective nature of technical analysis—the presence of geometric shapes in historical price charts is often in the eyes of the beholder. In this paper, we propose a systematic and automatic approach to technical pattern recognition using nonparametric kernel regression, and we apply this method to a large number of U.S. stocks from 1962 to 1996 to evaluate the effectiveness of technical analysis. By comparing the unconditional empirical distribution of daily stock returns to the conditional distribution—conditioned on specific technical indicators such as head-and-shoulders or double bottoms—we find that over the 31-year sample period, several technical indicators do provide incremental information and may have some practical value.     

Corporate social accounting in the United States of America: State of the art and future prospects

In the past 5 years, accounting researchers, management consultants and corporate executives have been attempting to develop operational frameworks for the implementation and institutionalization of corporate social accounting. This has produced a tremendous diversity in the measurement models and reporting frameworks that have been developed. This paper synthesizes the major approaches in the U.S.A. to measurement and reporting of the impact of an organization on society. It also suggests future research needs in this area.     

Managerial discourse and the link between theory and practice: From ROI to value-based management

Building on Thrift's (2005) concept of the cultural circuit of capitalism using critical discourse analysis, the paper investigates the influence of management accounting concepts on practice. The paper proposes that the way that academic theories in management accounting affect practice depends on the origin of the early texts, the extent to which the texts become discourses and the relative institutional support for the discourse. The approach is illustrated by focusing on three particular management accounting concepts: return on investment (ROI), value-based management (VBM) and strategic management accounting (SMA) and empirically contextualised through the case history of GEC/Marconi. The paper explains that, whilst ROI and VBM have, to varying degrees, become part of managerial discourse, SMA has remained a loose collection of academic texts and has had a negligible impact on managerial discourse and practice.     

Fusion of expertise among accounting faculty: towards an expertise model for academia in accounting

This paper aims to portray an accounting faculty expert. It is argued that neither the academic nor the professional orientation alone appears adequate in developing accounting faculty expertise. The accounting faculty expert is supposed to develop into a so-called ‘flexpert’ (Van der Heijden, 2003) who is able to deploy practical accounting exposure in teaching and research. This ‘fusion’ (mix of expertise) resulting from gaining expertise in quite different occupational areas, is attainable at academic career start levels in accounting, where during one's career orientation a professor is both an academic and a professional by training. Fusion is also attainable in complementary competence building wherein the faculty member invests in training and development in the non-core competence domain. The so-called ‘fusion framework’ that is depicted in this contribution could be usefully applied in recruitment efforts of business schools in search of a promising accounting professor.     

电子商务环境下的内部控制与风险管理

会计职业人员对评估内部控制并实施风险管理的技能已熟知多年。这种经过时间检验并证明行之有效的经验和专业技能是会计职业产业独特影响的知识基础。随着电子商业的发展，尽管目前尚没有统一且标准的定义，但其发展对会计职业却提出了挑战。从某种意义上讲，企业的风险评估增加了很多新的内容，而与之相对应的内部控制也需要进行必要的调整，从而实行风险管理。本文拟就电子商务环境下的内容控制和风险 管理及其手段进行分析。     

Revitalizing VITA to address AECC Position Statement No. 1 Objectives

Over the past two decades, educational theorists and accounting researchers alike have touted the potential benefits of experiential or “hands on” learning activities. This article examines a teaching methodology based on experiential learning theory that the authors believe facilitates student acquisition of a number of the prescribed accounting graduate capabilities outlined in the Appendix of the Accounting Education Change Commission's Position Statement No. 1. Specifically, we describe the structure, operations, and cost of the Applied Business Learning Experience/Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (ABLE/VITA program at Salisbury State University, and discuss how ABLE/VITA's classroom, client, and team experiences provide students with the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills, and abilities which satisfy the thrust of the AECC's charges. We also discuss present and planned program evaluation methods as well as suggestions for implementing similar programs at other academic institutions.