The current model of corporate governance needs reform. There is mounting evidence that the practices of shareholder primacy drive company directors and executives to adopt the same short time horizon as financial markets. Pressure to meet the demands of the financial markets drives stock...

The way corporations are accounted for is tremendously important for shaping the way investors and other stakeholders see and assess them. A new understanding of the purpose of financial accounting with adjoining accounting methods thus creates powerful incentives for corporate managers to...

This paper critically examines the basic tenets of positive accounting theory. We subject the language of Watts and Zimmerman’s 1986 definition of positive accounting theory to the activity of proof reading, in accordance with Derrida’s concept of deconstruction. We highlight traces of...

Purpose – Since the late 1970s, research in accounting has been colonized by positive accounting theory (PAT) despite strong claims that it is fundamentally flawed in terms of epistemology and methodology. This paper aims to offer new insights to PAT by critically examining its basic tenets....

This paper offers a new foundation for investigating accounting policy in organizations. After recalling some characteristics illustrating the deficiency of Positive Accounting Theory (PAT) as a comprehensive, contextual and holistic analysis of accounting policy in organizations, positive...