The Evolution of Management Accounting Research in the United States

The purpose of this paper is to review the evolution of management accounting research in the United States. While the development of management accounting research in the UK generally followed sociological and psychological lines of inquiries, the US work has been much more based on operations research (in the 1960s and early 1970s) followed by an emphasis on economics-based work. I surmise that the different emphases derive from the influence of the Ford Foundation on business schools in the US. I conclude with concerns about the future of management accounting research in the US