The possibility and utility of positive accounting theory |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of International Business, Ming Chuan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;2. A.R. Sanchez School of Business, Texas A & M International University, Laredo, Texas, USA;3. Department of Business Administrtion, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;1. Department of Finance, The University of Tennessee, United States;2. University of Minho, School of Economics and Management, Portugal;3. Mississippi State University, United States;1. School of Economics and Management, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha, China;2. School of Mathematics and Statistics, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Mathematical Modeling and Analysis in Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha, China |
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| Abstract: | Watts & Zimmerman's Positive Accounting Theory (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986) celebrates the growth of “scientific” accounting research in the U.S.A. and the intellectual progress it has made. The extent to which this sort of research does follow the precepts of empiricist philosophies of science, however, is a matter of some debate. Moreover, the coherence and applicability of the methodological rules Watts & Zimmerman claim to follow is questionable. In particular, the Popperian research programme is of doubtful utility for accounting researchers. Particular characteristics of social phenomena also raise doubts about the feasibility of engineering models for theory-based social technologies. These doubts about the epistemological and practical value of “positive accounting theory” lead to an alternative, sociological. explanation of its growth and institutionalisation in academic accounting research. |
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