Reflections on the public interest in accounting

Dellaportas, Steven; Davenport, Laura

doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2007.06.002

Cited by 83 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In this study, we draw from prior theoretical and empirical work to investigate recent federal political activities of the public accounting profession and provide insights concerning related tensions that might exist between the profession's commitment to act in the public interest and its commitment to act as advocates for the profession and its clients. Specifically, we rely on public interest accounting research by Dellaportas and Davenport (2008) to develop a public interest discourse classification framework that we then use in a case study of the AICPA's public interest discourse within official legislative letters to federal policy makers on recent issues. We also assess the actions taken by the public accounting profession via its lobbying on these issues.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Examination of the U.S. Public Accounting Profession’s Public Interest Discourse and Actions in Federal Policy Making

Baudot

Wallace

2016

J Bus Ethics

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Participation in the political process by the United States public accounting profession often blurs the role of the profession as advocates for the public interest with its role as advocates for its own private interests. In this study, we draw from prior theoretical and empirical work to investigate recent federal political activities of the public accounting profession to shed light on these sometimes contradictory roles. In particular, we investigate ten contemporary regulatory issues of interest to the AICPA. We analyze 36 AICPA legislative advocacy letters related to these issues that were provided to federal policy makers. In addition, we analyze the public accounting profession's federal lobbying reports that were submitted during this same time period. The analysis allows us to assess the public interest discourse present in the AICPA legislative letters as well as the extent of political action taken by the profession related to these issues based on the profession's lobbying efforts. Our analyses (1) demonstrate that the profession's discourse and actions often reflect both public and private interest motivations, (2) allow us to categorize the profession's advocacy efforts as arising from specific motivations, and (3) show that the profession's public interest arguments used to advocate for their policy positions change depending upon the specific legislative issue being considered.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Examination of the U.S. Public Accounting Profession’s Public Interest Discourse and Actions in Federal Policy Making

Baudot

Wallace

2016

J Bus Ethics

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“…democracy and promoting empowerment of the citizen Dellaportas and Davenport (2008) explain that in the 1930s, accounting was an obscured term and unknown to the public. Almost half a century later, little had changed.…”

Section: Strengtheningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the 1990s, accounting became of public interest, emphasizing social obligations, welfare and norms which reinforce the importance of public service. According to Dellaportas and Davenport (2008), in this context accounting aims at protecting the economic interests of third parties, facilitating an efficient and effective decision and guaranteeing collective happiness and welfare. Miller (1990), Neu (2006) and Rose (1991) illustrate how accounting data are presented in the public spaces and in democratic processes, and how these data have the potential of changing public spaces and empowering citizens.…”

Section: Strengtheningmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of accounting in public governance process

Ribeiro¹,

Pereira²,

Benedicto³

2013

Afr. J. Bus. Manage.

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The intensification of the relations between government and society, whether by means of publicprivate interaction or of the participation of civil society, contributes to the appreciation of accounting in the scope of public administration. Accounting gains a new feature with this configuration. In addition to its basic capacities of registering and interpreting all phenomena, among which are public budgets, accounting may also provide citizens power and perform an active role in the socio-economic development of a country or a community. The main objective of this article is to analyze literature on accounting from the public governance context. Specific objectives are: to comprehend the role of accounting in the process of public governance, present the experiences in Brazil and present challenges of the accounting reform in Brazil. This investigation is characterized as a qualitative, descriptive bibliographic and documental research. In the documental research we analyzed normative instruction, law and the Federal Accounting Council in Brazil, all related to the functionality of accounting in Brazil and its accounting reform. This study demonstrates that accounting presents a potential to perform the role of strengthening democracy, social control, accountability, creating a social power in the dynamic process of public governance.

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“…Since the launch of CPA, regularly occurring scandals especially in the financial sector have prompted claims that the accounting profession has abdicated its responsibility to act in the public interest (Briloff, 1990), siding with their clients (Briloff, 1993;Lee, Clarke & Dean, 2008) and promoting their own and their clients' self-interest over public interest (Mitchell & Sikka, 1993;Dellaportas & Davenport, 2008). Critical commentaries have also addressed the accounting profession's quest to reduce their own risks (Miller, 1999) or their liability, a topic which was devoted a Special Issue in 1999 (Vol.…”

Section: Accounting Accountants and The Public Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Standard-setting Theories Ideologies NPM Briloff, 1990 Ponemon, 1990Mitchell & Sikka, 1993Briloff, 1993 Walker, 1993 Davis & Strawser, 1993 Hooks & Moon, 1993Briloff, 1993 Hanlon, 1996 Seal et al, 1996 Briloff, 1999Cousins et al, 1999 Fuerman, 1999 Green,1999Miller, 1999 Peck, 1999 Ward, 1999 Catchpowle & Cooper, 1999 Cullinan & Sutton, 2002 Baker & Owsen, 2002Everett et al, 2005 Bakre, 2005 DiGabriele, 2008 Radcliffe, 2008Lee et al, 2008 Newberry & Robb, 2008Dellaportas & Davenport, 2008 McKinstry, 2008 Funnell, 2011 Hasseldine, Holland & van der Rij, 2011 Radcliffe , 2011Boyce, 2014Lehman, 2014Nickell & Roberts, 2014 Everett & Tremblay, 2014 Edgle, 2014 Dellaportas, 2014 Hunt & Holger, 1990 Committe, 1990 Robson, 1993Cousins & Sikka, 1993 Ohsawa & Tinker, 1993Bryer, 1999 Macve, 1999 Robson, 1999 Samuelson, 1999 Whittington, 1999Bryer, 1999Shapiro, 2002 Coleman, 2014 Froud et al, 2014Mihret, 2014Soufian et al, 2014 Dillard & Nehmer, 1990 Murray & Knights, 1990 Humphrey & Moizer, 1990 Lukka, 1990 Funnell, 1990Bryer, 1993 Hooper & Pratt, 1993 Munro & Hatherly, 1993 Chwastiak, 1996Neu & Taylor, 1996 Fogarty & Ruhl, 1996 Dempsey, 1996Lee, 1999Chwastiak, 1999Lee & Williams, 1999 Baker, 2002 Humphrey, 2002 Filling et al, 2002 Armstrong, 2002 Drennan & Kelly, 2002 Ezzamel & Hoskin, 2002Oguri. 2005 Jinnai, 2005 Chand, 2005 Shapiro, 2005Schwartz et al, 2005Bourguignon, 2005 Pesqueux, 2005Lehman, 2005 Broadbent et al, 2008Alawattage & Wickramasinghe, 2008Cronin, 2008Bakre, 2008 Murphy, 2008 Everett, 2008Gleadle & Cornelius, 2008 Jeacle, 2008 Nagy &am...…”

Section: Appendix Thematic Categorization Of Selected Cpa Articles 19mentioning

confidence: 99%

A case study of critique: Critical perspectives on critical accounting

Dillard

Vinnari

2017

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

116

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As accounting academics, we have a responsibility to act in the public interest as conscience, critic and counselor of society regarding economic, social and environmental justice. In fulfilling this responsibility, we are concerned with how accounting, accountants, and accountability regimes can facilitate democracy by serving the needs of pluralistic communities, giving particular attention to the various underserved constituencies. Informed by Flyvbjerg's (2001) notion of phronetic social science research that matters, we reviewed 353 articles published in Critical Perspectives on Accounting from 1990 to 2014 identifying the focal constituency(s), the injustice(s) addressed, the groups or institutions responsible for the injustice as well as the proposals for social and political praxis outlined in the studies. Our review indicates that generally the studies identify a somewhat focused, though salient and appropriate, set of economic, social and/or environmental injustices experienced by various constituencies, and to some extent, the studies consider the context and conditions that perpetuate the inequality and injustices. However, as the field matures, there is a need for more robust development of the social and political implications of critical accounting research and for articulating the ideas and implications as action programs. Further, our review suggests that several relevant constituencies such as non-human animals, children, future generations, developing nations, and gender and sex/uality minorities have received little or no attention in the current literature.

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Reflections on the public interest in accounting

Cited by 83 publications

References 29 publications

An Examination of the U.S. Public Accounting Profession’s Public Interest Discourse and Actions in Federal Policy Making

An Examination of the U.S. Public Accounting Profession’s Public Interest Discourse and Actions in Federal Policy Making

The role of accounting in public governance process

A case study of critique: Critical perspectives on critical accounting

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