Accounting and the construction of institutions: The case of a factory

Despite the substantial body of research which assumes that management accounting was a reflex to the emergence of the factory system, little is known of the relationship between the two. Archival materials are presented in this paper which would suggest a far more complex relationship between accounting and the rise of the factory. In particular, we emphasize the way in which periodic reports, rather than ad boc calculations of cost or profit, were interwined with this new organization of work.     

The Postforeclosure Experience of U.S. Households

Despite the recent flood of foreclosures on residential mortgages, little is known about what happens to borrowers’ households after their mortgages have been foreclosed. We study the postforeclosure experience of U.S. households using a unique data set based on the credit reports of a large panel of individuals from 1999 to 2010. Although foreclosure considerably raises the probability of moving, the majority of postforeclosure migrants do not end up in substantially less desirable neighborhoods or more crowded living conditions. These results suggest that, on average, foreclosure does not impose an economic burden large enough to severely reduce housing consumption.     

Agency and Tax Explanations of Security Issuance Decisions

This paper is an empirical examination of the relative roles of agency and tax considerations in corporate debt versus equity issuance decisions. Unlike earlier work, we conduct our tests on a sample of UK firms since the UK system of taxation does not create an obvious tax advantage to debt and hence affords an opportunity to evaluate the relevance of tax arbitrage considerations. We find that both tax and agency issues are important determinants of security issuance decisions. In addition, we demonstrate that our specification is robust to a variety of alternative explanations which have appeared in the empirical literature.     

The roles of contextual moderation and personality in relation to the knowledge–risk link in the workplace

While hypothesized, a consistent association between knowledge about a hazard and the estimation of risk associated with that hazard has not been found. Risk communication is premised on the fact that knowledge about a hazard (information) will change people's perceptions of risk and behaviour. In this review methodological and theoretical factors that might account for this lack of consistent association are explored. In this context issues to do with the measurement and assessment of hazard knowledge, knowledge calibration, and the role of context as a moderator are explored. It is argued that contextual factors moderate the knowledge–risk link, with this link being stronger in less controllable, ambiguous contexts. Further this review asks: How can messages be framed (using prospect theory) so as to be more effective in the work place? It is argued that messages framed as gains should be more useful for prevention behaviours (e.g. wearing ear guards) and messages framed as losses should be more effective for detection behaviours (using radiation meters). Finally, the role of personality (e.g. need for cognition, typical intellectual engagement, and self-esteem) in relation to knowledge about a hazard, message framing and risk perception is discussed.     

From moral evaluation to rationalization: accounting and the shifting technologies of credit

The purpose of this essay is to stimulate an examination of the nature of consumer credit and accounting's role in its techniques of operation. The site of this examination is the US department store of the 1920/1930s. Our study, informed by Foucauldian concepts of disciplinary power and governmentality, reveals that a new mode of record keeping played a decisive role in the creation of an alternative to local knowledge in the granting of credit. This manifested itself in new accounting techniques, particularly, the analysis of age-based accounts receivable.     

Core entrepreneurial competencies and their interdependencies: insights from a study of Irish and Iranian entrepreneurs,university students and academics

The purpose of this paper is to advance our understanding of core entrepreneurial competencies and their interdependencies. Developing entrepreneurial competencies is increasingly seen as important to foster entrepreneurship. Studies to date have highlighted different entrepreneurial competencies in the context of different sectors, regions and countries. However, there has been a lack of consensus in relation to the perceived relative importance of core entrepreneurial competences and their interdependencies among students, academic and entrepreneurs. Our paper focuses on two key questions: first, what are the core entrepreneurial competencies that need to be developed in educational contexts? Second, what are the interdependencies between these entrepreneurial competencies that need to be developed in educational contexts? Using a collective intelligence methodology a comparative study of Iran and Ireland was undertaken that involved three stakeholder groups of students, academics and entrepreneurs. This methodology was used to identify, rank, and structure entrepreneurial competencies considered important for university students. The results of the study indicated that productive thinking, motivation, interpersonal skills and leadership are core entrepreneurial competences that need to be developed in educational contexts. Findings also highlight critical interdependencies between entrepreneurial competencies and the relative influence of different competencies across groups and regions. We outline the implications of our findings for designing a curriculum for improving students’ entrepreneurial competencies.     

Measuring mortgage credit availability: A frontier estimation approach

We construct a new measure of mortgage credit availability using a technique developed for production frontier estimation. The resulting “loan frontier” describes the maximum amount obtainable by a borrower of given characteristics. We estimate this frontier using mortgage originations data from 2001 to 2014. We find a substantial expansion of mortgage credit for all borrowers during the housing boom, not only for low‐score or low‐income borrowers. The subsequent contraction in credit was most pronounced for low‐score borrowers. Using variation in the frontier across metropolitan areas over time, we show that borrowing constraints played an important role in the recent housing cycle.     

Making Sense of an Interconnected World: How Innovation Champions Drive Social Innovation in the Not-for-Profit Context

Social innovation is critical for supporting the economic and social fabric of communities globally. Yet little is known about the processes through which social innovation occurs and how context shapes them. To date, scholarship has focused primarily on social entrepreneurs and social enterprise creation, while the role of established not-for-profits (NFPs) as agents of social innovation has received surprisingly little attention given their importance to communities. It is expected that innovation will be increasingly important for NFPs as shifts in their funding models create greater complexity in maintaining sustainability and continuity in social service delivery. This research generates a deeper understanding of the processes of social innovation within NFPs by examining how multiple levels of context influence the behaviors of a key set of agents: innovation champions. Adopting an interactionist lens, the study explores how shifts in funding policy at the macro level, and the role of leaders (CEOs and Boards) and organizational institutional logics at the meso level, influence champion behavior at the micro level. To do this, we draw on sensemaking as an important cognitive and action-enabling mechanism. A qualitative, multicase study design with 46 interviews across six case organizations allows an in-depth exploration of this under-investigated area. The findings indicate that bricolage activity can facilitate championing that supports social innovation within NFPs and that organizational context guides the direction and content of champion behavior. The findings further uncover a broader range of behaviors and outcomes than have been previously attributed to champions, while highlighting the critical role that bricolage-enabled championing can play in driving social innovation that is both directly impactful and offers significant longer-term social impact. The important roles that sensebreaking, sensegiving, and sensemaking play in connecting champions’ interpretations of their contexts to their behaviors are also outlined.