Management Accounting Research on Africa

Abstract

This paper presents a systematic literature review of 109 empirical articles published between 1977 and 2017 in English and French on management accounting (MA) in Africa. Our main results are synthesized into seven larger themes and an evidence-based explanatory framework regarding MA in Africa. This framework suggests that MA in Africa is subject to various antecedents, some of which are specific to African countries and contexts. In addition, we find that current MA practices and systems may have mainly hampered, rather than fostered, performance and development in many African countries and enterprises. However, our review also shows overall that such critical views on MA in Africa are rather found in internationally ranked English-language journals, than in less esteemed English-language and Francophone journals. According to our analyses, the more critical findings can largely be explained by the overriding paradigm of neopatrimonialism, while the less critical and more positivist findings rather adhere to contingency thinking. Finally, the present review highlights a need for more research about MA in the informal African economy, the connection between MA and development-related sustainability issues, such as civil wars and environmental management, and the impact of the increased presence of China on MA in Africa.

Guest editorial

“…The case study by Murr and Carrera (2022) shows that in this developing country, the competition between the logics was only solved by making risk management a compliance requirement. At the same time, the paper shows that change in developing countries' risk management systems may only be ceremonial at first with the aim to signal conformance with external pressures, a finding that connects with other accounting and control research on developing country organizations (Damayanthi and Gooneratne, 2017;Hopper et al, 2009;Ndemewah and Hiebl, 2021;van Helden and Uddin, 2016). However, this raises the question of whether adequate risk governance in a developing country organization necessarily needs to be in line with approaches that have proven useful in developed countries.…”

Financial reporting quality during a crisis: a systematic review

“…To understand the quality of papers that constituted the main review, the journal lists of the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) and the United Kingdom (UK) Chartered Association of Business Schools (ABS) journal lists were reviewed as these journal lists are commonly used to assess quality ranking in accounting research (e.g. Hoque, 2014; Ndemewah and Hiebl, 2021). In total, 86% (25 papers) of the sample published in journals appear on both the ABDC and ABS journal lists and almost 60% (17 papers) were published in either an A/A* ranked journal or rated 2 or more in the ABDC and ABS journal list, respectively [5].…”

“…Consequently, the study employs a theme-based approach to review, synthesise and analyse prior studies' findings (e.g. Daugaard, 2020; Hinze and Sump, 2019; Ndemewah and Hiebl, 2021). In particular, a structured approach is utilised in this study.…”

Understanding the cultural underpinnings of managerial performance reporting (MPR) in Ghana

“…The study makes a significant contribution. Firstly, suppose we accept Ndemewah and Hiebl's (2021) assertion that mainstream MPR research on Africa is primarily rooted in a critical research tradition than a positivistic approach. In that case, this study adds to the existing literature by adopting a positivist lens.…”