introduction-FinancialAccountingStandardsResearch.docVIP

THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND ACCOUNTING: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY* Anthony G. Hopwood Sa?d Business School University of Oxford ABSTRACT Introducing a group of essays and articles on the implications of the current economic and financial crisis for accounting practice and research, this article provides an overview of some of the principal issues and themes. Noting that very little research has been done on the management accounting implications of such crises, particular consideration is given to exploring the significance of and potential for research on this topic. Drawing on unpublished research and personal experiences, the importance of having a wider understanding of an organization’s information environment is stressed. * I wish to acknowledge the helpful comments of Michael Power of the London School of Economics and Political Science. The current economic and financial crisis has significant implications for accounting, both for practice and for the research community. In the areas of financial accounting, auditing, management accounting and the regulatory institutions that oversee accounting and auditing practices there are genuine worries that the crisis has revealed numerous problems and inadequacies. In the academic and research community it certainly has illuminated issues that are in need of serious research attention. More than that, however, the crisis also points to the rather limited focus of much current accounting research. Too much intellectual inquiry in the area of accounting seems to operate within the parameters set by practice rather than questioning and challenging these, at least from time to time. Although the implications for research in accounting may not be so great as that within the finance research community where the serious lack of critical research is much more visible, a more detailed consideration of the implications of the crisis for accounting research nevertheless points to the need for a more rigorous investmen