TY - JOUR

T1 - Moving the financial accounting research front forward

T2 - the UK contribution

AU - Beattie, Vivien

PY - 2005/3

Y1 - 2005/3

N2 - The 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.

AB - The 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.

KW - Analytical

KW - Archival

KW - Case-based research

KW - Disclosure, Earnings management

KW - Experimental

KW - Graphs

KW - MBAR

KW - Narratives, Normative, Survey

KW - Research areas

KW - Research front

KW - Review

KW - Standard setting

U2 - 10.1016/j.bar.2004.09.004

DO - 10.1016/j.bar.2004.09.004

M3 - Journal article

VL - 37

SP - 85

EP - 114

JO - British Accounting Review

JF - British Accounting Review

SN - 0890-8389

IS - 1

ER -