An ethical perspective on accounting standard setting: Professional and lay-experts’ contribution to GASB’s Pension Project

Himick, Darlene; Brivot, Marion; Henri, Jean‐François

doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2015.12.002

Cited by 18 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Noël et al, 2010). Instead these formal venues privilege the voice of dominant elites (Atkins et al, 2015) who reinforce status quo norms (Durocher and Gendron, 2011;Christensen and Skaerbaek, 2007;Himick et al, 2016). We find that through counter accounts of profit, non-accountants were able to change the possibilities of who and what can be profitable, and how.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Counter accounts of profit: outrage to action through “just” calculation

Himick

Ruff

2019

AAAJ

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Purpose Profit is often moralized by activists, but scant research has carefully examined what profit is for these activists or how they use it to create a more just world. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how social movements use counter accounts of profit as tools of resistance. Design/methodology/approach A multiple case study design, informed by framing theory, is used to trace the framing of profit from activists’ counter accounts to actions they precipitated. Specifically, the study examines counter accounts of profit from the UK abolition movement, Médecines Sans Frontières access to essential medicines campaign and Brigitte Bardot Foundation’s opposition to the Canadian seal hunt, and how their framings of profit influenced change. Findings Activists reframe profit to create visibilities and bridges to the suffering of distant others. Reframing the calculation and boundary of profit is a strategy to elicit moral outrage, hope and ultimately a more just world. Through these reframings, activists in three different social movements were able to change the possibilities of who and what can be profitable, and how. Social implications The inherently incomplete nature of accounting frames give rise to accounting’s vulnerability to non-accountants to assert their views of a moral profit. Accounting therefore is both a means of control at a distance but also “emancipation at a distance.” Originality/value Scholars have asserted that accounting can be used for resistance, few studies have examined how. By examining how activists assert what profit is – and should be – the paper documents and theorizes profit as contested and highlights accounting’s emancipatory potential.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Counter accounts of profit: outrage to action through “just” calculation

Himick

Ruff

2019

AAAJ

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“…Both authors, accounting academics, separately read each letter to develop an understanding of the arguments employed, making notes that were exchanged and reviewed. Any uncertainties were discussed and consensus was reached for all of the comment letters used in the analysis (Himick et al, 2016;Amernic and Craig, 2017). The comment letters were also entered into NVivo, which was used to support our analysis of themes and justifications.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extracting transparency: the process of regulating disclosures for the resources industry

Cortese

Andrew

2020

AAAJ

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PurposeMultinational resource companies (MRCs) are under pressure to become responsible corporate citizens. In particular, stakeholders are demanding more information about the deals these companies negotiate with the host governments of resource-rich nations, and there is general agreement about the need for industry commitment to transparency and the benefits that a mandatory disclosure regime would bring. This paper examines the production of one attempt to regulate disclosures related to payments between MRCs and the governments of nations with resource wealth: Section 1504 of the Dodd–Frank Act.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on Boltanski and Thévenot's (2006) Sociology of Worth, the authors examine the comment letters of participants in this process with a view to revealing how stakeholder groups produce justifications to promote their positions vis-à-vis transparency to regulators.FindingsThe authors show how justifications were mobilised by various constituents in an effort to shape the definition of transparency and the regulatory architecture that governs disclosure practices. In this case, the collective recognition of desirability of transparency enabled the SEC to suture together the views of constituents to create a shared understanding of the role of the common good as it relates to transparency.Originality/valueThis paper explores an alternative approach to the consideration of comment letters advanced during the process of disclosure-related rule-making. The authors show how a sophisticated regulator may be able to draw together elements stemming from different constituents in a way that appeals to a shared sense of the “common good” in order to produce Final Rules.

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“…Evidence from microfinance institutions within the same sector, the need to consider the existence of heterogeneous organisations, such as hybrid organisations, in which some peculiarities already identified in the literature could obfuscate the effectiveness of a "golden standard" that, ideally, should fit the information needs of all possible stakeholders Eccles et al, 2012;Costa and Pesci, 2016); and the role of non-experts among the stakeholders who should be involved in the standardisation process (Himick et al, 2016) and whose information needs should be considered (Adams, 2020).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

When a sector-specific standard for non-financial reporting is not enough: evidence from microfinance institutions in Italy

Costa

Pesci

Andreaus

et al. 2022

SAMPJ

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Purpose This paper aims to investigate the application of the Italian Banking Association (ABI) industry-specific reporting standard in microfinance institutions by determining whether or not a banking sector reporting standard can enhance non-financial reporting (NFR) quality and volume to meet stakeholders’ information needs in the specific setting investigated. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops an analysis of available ABI documents from 2006 to 2013 to conduct a content analysis of the quality and volume of the NFR of 98 Italian cooperative banks (CBs) during the 2008–2009 ABI implementation year. These data are analysed using two regression models to investigate the quality and volume of NFR disclosures. Findings The findings suggest that for CBs in the Italian banking sector, the information provided in the non-financial reports in adherence to the ABI sector reporting standard is relevant in terms of both volume and quality. However, when investigating specific categories of disclosure such as the community, the relevance of the ABI reporting standard is fairly low. The authors question the “one-size-fits-all” approach favouring a more sector-tailored approach to ensure that the NFR covers key sectoral concerns. Practical implications The high heterogeneity in the sector could negatively affect the capability of sector-specific standards to truly foster reliable, complete and extensive NFR. Therefore, NFR standard-setters, such as the International Sustainability Standards Board, should consider these heterogeneities. Social implications Reporting standardisation should be multi-voiced and include different – even contrasting – perspectives to promote expert and non-expert engagements. Originality/value This paper focuses on hybrid organisations and shows how the theoretical approach of dialogic accountability can improve the quality of sector-specific reporting standards.

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An ethical perspective on accounting standard setting: Professional and lay-experts’ contribution to GASB’s Pension Project

Cited by 18 publications

References 41 publications

Counter accounts of profit: outrage to action through “just” calculation

Counter accounts of profit: outrage to action through “just” calculation

Extracting transparency: the process of regulating disclosures for the resources industry

When a sector-specific standard for non-financial reporting is not enough: evidence from microfinance institutions in Italy

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