In spite of our increasing knowledge about the existing patterns in accounting research, we still have much to learn about the cross-national dynamics of research ideas. This paper addresses the ebb and flow of research fashions in management accounting among national groups of accounting scholars. We also attempt to enhance existing knowledge about the underlying reasons that differentiate between earlier and later adopters of research fashions. Drawing on the literature of institutional sociology and management fashion, definitions of the accounting organizational field and of fashions of research are first provided. We then take Activity-Based Costing (ABC) to illustrate our understanding of research fashions in management accounting. Our results provide support for the propositions that national communities with high research profiles are less vulnerable to the effects of research fashions, and that they are earlier adopters of research fashions than their counterparts with lower research profiles. Lastly, we make some suggestions for further investigation regarding the cross-national mobility of research ideas relating to management accounting.
