Accounting Faculty Research Articles

Favoritism versus Search for Good Papers: Empirical Evidence Regarding the Behavior of Journal Editors

Journal editors who publish papers authored by colleagues and former graduate students have been charged with practicing favoritism, with the implication that the papers in question are of lower quality than those written by scholars with no ties to the editor. Using citation analysis, the authors find strong evidence that although journal editors occasionally publish subpar papers authored by colleagues and former graduate students, on balance their use of professional connections enables them to identify and 'capture' high-impact papers for publication. This implies that a practice interpreted as favoritism by many scholars in fact serves to enhance efficiency in the market for scientific knowledge. Copyright 1994 by University of Chicago Press.

Knowledge and the academic accountant: An empirical study

Abstract This article concerns the way that academic accountants approach and perceive knowledge. Knowledge within disciplines is based upon knowledge strategies, which are the sets of beliefs and “rules” by means of which academics deal with knowledge. Knowledge strategies underlie the basic philosophy of the various departments which make up the university business school, and affect the way in which academics research and teach their disciplines. The origin of this article lies in our speculation about what it is that academic accountants consider worth knowing about accountancy issues, and further, what rules and strategies impact on their perception of what is valid or appropriate knowledge. In order to ascertain whether or not the concept of knowledge strategies has any validity and whether accounting faculty hold different knowledge strategies compared to nonaccounting business faculty, a study was undertaken involving the seven English university business schools which cover the full range of undergraduate, MBA, doctoral, and executive programmes. A questionnaire was sent to 407 academics at these schools. Following a factor analysis of the data collected, three strategies were identified as the Personal Knowledge Strategy (characterised by reliance on individual creativity, personal experience and judgement), the External Strategy (characterised by the view that knowledge can be found by means of objective criteria), and the Collegial Knowledge Strategy (characterised by debate and consultation with colleagues in order to compare, contrast, discuss and evaluate knowledge). A comparative analysis of the 68 accounting faculty who responded to the questionnaire and the 165 responding nonaccountant faculty revealed that academic accountants hold a significantly lower personal knowledge strategy and also a significantly higher external strategy, when compared with nonaccountant faculty. These empirical findings lend support to Zeff's concern that academic accountants' approach to education does not result in students being acquainted “with a field of professional endeavor consistent with the liberal tradition of universities” (Zeff, 1989b, p. 204).

A Profile of Accounting Chair Professorships in 1992

Abstract A profile of the 305 accounting chairholders in the United States in 1992 is presented. Data and statistics were obtained from Hasselback's Accounting Faculty Directory between 1980 and 1992. The number of chair professorships increased rapidly during the 1980s and the early 1990s. To a great extent, the composite profile of chairholders provided by Worthington et al. (1989) is still valid in 1992. Most of the chairholders are faculty members at Southwest Conference or Big Ten universities. However, many non-doctorate-granting schools have also offered chair professorships in significant numbers in recent years. The areas of specialization of the 305 chairholders in 1992 have also been broadened to include managerial/cost, auditing, taxation, systems/computers, and international accounting. More research is needed to study many important but largely unexplored issues on accounting chair professorships.

Evidence on the extent of training in teaching and education research among accounting faculty

The Accounting Education Change Commission and others encourage accounting teachers to become versed in educational research and admonishes accounting programs to train their accounting doctoral candidates to be effective teachers. This article has two primary objectives. First, it determines whether current accounting faculty are well-trained in educational research methodology. Second, it ascertains whether doctoral programs in accounting are training the next generation of faculty in effective teaching techniques. The results indicate that accounting faculty are not well-trained in educational methodology and that very few accounting doctoral programs provide in-depth training to candidates on effective teaching methods.

The Supply and Demand of Accounting Faculty by Interest Area

The Supply and Demand of Accounting Faculty by Interest Area

A Survey of Factory Automation Topics in Managerial and Cost Accounting

Abstract There have been many changes in recent years in the way the modern American factory operates. For many firms facing stiff domestic or foreign competition, the changes have been organizational and fall under the heading of “modern factory management” or the “Japanese style of management.” This paper surveys the extent to which accounting-related modern factory management topics are taught in introductory managerial and cost accounting courses at AACSB accredited accounting institutions. Also shown is the extent to which accounting faculty wish to include accounting-related modern factory material in future offerings of these courses. The results indicate a desire to increase the coverage of modern factory accounting concepts in classes. Even with the desired increase in coverage, modern factory topics are expected to represent only 27% of future course content.

Personal computer usage in community college accounting courses

Since the advent of the IBM personal computer in August 1981, business usage of personal computers (PCs) has dramatically increased. Annual shipments of PCs costing less than $10,000 increased from 1,000,000 units in 1981 to an estimated 7,000,000 by the end of 1986 [ Business Week]. This rapidly increasing use of PCs by business organizations is providing academia with a stimulus to incorporate micro applications into accounting classes. In fact, a recent survey of microcomputer usage in accounting curriculums of 4-year academic institutions projected a significant increase in PC usage by 1986. On average, the responding accounting departments were planning to increase their hardware by more than 55% and their libraries of software packages by more than 64% by 1986. While the greatest use of PCs presently is in accounting systems courses, a significant increase in micro usage by 1986 was indicated for the principles, cost, auditing, and tax areas. The purpose of this paper is to parallel the study mentioned above for 2-year community colleges. In Fall 1985, questionnaires were sent to a statistical sample of 294 of the members listed in the Two-year College Accounting Faculty Directory 1985–1986. One hundred and seventy-five (175) questionnaires were returned (a response rate of 59%). Of the returns, 60 (34%) offered an accounting systems course and the remaining 115 (66%) did not. The 115 not offering a systems course returned the questionnaires unanswered. However, many of these respondents, in addition to indicating that no accounting systems course was offered, had no microcomputers for use by their accounting students. Others did not indicate whether PCs were available for use by accounting students. Since these questionnaires were returned unanswered, perhaps we can infer that all 115 (or most) have no school, departmental, or other access to PCs. Thus, only the 60 respondents completing the questionnaires were included in the results to be examined in this paper. The remainder of this paper first discusses the current and projected availability of PCs in accounting courses, based on our survey results. Then our survey results are compared with those of an earlier one in order to obtain a sense of the rate with which 2-year institutions are adapting to using microcomputers in their accounting courses.

The Matthew Effect in Science, II: Cumulative Advantage and the Symbolism of Intellectual Property

HE SUBJECT OF THIS ESSAY is a problem in the sociology of science that has long been of interest to me. That problem, a candid friend tells me, is somewhat obscured by the formidable title assigned to it. Yet, properly deciphered, the title is not nearly as opaque as it might at first seem. Consider first the signal emitted by the Roman numeral II in the main title. It informs us that the paper follows on an earlier one, “The Matthew Effect in Science, ” which I finally put into print a good many years ago.’ The ponderous, not to say lumpy, subtitle goes on to signal the direction of this follow-on. The first concept, cumulative advantage, applied to the domain of science, refers to the social processes through which various kinds of opportunities for scientific inquiry as well as the subsequent symbolic and material rewards for the results of that inquiry tend to accumulate for individual practitioners of science, as they do also for organizations engaged in scientific work. The concept of cumulative advantage directs our attention to the ways in which initial comparative advantages of trained capacity successive increments of 7 s

More Methods That Make Little Difference In Event Studies

Journal of Business Finance & AccountingVolume 15, Issue 1 p. 77-86 More Methods That Make Little Difference In Event Studies Joel E. Thompson, the author is Assistant Professor on the Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems at the Ohio State University. He would like to thank the participants of the Finance Seminar and the Accounting Research Colloquium both at the Ohio State University, Department of Accounting Seminar at Kent State University, Bruce Gaumnitz, Joanne Turner, David Williams, and an anonymous referee for comments on earlier versions of this paper. He is also grateful to his Faculty and College who partially supported this research through a grant.Search for more papers by this author Joel E. Thompson, the author is Assistant Professor on the Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems at the Ohio State University. He would like to thank the participants of the Finance Seminar and the Accounting Research Colloquium both at the Ohio State University, Department of Accounting Seminar at Kent State University, Bruce Gaumnitz, Joanne Turner, David Williams, and an anonymous referee for comments on earlier versions of this paper. He is also grateful to his Faculty and College who partially supported this research through a grant.Search for more papers by this author First published: March 1988 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5957.1988.tb00121.xCitations: 21AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume15, Issue1March 1988Pages 77-86 RelatedInformation

An Examination of Accounting Faculty's Actual and Preferred Use of Time

Accounting faculty are faced with conflicting pressures for success in teaching, research, public service, administration, and consulting. Frequently, increased devotion of time to an area results in increased success, but not without sacrifice in other activity areas. In reflecting on academic careers, Zlatkovich (1984) states, One does have to be ready to accept opportunity, and the key is to learn to distinguish the important from the unimportant and to manage one's time with reasonable efficiency. This study investigated accounting faculty and how they allocated their time among the various areas of teaching, research, service, administration, and consulting-hereafter referred to as the functional areas. Although the results are sample means and not indicative of how any single individual should allocate his/ her time, examination of data from other faculty may assist individuals in the management of their own time. Administrators may find the data useful in attracting and retaining faculty by matching their expectations with the preferred time allocations across functional areas. In addition, faculty at various stages of their careers may reallocate their time more effectively by examining the data categorized by rank.

Entrepreneurial Development in the People'S Republic of China

Dr. Tan Chwee-Huat is currently Dean of the Faculty of Accountancy and Business Administration and an associate professor at the National University of Singapore. As part of its modernisation programme China has implemented numerous economic reforms since the late 1970s, encouraging the development of entrepreneurs in agriculture, commerce and industry. Most of the new entrepreneurs have started by engaging in some sideline activities and gradually developing specialisation in these sidelines. This paper briefly examines some aspects of new entrepreneurial developments in China.

The Impact of Additional Quality Standards upon Future Accounting Faculty and the Accreditation Process

The Impact of Additional Quality Standards upon Future Accounting Faculty and the Accreditation Process

Who is educating today's accountants? Some observations

The accounting profession has been characterized as one in which a lack of congruence exists among its practitioner, research, and education functions. This paper presents evidence that, especially among junior accounting faculty, accounting researchers and educators may be isolated from the realities of accounting practice, and from contact with users of accounting data.

Publications: A valid measure of faculty contribution?

Abstract Publication productivity of academic accountants has been variously measured and used to rank accounting faculties as well as accounting doctoral programs. Implicit in the results of these studies is the assumption that publications are a surrogate measurement of the contribution of faculty members. This study presents evidence of the declining publication productivity of academic accountants throughout their careers and discusses some implications of this phenomenon for performance evaluation.

Accounting education: Turning wrongs into rights in the 1980's

Abstract This article speculates upon the evolution of accounting education in the 1980's. Ideas are presented which impact upon many facets of higher education including undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education programs, as well as research and service. Further, institutional issues concerning the role of academics are addressed. The paper begins with “wrongs” of accounting research, education, libraries, and continuing education. Particular stress is placed upon weaknesses in educating and motivating accounting faculty to teach and have primary concern for students. Promotion, tenure, expense support, and reward structures are biased toward research and publication rather than teaching. Funding and faculty attention are not directed toward innovation in accounting education and development of university libraries as learning centers. In short, accounting educators continue to “educate for absolescence.” The paper ends with some suggestions of how to turn “wrongs” into “rights.” More than increased funding is needed. Of primary importance is a shift in attitudes and reward structures.