Pursuing Big Issues in Covid-World Accounting Research

Abstract

Reflecting on the third year of the global Covid-19 pandemic, this paper addresses critical issues in the accounting research agenda. Departing from the current vogue for structured and systematic literature reviews, it specifically targets a number of major accountability issues whose importance will be reinforced by the institutional, economic, political and social environment. Informed by a renewed call to address the accounting research-practice gap, the paper examines the increasing importance of public sector services and accountability, social and environmental accountability, digital transformation in accounting and reporting, and the accountability implications of transitioning to the hybrid office. Accordingly, this paper presents the case for accounting researchers turning their attention to the big issues that concern governments, communities and institutions rather than retreating into preoccupations with self-referential technical, conceptual and archival studies often characteristic of today’s accounting research literature.