A Postmodern Accounting Theory: An Institutional Approach

Cover
A POSTMODERN ACCOUNTING THEORY
A POSTMODERN ACCOUNTING THEORY:AN INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH
Copyright
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
About the Author
Foreword
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
SECTION 1: THEORIES AND ACCOUNTING
	2. Theories and Schools of Thought
		2.1 “Economics” as a Science
		2.2 Some Considerations About Mathematics and Sciences
		2.3 The Social Representations
		2.4 The Businessman as the New Leading Social Figure
		2.5 Summary
		Questions
		Themes to Be Developed Further
	3. The Traditional Vision of Accounting Theory
		3.1 Wolk, Francis, and Tearney
		3.2 Kam
			3.2.1 The Spatial Representation of Accounting
			3.2.2 Accounting as Evidence
			3.2.3 A “Natural” Positivist
		3.3 Repeated as a Mantra
		3.4 Recent Developments
		3.5 Assumptions, Principles, and the Like
			3.5.1 Business Entity
			3.5.2 Going Concern
			3.5.3 Stable Monetary Unit
			3.5.4 Accounting Periods and Matching
			3.5.5 Historical Cost
			3.5.6 Money Measurement
			3.5.7 Objectivity
		3.6 Summary
		Questions
	4. Accounting in the Scientific Institution
		4.1 The Concept of Normative Theory
			4.1.1 The Confusion in the Terms
			4.1.2 The Notion of Paradigm
			4.1.3 Other Sources of “Normative” Theories
		4.2 Research Versus Practice
			4.2.1 Saving Scarce Resources
			4.2.2 The Difference Between Pure and Applied Research
		4.3 Arguments for Constructivism
		4.4 Decision-Making
		4.5 Summary
		Questions
		Themes to Be Developed Further
	5. For a Definition of Accounting
		5.1 The Definitions From the Literature
		5.2 Accounting as a Language
			5.2.1 Carrying Knowledge
			5.2.2 Natural and Accounting Languages
			5.2.3 The Linguistic of the Accounting Language
		5.3 The Mirage of the Market
		5.4 Profit Against Market
		5.5 Capital and Capitals
			5.5.1 The Intangibles
			5.5.2 The Social Capital
				5.5.2.1 Bourdieu and the social capital
			5.5.3 The Networks
		5.6 The Knowledge
		5.7 Summary
		Questions
		Topics for Further Reflections
	6. Accounting: The State and the Firm
		6.1 The Real Social Responsibility
			6.1.1 Disclosure or Action
			6.1.2 The Problem of the Externalities
		6.2 Ethics and Goodwill
		6.3 Public Decisions
		6.4 Public Measures and Citizen's Decisions
			6.4.1 Calculating the GDP
			6.4.2 Calculating the Government's Accounts Correctly
				6.4.2.1 Understanding the tradition
				6.4.2.2 Governmental manipulation of accounts
		6.5 Summary
		Questions
		Topics for Further Reflections
SECTION 2: THEORIES OF ACCOUNTING
	7. Sociology of Accounting
		7.1 Accounting for the Social Contract
			7.1.1 The Firm as a Social Institution
			7.1.2 The Legitimacy of the Firm
			7.1.3 The Discursive Defenses
			7.1.4 Accounting, Measurement, and Social Decisions
		7.2 The Sociology of Accounting
		7.3 Summary
		Questions
	8. The Psychological Aspects of Accounting
		8.1 Psychology and Control
			8.1.1 In Management Accounting
			8.1.2 The Control of People
		8.2 Accounting as Communication
			8.2.1 Storytelling
			8.2.2 The “Quality” of Information
				8.2.2.1 From Grice to McCornack
		8.3 Why Produce Information?
		8.4 Summary
		Questions
	9. How Decisions Are Made
		9.1 What Is Rationality?
		9.2 The Contradictions of the Agency Theory
		9.3 The Game Theory
		9.4 The Theory of Bayes
			9.4.1 Nobody Earns the Expected Result
			9.4.2 Simplistic Games in Situation of Limited Information
			9.4.3 Historical Period and References
			9.4.4 Biased or Unbiased, That Is the Question?
				9.4.4.1 The framing
				9.4.4.2 The double process theory
		9.5 Conclusion
		Questions
	10. A Theory of Accounting
		10.1 Decision and Information
			10.1.1 The Citizen Decision
			10.1.2 The Governmental Decision
			10.1.3 The Investor's Decision
		10.2 What Would Be a Theory of Accounting?
		Questions
SECTION 3: “TESTING” THE THEORY
	11. Analyzing the Documents Accompanying Decisions
		11.1 Content Analysis
			11.1.1 Classical Content Analysis
			11.1.2 The Accounting Content of Websites
		11.2 Readability Analysis
			11.2.1 Readability, Understandability, and Comprehensibility
			11.2.2 The Construction of the Indexes
		11.3 Semiotic Analysis
			11.3.1 Aristotle's Rhetoric
				11.3.1.1 Euresis
			11.3.2 Transformation
				11.3.2.1 The actantial structure
		11.4 The Functions
			11.4.1 Example of Functional Analysis
			11.4.2 The Temporal Structure
		11.5 The Apparent and the Hidden Programs
		11.6 The Figures of Speech (the Lexis)
		11.7 Hypocrisis
		11.8 Analyzing the Images
		11.9 Summary
		Questions
	12. Manipulating and Lying
		12.1 Accounting Manipulations
			12.1.1 Earnings Management
			12.1.2 Income Smoothing
			12.1.3 Big Bath Accounting
			12.1.4 Creative Accounting
		12.2 The Efficiency of Manipulation
			12.2.1 Gains and Losses From Accounts Manipulation
			12.2.2 Particular Studies
		12.3 Far-fetched Interpretation or Lies
			12.3.1 Detecting Lies
			12.3.2 Restatements: Form 8-K
				12.3.2.1 Transgression of the maxims
		12.4 Testing the Truthfulness of Statements
		12.5 Summary
		Questions
Conclusion
References
Index