Although many may think of accounting as something abstract that happens only in spreadsheets, our new study shows that budgeting can impact employee wellbeing. Specifically, based on a large survey in a well-known multinational, we find that participative budgeting practices can enhance job satisfaction and diminish presenteeism of middle managers. Stress at work First, let’s consider for a moment the typical middle manager. Sandwiched between top-management and the employees, they often find themselves in stressful…

I have just published, in ‘Accounting in Europe’ a commentary (Opinion) on who ‘owns’ the university accounting curriculum? I also reflect on why that ‘ownership’ matters. This is the link (early online and free access):  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17449480.2023.2206522 The questions raised in the commentary are: who determines, who owns, the accounting curriculum in universities, and does it matter who does?  The first question has a clear answer. But the answer is not what you would expect it…

How to stimulate interpersonal trust in organizations? How can performance management contribute to trust? And, can other types of management control also enhance interpersonal trust? These questions are addressed in our recent study amongst healthcare managers, as published in The British Accounting Review (open access). In this blog, we highlight our three key findings. Introduction Performance measurement received much attention from accounting and management scholars in the past decades. It can help address typical agency…

Given the importance of private firms for the global economy, there is a growing interest in research on private firms in general and on private firm accounting in particular. Our openly accessible online app (Privat Firm Accounting Literature Database) allows interested readers to explore their own dip into the literature. The database allows to filter for: Keywords / full-text search Topics (e.g. accounting quality, audit, banks, disclosure, IFRS, …) Country/Regions Data source (e.g. Orbis, Amadeus, or…

In the complex world of financial reporting, Audit Committee Chairs (ACCs) play a pivotal role in ensuring the integrity of corporate governance. What are their personal objectives and incentives that guide them in their actions to maintain and improve audit quality? The recent European Accounting Review article “Audit Committee Chairs’ Objectives and Risk Perceptions: Implications for Audit Quality” (Jürgen Ernstberger, Bernhard Pellens, André Schmidt, Thorsten Sellhorn & Katharina Weiß) shows how ACCs’ personal objectives and…

What is the value of accounting research for diverse stakeholders? While this question is certainly very difficult to answer, let alone quantify, we often hear concerns regarding the lack of relevance beyond academia. Publishing high-quality research that addresses relevant research questions, however, is only the first step toward social impact beyond academia. Other criteria for accounting research to extend its social impact include translating it into accessible language for non-academics and effective dissemination. In other…

What drives the use of performance measurement (PM) systems in the public sector? And what are the effects of PM use? In a recent study in Financial Accountability & Management (Van der Kolk, 2022, open access), I address these questions. I do so by reviewing survey papers on public sector PM published in all major accounting outlets, i.e., 3, 4, and 4* journals from the ABS journal list (2018). In this blog, I highlight seven…

by Edith Leung and Jochen Pierk December 2022 One of the most visible activities of the EAA is the Annual Congress, which provides a forum for academics to meet and discuss research. Although the Congress serves many important purposes, such as symposia and networking, a key reason for many academics to attend is to present and receive feedback on ongoing research in one of the scientific sessions. The aim of these sessions is to help…

The proposed ESG reporting standards presented by the EU last week are overwhelming. I advocate to limit reporting requirements to two metrics: profit and emission reductions. Last week, EFRAG published the first version of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. The set of standards describes in detail the topics that companies report on and also obliges them to develop targets that define the company’s ambition. The ESG metrics are presented in 15 appendices spanning many hundreds…

by Jochen Pierk (Erasmus University Rotterdam) Once a year, typically end of June, Clarivate publishes the new journal impact factors. Despite some well-known shortcomings of such metrics (which I am not going to discuss in detail[1]), journal editors typically highlight the new impact factors on their websites and even advertise them on social media (when they increase). So what exactly are impact factors? Impact factors measure the number of citations in the current year of…