Ersatz Academics and Scholar-saints: The Supply of Financial Accounting Research

Watts and Zimmerman, in a widely acclaimed article, concluded that accounting theories serve to supply excuses for policies determined by political processes. This paper presents a critical review of Watts and Zimmerman's hypothesis, and in return, suggests that the academic reward system in the leading universities does not encourage that kind of activity. The alternative hypothesis is that there are two markets, one for excuses and the other for scholarly research.