C. Richard Baker

What is the meaning of “the public interest”?: Examining the ideology of the American public accounting profession

Purpose – To examine the rhetorical claims put forth by several prominent organizations in the American public accounting profession that claim to act in the public interest, and to attempt to identify the ideological position or positions underlying their claims.Design/methodology/approach – Certain rhetorical claims put forth by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) are examined. A discussion of Paul Ricoeurs concept of ideology follows, along with an explanation of the way in which Ricoeurs understanding of ideology can be used to gain a better understanding of the ideology of the American public accounting profession.Findings – Initially it appears that the rhetorical claims of the prominent organizations of the American public accounting profession reveal an underlying neo‐liberal ideology. Closer examination indicates a certain degree of ambiguity with respect to a neo‐liberal ideology, with...

A literary theory perspective on accounting: Towards heteroglossic accounting reports

This paper adopts a literary theory perspective to depict accounting reports and information as texts rather than as economic commodities and so available for analysis from the vantage point of semiotic linguistic theory. In doing so it takes the literary turn followed by many of the social sciences and humanities in recent decades. It compares and contrasts four dominant genres of literary theory – expressive realism, the new criticism, structuralism, and deconstructionism – to developments in accounting. The paper illustrates these and other ideas in the context of the controversies surrounding the oil and gas accounting crisis and practices circa 1961 to 1990. The paper concludes by outlining a new way of preparing accounting reports based on Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of the heteroglossic novel. This approach calls for making accounting for an enterprise an ongoing conversation rather than a monologic process of closing down on a single meaning.

An Analysis of Fraud on the Internet.

This paper examines the issue of fraud on the Internet and discusses three areas with significant potential for misleading and fraudulent practices, namely: securities sales and trading; electronic commerce; and the rapid growth of Internet companies. The first section of the paper discusses securities fraud on the Internet. Activities that violate US securities laws are being conducted through the Internet, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission has been taking steps to suppress these activities. The second section of the paper discusses fraud in electronic commerce. The rapid growth of electronic commerce, and the corresponding desire on the part of consumers to feel secure when engaging in electronic commerce, has prompted various organizations to develop mechanisms to reduce concerns about fraudulent misuse of information. It is questionable, however, whether these mechanisms can actually reduce fraud in electronic commerce. The third section of the paper discusses the potential for fraud arising from the rapid growth of Internet companies, often with little economic substance and lacking traditional management and internal controls. The paper examines the three areas of potential Internet fraud mentioned above and suggest ways in which these abuses may be combated.

Investigating Enron as a public private partnership

The bankruptcy of Enron Corp. has evolved into a scandal of enormous proportions involving allegations of fraud, corruption and unethical practices on the part of Enron’s corporate executives, members of its board of directors, external auditors, and high government officials in the USA. No doubt there will be many articles written about various aspects of the Enron scandal. The focus of this paper is on the relationships between Enron’s business model and the deregulatory phase of the American economy during the 1980s and 1990s. It is the argument of this paper that deregulation in the US electricity and natural gas industries fostered the creation of the Enron business model, and that this model was unsustainable, resulting in the demise of Enron Corp. Furthermore, while Enron can be viewed as an example of capitalistic excess, the paper reveals how the Enron business model developed as an American form of a public private partnership, similar to the types of public private partnerships that have been created in recent years in the UK. Investigating Enron as a public private partnership may help us to better understand the role of public private partnerships in contemporary capitalism and shed some light on the advisability of deregulatory schemes and the unintended consequences that can result from such schemes.

Regulation of the statutory auditor in the European Union: a comparative survey of the United Kingdom, France and Germany

In this paper we discuss regulation of the statutory auditor in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Previous research has addressed regulation of statutory auditors with respect to regulatory harmonization and the reduction of barriers to intra-European trade in professional services. While these are important goals, it has also been the policy of the European Commission to encourage high standards of auditing, which the Commission anticipates will evolve within the legal and regulatory frameworks of the Member States of the EU. In this regard, our paper seeks to investigate how auditor regulation is organized in three important EU economies. In particular we examine several key functions of auditor regulation and how these are deployed in the three countries investigated. In addition we provide some forward-looking comments concerning regulation of statutory auditors in the EU.

Information technology and the social construction of information privacy

Abstract Levine [Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 22 (2003) 281] aptly summarized the reasons we gave to support and justify consumer’s demand for privacy. Our reply addresses two areas of disagreement or misunderstanding between Levine and us: (1) the status of social construction versus moral relativism in adjudicating competing social interests, and (2) the problems that we believe social construction raises for determining legitimate tradeoffs between individual privacy and the common good.

Self‐regulation in the Public Accounting Profession: The Structural Response of the Large Public Accounting Firms to a Changing Environment

Focuses on large, international public accounting firms and the manner in which these firms attempt to manage a changing environment and defend against threats to the self‐regulation of public accounting. Investigates the strategies and responses of these large firms to the challenges of a changing environment, and questions whether such strategies and responses will be effective in the future in maintaining the self‐regulation of public accounting. In addition, discusses why traditional accounting and auditing research methods have been unable to reveal and investigate the complexities of the environment in which the large firms operate. Suggests the use of alternative research methods (i.e. qualitative methods) in order to address relevant research questions more effectively. Comprises four sections. The first section discusses the significance of the large accounting firms as an area of critical inquiry and summarizes threats to continued self‐regulation. The second section discusses the concept of str...

The introduction of French theory into English language accounting research

Purpose - This purpose of this paper is to investigate the introduction of French theory into English language accounting research and to assess the impact of the work of French social theorists on the accounting research domain. Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents a citation analysis of articles appearing in selected English language accounting research journals for a sample of French authors, during the periods from the inception of the journals to mid-2009. In performing this citation analysis, 39 French authors who are well known as social theorists, philosophers, economists or sociologists were included. The accounting research journals chosen for analysis included the top four journals listed in many league tables for accounting research along with several journals that regularly publish research in accounting history or that focus on alternative research paradigms. Findings - The citation analysis identified the following French authors as being the most frequently cited: Michel Foucault, followed by Bruno Latour and Pierre Bourdieu. The citation analysis also identified the English language accounting research journals in which French social theorists have been most often cited. The two most significant journals have been Originality/value - This paper is the first known to provide a comprehensive analysis of the introduction of French theory into English language accounting research.;

The construction of a trustworthy investment opportunity: : insights from the Madoff Fraud

In this paper, we use the investment fraud of Bernard Madoff to inquire into the production of trust in the context of financial markets. Drawing upon empirical data related to U.S. individual investors (interviews and letters) as well as documentary material, we investigate the mechanisms through which investing with Madoff came to be seen as a trustworthy investment opportunity. We show how different types of information contributed to construct Bernard Madoff as a trustworthy investment manager and how Madoff avoided meeting demands for accountability by manipulating investors in face-to-face encounters. We shed particular light on the role of institution-based forms of trust which play a critical role in facilitating economic exchanges. More specifically, we suggest that the Madoff case illuminates how the provision of information can lead to an “illusion of trustworthiness” that is difficult to escape for investors. An element of such illusion, we suggest, is inherent to the functioning of financial markets more generally.

Epistemological objectivity in financial reporting: Does internet accounting require a new accounting model?

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to illustrate the complexity surrounding the meaning of the terms “economic reality” and “neutral representation” as these terms are applied to the resolution of financial accounting issues. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the concept of epistemological objectivity in financial reporting through an analysis of issues raised by the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) with respect to accounting for internet activities and the concomitant manner in which the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) approached these issues. Findings – An analysis of communications between the SEC and the FASB pertaining to accounting for internet activities reveals that, while these bodies seek to resolve issues in a manner that is neutral and objective, they often employ subjective reasoning in pursuing their regulatory purpose, thus raising questions about the extent of their concern with neutral representations of economic reality. Originality/value – The paper adds to the criticisms of efforts which claim to be neutral representations of economic reality.