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Accounting academia and the threat of the paying-off mentality

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  • Gendron, Yves

Abstract

This essay reflects on a trend that increasingly affects ways of thinking and doing in accounting academia, namely, the expansion of the paying-off mentality. The latter relates to behavior being driven by a sense of benefits and rewards that are expected to materialize in the short run. Specifically, the essay brings to the fore a number of threats, engendered through short-termism, that arguably impede the development of accounting research and education. Does paying-off prevent publishers from facilitating public access to research articles? Does paying-off constrain the attractiveness of academic careers in the eyes of young accounting practitioners? Does paying-off increasingly transform universities into places that aim to deliver, first and foremost, technical education? Does paying-off increasingly constrain innovativeness in the field of accounting research? In addressing such questions, the essay aims further to sensitize academics to the serious risks of allowing such a field of academic activity and inquiry to be overexposed to the influence of short-termism.

Suggested Citation

  • Gendron, Yves, 2015. "Accounting academia and the threat of the paying-off mentality," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 168-176.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:26:y:2015:i:c:p:168-176
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2013.06.004
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    7. Pavlo Kalyta & Bertrand Malsch, 2018. "Ethnographic Accounting Research: Field Notes from the Frontier," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 241-252, June.
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    10. Tucker, Basil P. & Tilt, Carol A., 2019. "‘You know it when you see it’: In search of ‘the ideal’ research culture in university accounting faculties," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Palea, Vera, 2017. "Whither accounting research? A European view," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 59-73.
    12. Bamber, Matthew & Tekathen, Matthäus, 2023. "Beyond the pages of the ‘how-to’ textbook: A study of the lived experiences of the accounting ethnographer," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    13. Tobias Johansson, 2022. "Do Evaluative Pressures and Group Identification Cultivate Competitive Orientations and Cynical Attitudes Among Academics?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(4), pages 761-780, April.
    14. Becker, Albrecht & Lukka, Kari, 2023. "Instrumentalism and the publish-or-perish regime," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    15. Mantzari, Elisavet & Georgiou, Omiros, 2019. "Ideological hegemony and consent to IFRS: Insights from practitioners in Greece," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 70-93.
    16. Daniela Pianezzi & Hanne Nørreklit & Lino Cinquini, 2020. "Academia After Virtue? An Inquiry into the Moral Character(s) of Academics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 571-588, December.
    17. Palea, Vera, 2015. "Journal Rankings and the Sustainability of Diversity in Accounting Research," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201546, University of Turin.
    18. Meyer, Matthias & Waldkirch, Rüdiger W. & Duscher, Irina & Just, Alexander, 2018. "Drivers of citations: An analysis of publications in “top” accounting journals," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 24-46.
    19. Zimmerman, Aleksandra B. & Fogarty, Timothy J. & Jonas, Gregory A., 2017. "Is accounting an applied discipline? An institutional theory assessment of the value of faculty accounting-related work experience in the academic labor market," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 33-47.
    20. Gerdin, Jonas & Englund, Hans, 2022. "Vertical, horizontal, and self control in academia: Survey evidence on their diverging effects on perceived researcher autonomy and identity," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(5).
    21. Pelger, Christoph & Grottke, Markus, 2015. "What about the future of the academy? – Some remarks on the looming colonisation of doctoral education," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 117-129.
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    23. Maran, Laura & Bigoni, Michele & Morrison, Leanne, 2023. "Shedding light on alternative interdisciplinary accounting research through journal editors’ perspectives and an analysis of recent publications," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).

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