A mixed content analysis model of ethics in the accounting profession

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to propose a contemporary-specific model entitled “sustainable development model of accounting professional ethics (SDM-APE)” and empirically investigate and quantitatively prioritize its components. Design/methodology/approach - The study adopts the mixed content analysis research method and integrates both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The necessary data for the initial model are extracted after examining 569 published articles related to professional ethics of accounting in Iran during 2005-2015. Then, the ethical codes are reviewed, summarized and extracted via “content analysis.” Based on the findings of this study, a sustainable accounting model is developed, which consists of four constructs, including personal, social, economic-organizational and environmental factors, with 69 components. Afterward, the model is tested through collecting questionnaires and simple random sampling by 217 academic and professional experts. Accordingly, the second-order confirmatory factor analysis in LISREL software is used. Findings - The paper clearly demonstrates that ethics in the professional accounting are underpinned by four major constructs: personal, social, economic-organizational and environmental factors; all four mentioned constructs of the model are interconnected and affect professional ethics in accounting and maintain a proper goodness of fit. Meanwhile, social, personal, economic-organizational and environmental features reveal the greatest fit accordingly. The variable of “avoiding the misuse of organizational property and information” is the most important variable of the model. It is followed by deontology, responsibility and accountability for environment, preventing environment degradation and emission of environmental pollutants, promoting the culture of environmental conservation, standing in the second to fifth priority levels, respectively. Originality/value - This paper has developed a contemporary practical model in professional accounting ethics, which is extensive and applicable to various organizations.