[This conference review is the translated version of an article, published in the German accounting journal “Zeitschrift für Controlling und Management”]

Current developments in
behavioral accounting research
Report of the ABO Research Conference 2007

The Accounting, Behavior and Organizations (ABO) Section of the American Accounting Association (AAA) held its annual research conference from 19th to 20th October in Philadelphia. The conference is a forum for all researchers who apply a behavioral perspective to accounting phenomena. The interest in behavioral topics has increased over the last few years and so has the number of conference participants. The number has more than doubled from 2004 (with 61 participants) to this year (137 participants).

In behavioral accounting research experiments are the most common research method. Accordingly, the Doctoral Colloquium prior to the conference dealt with the challenges and opportunities of this method. For each of the four main streams auditing, tax, financial and managerial, one Professor in this field of research gave specific advice. With respect to the three basic requirements for good research, namely relevant research questions, access to data and availability of researchers, the conclusions are as follows. Plenty of relevant research questions do exist. Data availability is limited; therefore closer cooperation with companies is necessary. The number of researchers is way below demand. The number of PhDs awarded in the US has decreased by 12 % from 1995 to 2005. At the same time, the demand is increasing. According to a study by the American Accounting Association and the Accounting Programs Leadership Group (APLG), the supply of new PhDs will meet only half of the demand. In auditing and tax, the situation is even more acute. There, only 23 % und 27% of the vacant academic positions will be filled with a PhD qualified professor. This is a serious threat especially to the less renowned institutions. A shortage of PhD qualified professors might endanger accreditation in some faculties. From the PhD students’ perspective, the situation is promising. The scarcity has increased salaries. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) reports an average salary of $118.500 for a nine-month academic contract at an AACSB accredited institution.

The general PhD shortage probably inspired Sean A. Peffer (University of Kentucky, Chair of the ABO) to emphasize the 57 PhD student participants in his inaugural address. Given the described dearth of accounting PhDs, this number is quite impressing.
The scientific talks were arranged in parallel sessions. Most of the presentations dealt with accounting, some with auditing and one with tax. One session in the field of accounting dealt with the effects of different accounting disclosures on analysts and investors. Another one focused on organizational learning and performance. A third one addressed managers’ decision making. In auditing, the effect of organizational justice on whistle-blowing was discussed in one session, for example. The presentations concerning tax paid attention to ethical issues.

This year’s "ABO Lifetime Contribution Award“ was granted to Mark Dirsmith, Deloitte Professor of Accounting at Penn State's Smeal College of Business. He is author of more than 100 publications, including three monographs and more than 70 articles in journals from the field of accounting, institutional economics, organizational theory, public administration, health care administration, sociology, and strategic management. David Piercey, University of Massachusetts Amherst, received the "Outstanding Dissertation Award” for his work on “Audit Documentation Requirements, Word-Smithing, and Verbal (vs. Numerical) Audit Risk Assessment”.

The editor’s panel aimed to give recommendations concerning research methods and under researched areas.* Vicky Arnold (University of Central Florida, editor of “Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research”) appealed to the researchers’ community to prioritize scientific rigor over publication concerns. For example, many researchers hand in all the analyzed questions of a survey instrument—but not the complete instrument. However, the unused parts of the instruments would often increase the reviewers’ ability to assess the empirical study.

Steven E. Kaplan (Arizona State University, former editor of “Behavioral Research in Accounting”) stressed the importance of expanding research on ethical aspects in Accounting. In detail, research questions can be developed by bringing together two publications: The book “Judgment and Decision Making in Accounting” ** by Sarah E. Bonner and the article “Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model” *** by Thomas M. Jones.

Michael Shields (Michigan State University, former editor of the “Journal of Management Accounting Research” and current associate editor of “Accounting, Organizations and Society”) took a closer look at the definitions of the scientific areas that are mentioned in the mission statements of ABO and BRIA. A comparison of these definitions with the articles in BRIA over the last few years reveals large research deficits. These include the integration of the organizational macro level, the application of theoretical perspectives different from psychology (e.g. neuroscience and sociology) and the usage of research methods like archival studies, case studies and field studies..

The editor's panel: (from left to right) Vicky Arnold, Steven E. Kaplan, Michael Shields and Jean C. Bedard

This year, the ABO research conference once again provided excellent insights into current research projects, gave inspiration to individual research ideas by addressing research deficits and offered the chance to meet young researchers as well as renowned professors. The ABO conference is therefore highly recommended to all researchers who are interested in the behavioral perspective on accounting issues in its widest sense.

Matthias D. Mahlendorf, Halle (Saale)

* The presentation materials are available at http://aaahq.org/abo/ ("Editors’s Panel materials“).
** Bonner, Sarah E. (2007) Judgment and Decision Making in Accounting, Prentice Hall.
*** Jones, Thomas M. (1991) Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model, in: Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16 (2), S. 366-395.