Moving the financial accounting research front forward: the UK contribution

Abstract

330 6855 (direct line) 5666 (department) Email V.Beattie@accfin.gla.ac.uk Acknowledgements This paper has benefited greatly from the comments of two anonymous BAR reviewers. Moving the Financial Accounting Research Front Forward: The UK Contribution ABSTRACTThe purpose of this paper is to review the recent UK contribution to the field of financial accounting research, set against the backdrop of the global (mainly US) research effort. A systematic overview of recent research in the field is presented, based upon an analysis of 261 articles published between 1998 and 2002 in seven general, non-US journals. These are the journals that UK academics publish in most frequently and 115 of the articles are UK-authored. It is found that the research areas of MBAR and disclosure currently dominate conventional financial accounting research. The comparison of findings across institutional settings offers fruitful lines of inquiry for research within these main areas (i.e. studies of value relevance, analysts' forecasts, voluntary disclosure and earnings management). While most research is seen to follow the highly quantitative, economics-based US tradition, a significant amount of UK research adopts a more qualitative approach, and distinctive UK contributions are evident in a number of areas (in particular, the disclosure process and corporate social reporting). There are signs that UK researchers are helping researchers in other countries contribute to the global body of scholarly knowledge.

Investigating Presentational Change in U.K. Annual Reports: A Longitudinal Perspective

“…They show that measurement distortion in excess of 10% is just perceptible to users. Since 1992, there have been a succession of financial graphics studies (e.g., Beattie andJones, 2000 and2001;Courtis, 1997;Frownfelter-Lohrke and Fulkerson, 2001;Mather, Ramsay and Serry, 1996;Mather, Ramsay and Steen, 2000;and Mather, Mather and Ramsay, 2005) all of which have developed, and reinforced, the earlier findings of selectivity, measurement distortion and presentational enhancement.…”

Corporate risk disclosure by UK firms: trends and determinants

“…Although corporate financial and environmental disclosures have been developing for a number of decades, recent evidence (e.g., Stanton and Stanton, 2002;Beattie, 2005) found little research related to annual report risk disclosure. This increase in attention for risk disclosure can be demonstrated by the increased focus being applied by governments and accounting regulators, and accounting institutions, signifying its importance.…”

Corporate governance mechanisms and intellectual capital

“…However, financial statements have ceased to be explanatory about the business reality on which they intend to report, since the identification, measurement and valuation criteria do not respond to the characteristics of knowledge economy (Beattie, 2005;TejedoRomero & Araujo, 2016). Many stakeholders are at a disadvantage in terms of information access and are forced to heavily rely on voluntary IC disclosure for their decision-making (Rodrigues et al, 2017;Vergauwen, Bollen & Oirbans, 2007).…”