Once upon a time, positive accounting theory -a variant of positive economic theory -was radical. Watts and Zimmerman, whose book Positive Accounting Theory now is the most standard fare in accounting PhD programs, had a great deal of trouble getting published in the early 1970s. Now, research in accounting must at the very least be highly quantitative, or it simply is not viewed as scholarly b...

This note presents a new model, called GAMMA, which is an intertemporal applied general equilibrium model of the Dutch economy. The GAMMA model draws upon CPB’s generational accounting (GA) model, but extends it in several ways in order to account for important economic behavioural effects. In particular, the GAMMA model adds to the GA model a household sector, a firm sector and a pension fund ...

We develop a theoretical model of the …rm that links properties (stewardship vs. valuation focus) of …nancial reporting regimes with the informational properties of optimal managerial accounting systems. We show that, contrary to the standard textbook proposition, properties of management and …nancial accounting systems are not independent. Signi…cantly, we provide an explicit connection betwee...

The interests of users of financial statements are, in theory, paramount to accounting standard-setters. However, there is a dearth of research into users’ participation in, and influence on, the process of setting accounting standards. The enhanced status now accorded to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) offers the opportunity to examine these issues in a new regulatory conte...

this study presents empirical evidence concerning the effect of different accounting standard on earnings management. prior studies have shown that accounting standards influence earnings management. tighter accounting standards regime restricts management’s descretion to manipulate accruals, and at the same time, induce more costly real earnings management activities. to investigate this iss...

This paper introduces the responsibility cost control system installed at Han Dan Iron and Steel Company in the People’s Republic of China. The Company has adopted a series of management accounting techniques or procedures in its cost control system, including target costing, responsibility accounting, standard costing, flexible budgeting, internal transfer pricing, behavior motivation, perform...

The interests of users of financial statements are, in theory, paramount to accounting standard-setters. However, there is a dearth of research into users’ participation in, and influence on, the process of setting accounting standards. The enhanced status now accorded to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) offers the opportunity to examine these issues in a new regulatory conte...

A. C. Littleton famously described accounting as “relative and progressive”. However, in recent historical accounting research, there has been increasing hesitation in describing accounting as “progressing”. This is largely because “progress” implies a degree not only of change but also of improvement, and historical accounting researchers, influenced by social science conventions, often regard...