This paper studies an incomplete contracting model to compare the effectiveness of alternative transfer pricing mechanisms. Transfer pricing serves the dual purpose of guiding intracompany transfers and providing incentives for upfront investments at the divisional level. When transfer prices...

This paper studies the optimal choice of cost standards (or cost targets) over time in an agency setting in which a worker is responsible for both implementing actions and acquiring skill/expertise that would enable him to improve his future performance with respect to those actions. We...

The objective of this paper is to foster research on recent innovations in performance measurement by providing a rich description of emerging measurement practices and suggesting directions for future research. Using survey data collected by consulting firms and government organizations, we...

Parent-subsidiary relationships are commonplace nowadays, yet surprisingly there is a paucity of research analysing their dynamics over time. This paper presents a (longitudinal) case study, illuminating the dynamics implicated when a UK chemicals company imposed its systems and rules on a new...

Using Social Comparison Theory as the framework, I experimentally investigate whether relative performance information (RPI) fosters performance improvement in a real-effort task. The experiment employed a 2 (RPI: yes or no) by 4 (contract type: straight piece-rate, modified piece-rate, quota,...

We study turnover and promotions of division managers in multidivisional firms. Turnover is negatively related to divisional accounting performance, positively related to industry performance, but not significantly related to firm performance or the performance of other divisions. Consistent...

A primary aim of this paper is the presentation of a survey of possible inter-connections between management accounting and the economics of the firm. The guiding philosophy is that both accounting and economics can be illuminated and developed by exploring the interface between the two...

This study replicates and extends the Abernethy and Lillis (2001) interdependencies model of organization design to Australian universities. The model proposes interdependent relations among strategy, structure, and performance measurement systems affecting effectiveness and efficiency. We find...

In this article we discuss the motivation for and role of theory in management accounting. We argue that theories in an applied field such as management accounting should provide explanations that are useful for those we study - managers, organizations and society. We evaluate the nature of...

This paper explores the relationships among cost accounting systems structure and information quality properties through an integrated framework of cost system design and use.In our framework, cost accounting systems structure is defined in terms of the level of detailed information existence,...