IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v114y2013i3p549-563.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Taking Stock of Accounting Ethics Scholarship: A Review of the Journal Literature

Author

Listed:
  • Roberta Bampton
  • Christopher Cowton

Abstract

The proportion of business ethics literature devoted to accounting and the proportion of academic accounting literature devoted to ethical issues are both small, yet over the past two decades there has been a steady accumulation of research devoted to ethical issues in accounting. Based on a database of more than 500 articles gathered from a wide range of accounting and business ethics academic journals, this paper describes and analyses the characteristics of what has been published in the past 20 years or so. It identifies and explores patterns and trends in publication outlets and the type of research conducted. Furthermore, through a comparison with issues that have been raised in the general business ethics literature, it offers guidance to researchers who intend to take the field of accounting ethics forward using empirical methods. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Roberta Bampton & Christopher Cowton, 2013. "Taking Stock of Accounting Ethics Scholarship: A Review of the Journal Literature," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 549-563, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:114:y:2013:i:3:p:549-563
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1341-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-012-1341-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-012-1341-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Özgür Özmen Uysal, 2010. "Business Ethics Research with an Accounting Focus: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1988 to 2007," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 137-160, April.
    2. Falk, Haim & Lynn, Bernadette & Mestelman, Stuart & Shehata, Mohamed, 1999. "Auditor independence, self-interested behavior and ethics: some experimental evidence," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4-5), pages 395-428.
    3. Hosmer, LaRue Tone, 1996. "5 Years, 20 Issues, 141 Articles, and What?," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(3), pages 327-358, July.
    4. Donaldson, Thomas, 1994. "When Integration Fails: The Logic of Prescription and Description in Business Ethics," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 157-169, April.
    5. Fernandes, Maria F. & Randall, Donna M., 1992. "The Nature of Social Desirability Response Effects in Ethics Research," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 183-205, April.
    6. Liedtka, Jeanne M., 1992. "Exploring Ethical Issues Using Personal Interviews," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 161-181, April.
    7. Windsor, Carolyn A. & Ashkanasy, Neal M., 1995. "The effect of client management bargaining power, moral reasoning development, and belief in a just world on auditor independence," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(7-8), pages 701-720.
    8. Mitchell, A. & Sikka, P. & Willmott, H., 1998. "Sweeping it under the carpet: The role of accountancy firms in moneylaundering," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(5-6), pages 589-607.
    9. Weaver, Gary R. & Trevino, Linda Klebe, 1994. "Normative And Empirical Business Ethics: Separation, Marriage Of Convenience, Or Marriage Of Necessity?," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 129-143, April.
    10. Sweeney, John T. & Roberts, Robin W., 1997. "Cognitive moral development and auditor independence," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 22(3-4), pages 337-352.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rafael Robina-Ramírez & Antonio Fernández-Portillo & Juan Carlos Díaz-Casero, 2019. "Green Start-Ups’ Attitudes towards Nature When Complying with the Corporate Law," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2019, pages 1-17, February.
    2. Allen D. Blay & Eric S. Gooden & Mark J. Mellon & Douglas E. Stevens, 2018. "The Usefulness of Social Norm Theory in Empirical Business Ethics Research: A Review and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 191-206, September.
    3. Dawn W. Massey, 2017. "Discussion of “Recognizing Ethical Issues: An Examination of Practicing Industry Accountants and Accounting Students”," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 277-283, May.
    4. Rafael Robina Ramirez & Pedro R. Palos-Sanchez, 2018. "Willingness to Comply with Corporate Law: An Interdisciplinary Teaching Method in Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-21, June.
    5. Anne L. Christensen & Angela Woodland, 2018. "An Investigation of the Relationships Among Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Participation and Ethical Judgment and Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 529-543, February.
    6. Alina Beattrice VLADU & Dan Dacian CUZDRIOREAN, 2022. "Considerations on the Improvement of Ethical Decision Making in the Accounting Profession," CECCAR Business Review, Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR), vol. 3(1), pages 44-52, January.
    7. Tara J. Shawver & William F. Miller, 2017. "Moral Intensity Revisited: Measuring the Benefit of Accounting Ethics Interventions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 587-603, March.
    8. Guillermina Tormo-Carbó & Elies Seguí-Mas & Víctor Oltra, 2018. "Business Ethics as a Sustainability Challenge: Higher Education Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-17, August.
    9. Tamara Poje & Maja Zaman Groff, 2022. "Mapping Ethics Education in Accounting Research: A Bibliometric Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(2), pages 451-472, August.
    10. Christoph Endenich & Rouven Trapp, 2020. "Ethical Implications of Management Accounting and Control: A Systematic Review of the Contributions from the Journal of Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 309-328, May.
    11. Ahmed Musbah & Christopher J. Cowton & David Tyfa, 2016. "The Role of Individual Variables, Organizational Variables and Moral Intensity Dimensions in Libyan Management Accountants’ Ethical Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 335-358, March.
    12. Miguel Alzola, 2017. "Beware of the Watchdog: Rethinking the Normative Justification of Gatekeeper Liability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(4), pages 705-721, February.
    13. W. Robert Knechel & Natalia Mintchik, 2022. "Do Personal Beliefs and Values Affect an Individual’s “Fraud Tolerance”? Evidence from the World Values Survey," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 463-489, May.
    14. Loréa Baïada-Hirèche & Ghislaine Garmilis, 2016. "Accounting Professionals’ Ethical Judgment and the Institutional Disciplinary Context: A French–US Comparison," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(4), pages 639-659, December.
    15. William F. Miller & Tara J. Shawver, 2018. "An Exploration of the State of Ethics in UK Accounting Education," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 1109-1120, December.
    16. Rosina Mladenovic & Nonna Martinov-Bennie & Amani Bell, 2019. "Business Students’ Insights into Their Development of Ethical Decision-Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 275-287, March.
    17. Guillermina Tormo-Carbó & Elies Seguí-Mas & Victor Oltra, 2016. "Accounting Ethics in Unfriendly Environments: The Educational Challenge," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 161-175, April.
    18. Anne Christensen & Jane Cote & Claire Kamm Latham, 2018. "Developing Ethical Confidence: The Impact of Action-Oriented Ethics Instruction in an Accounting Curriculum," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 1157-1175, December.
    19. Petru Stefea & Nita Cornel Gabriel, 2014. "The Role Of Ethics For Cost Accounting Professsionals," Annals of University of Craiova - Economic Sciences Series, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 2(42), pages 97-102.
    20. Girts Racko, 2019. "Does Economic Rationalization Decrease or Increase Accounting Professionals’ Occupational Values?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 763-777, September.
    21. Tabea Franziska Hirth-Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2019. "Management accountants and ethical dilemmas: How to promote ethical intention?," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 287-322, October.
    22. Rafael Robina Ramírez & Pedro R. Palos-Sánchez, 2018. "Environmental Firms’ Better Attitude towards Nature in the Context of Corporate Compliance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, September.
    23. Juelin Yin & Ali Quazi, 2018. "Business Ethics in the Greater China Region: Past, Present, and Future Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 815-835, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ben Wempe, 2009. "Extant Social Contracts and the Question of Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(4), pages 741-750, October.
    2. Shafer, William E., 2008. "Ethical climate in Chinese CPA firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 825-835.
    3. Watson, Sharon & Weaver, Gary R., 2003. "How internationalization affects corporate ethics: formal structures and informal management behavior," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 75-93.
    4. Natalia M. Mintchik & Timothy A. Farmer, 2009. "Associations Between Epistemological Beliefs and Moral Reasoning: Evidence from Accounting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(2), pages 259-275, January.
    5. Natàlia Cugueró-Escofet & Marion Fortin, 2014. "One Justice or Two? A Model of Reconciliation of Normative Justice Theories and Empirical Research on Organizational Justice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 435-451, October.
    6. Wolfgang Breuer & Jannis Bischof & Christian Hofmann & Jochen Hundsdoerfer & Hans-Ulrich Küpper & Marko Sarstedt & Philipp Schreck & Tim Weitzel & Peter Witt, 2023. "Recent developments in Business Economics," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(6), pages 989-1013, August.
    7. Andrew Abela & Ryan Shea, 2015. "Avoiding the Separation Thesis While Maintaining a Positive/Normative Distinction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 31-41, September.
    8. Maroun, Warren & Atkins, Jill, 2014. "Section 45 of the Auditing Profession Act: Blowing the whistle for audit quality?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 248-263.
    9. Max Baker & John Roberts, 2011. "All in the Mind? Ethical Identity and the Allure of Corporate Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 5-15, March.
    10. Christian Prat Dit Hauret, 2003. "Presentation De La Theorie Du Developpement Moral Cognitif Et De Ses Apports Possibles Dans Les Etudes Sur L'Audit," Post-Print halshs-00582815, HAL.
    11. Soraya Bel Haj Ali, 2011. "Les valeurs culturelles, l'indépendance et le développement moral cognitif : quel lien pour quel auditeur ?," Post-Print hal-00646460, HAL.
    12. Solomon, Ira & Trotman, Ken T., 2003. "Experimental judgment and decision research in auditing: the first 25 years of AOS," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 395-412, May.
    13. Tabea Franziska Hirth-Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2019. "Management accountants and ethical dilemmas: How to promote ethical intention?," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 287-322, October.
    14. Steven Dellaportas & Barry J. Cooper & Philomena Leung, 2006. "Measuring moral judgement and the implications of cooperative education and rule‐based learning," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(1), pages 53-70, March.
    15. Christian Prat dit Hauret, 2003. "Audit et développement moral cognitif," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 6(3), pages 117-136, September.
    16. William E. Shafer, 2009. "Ethical climate, organizational‐professional conflict and organizational commitment," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(7), pages 1087-1110, September.
    17. Alan Reinstein & Eileen Z. Taylor, 2017. "Fences as Controls to Reduce Accountants’ Rationalization," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 477-488, March.
    18. Marina Balboa & Germán López-Espinosa & Antonio Rubia, 2012. "Non-linear Dynamics in Discretionary Accruals: An Analysis of Bank Loan-Loss Provisions," Faculty Working Papers 07/12, School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Navarra.
    19. Geert Demuijnck, 2009. "From an Implicit Christian Corporate Culture to a Structured Conception of Corporate Ethical Responsibility in a Retail Company: A Case-Study in Hermeneutic Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(3), pages 387-404, February.
    20. Katherina Glac & Tae Kim, 2009. "The “I” in ISCT: Normative and Empirical Facets of Integration," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(4), pages 693-705, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:114:y:2013:i:3:p:549-563. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.