If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to evaluate management accounting research in developing countries and formulate suggestions for its progression. Design/methodology/approach -This is a desk based study of existing literature analysed through a framework of management control transformation in developing countries derived from the authors' research. Findings -Research is growing, especially on accounting in state-owned and privatised enterprises but more is needed on small and micro enterprises, agriculture, non-governmental organisations, and transnational institutions. Originality/value -This is the first review of this area and thus should help intending and existing scholars.MAS research by country, stage of development, topic, theory and research methods Our definition of MAS embraces processes, structures and information for organisational decisions, governance, control and accountability. ;It is deliberately broad -too narrow and technical definitions deflect attention from historical, social, political and economic factors, and their unanticipated consequences. Rigid boundaries are dangerous as development issues need open, imaginative, problem-based approaches that transgress disciplines and forms of accounting. We excluded financial accounting papers on LDCs, including social and environmental accounting ones (see Gray and Kouhy, 1993) but in retrospect such demarcations may be dangerous, as will be discussed.

Accounting is an instrument and an object in globalisation but its impact and manifestation is not uniform across Northern developed countries and Southern developing countries (DCs). This paper reviews contributions on globalisation and its influence on accounting in DCs, and identifies important research gaps. It examines the role of accounting in changing development policies, from state capitalism through neo-liberal market-based to good-governance policies. It then considers specific accounting issues, namely the diffusion of International Accounting Standards (now International Financial Reporting Standards) and how they promote global neo-liberalism; the development of the accounting profession in DCs in the face of competition from Northern global accounting firms and professional associations; accounting issues in state-owned organisations, and privatised and multinational corporations; government accounting reforms and the resurrection of the state in DCs; social and environmental accounting issues; and the rise of non-governmental organisations and their accounting and accountability. The discussion and conclusions reflect on achievements to date and important areas requiring further development.

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