IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joaced/v73y2026ics0748575125000417.html

Accounting theories: An introductory resource for new scholars

Author

Listed:
  • Kogan, Gregory
  • Stampone, Ashley
  • Boyle, Douglas M.
  • Hermanson, Dana R.

Abstract

Theory is central to accounting research, as it is used to explain and predict accounting-related behavior and phenomena. The number of theories is very large, and new accounting scholars must learn about key theories and how to apply theory to their own studies. We develop an introductory resource for new scholars by examining a broad sample of 1672 published articles and highlighting the most mentioned theories overall and by topic and method. Overall, the leading theory is agency theory. Other more common theories are institutional theory, prospect theory, social identity theory, attribution theory, social comparison theory, upper echelons theory, game theory, and positive accounting theory. For 17 of the most mentioned specific theories, we provide a description of the theory, a foundational resource and selected quotes, and examples of accounting articles that use the theory. We also provide some perspectives about using theory. We hope that this introductory resource will help new scholars as they begin to develop their understanding and use of theory. We also believe that this resource can be helpful to Master’s students and others seeking to read and understand accounting research articles.

Suggested Citation

  • Kogan, Gregory & Stampone, Ashley & Boyle, Douglas M. & Hermanson, Dana R., 2026. "Accounting theories: An introductory resource for new scholars," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joaced:v:73:y:2026:i:c:s0748575125000417
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jaccedu.2025.100990
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0748575125000417
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jaccedu.2025.100990?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

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:joaced:v:73:y:2026:i:c:s0748575125000417. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-accounting-education .

    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.