The theme of the Accounting Research Group is accounting change and governance. The research is particularly concerned with the relationship between governance structures and the (re)design, implementation and use of management accounting and financial accounting systems. The research is informed by a wide variety of theoretical concepts, stemming from transaction cost economics, agency theory, institutional theory, management control theory, actor-network theory and cognitive psychology. In studying management accounting the research methodology is mainly qualitative, while in other areas more quantitative economic approaches are frequently used.
The central research theme is divided in five sub-themes:
Management accounting change
The objective of the research is to develop theoretically informed explanations for the often unexpected ways in which the processes of management accounting change unfold.
Inter-firm and intra-firm transactional relationships
The focus of this sub-theme is the design and use of management control systems across the traditional boundaries of the firm.
Public sector management accounting
The research describes and explains the changes in public sector management accounting systems and practices, in the context of New Public Management.
Financial accounting
Research is about corporate communication, earnings management, and the relationship between financial information and security prices.
Corporate governance
Research is examining the decision processes of supervisory directors, the application of corporate governance codes, and the role of the media.
