Nihel Chabrak

Money talks: the language of the Rochester School

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. Design/methodology/approach - The paper subjects the language of the Rochester School to a deconstruction that is a transformational reading. This uncovers rhetorical operations and unveils hidden associations with other texts and ideas. Findings - A new interpretation of the Rochester School discourse is provided. To afford scientific credibility to deregulation within the accounting field, Watts and Zimmerman used supplements and missing links to enhance the authority of PAT. They placed supplements inside their texts to provide a misleading image of PAT. These supplements rest on von Hayeks long-term shaping blueprint to defeat apostles of the welfare state. Yet, to set PAT apart from normative theories that Watts and Zimmerman claimed were contaminated by value judgments, they made no reference in their text to the tight links between the Rochester School and the libertarian project initiated by von Hayek. Research limitations/implications - Any reading of PAT cannot present the infinite play of meaning that is possible within a text. Deconstruction involves a commitment to on-going, eternal questioning. Originality/value - The paper provides evidence of the relation between PAT and the neoliberal (libertarian) project of von Hayek. PAT is viewed as part of the institutional infrastructure and ideological apparatus that legitimates the hegemony of markets.

The shareholder value mythology and the market “communion”

Since the 1970s, the shareholder value maximization doctrine (SVMD) has stood as the prominent corporate governance model for its alleged benefits to the economy as a whole. Developed by Chicago School economists, endorsed by institutional investors and disseminated by the means of an ideological apparatus, the SVMD is portrayed to having also contributed to the dissemination of the financialisation of management and organizations and to the reign of the market conception of the firm. Using an analytical framework borrowed from Gurvitchs sociology of law, I argue that market advocates are bonded through a form of sociality called a “communion”. This grouping aims to institute financial markets as the infallible and legitimate guide for any human affairs. Despite its “intellectual fallacy”, the mythology of SVM is depicted to serve as means to maintain the collective intuition of the market communion and mediation and communication between its members.

Nouveau riche, old guard, established elite: Agency and the leadership of Vivendi Universal

We respond to the call for a more balanced view of agency (Tourish, 2014: 88) by presenting an account of the forced resignation of Jean-Marie Messier as CEO of the major French company, Vivendi Universal, in 2002. Messier’s ousting arose from a struggle for board control involving an exercise of power that was influenced strongly by kinship relationships, interlocking directorships, and business alliances; and by the interplay between a nouveau riche (Messier), an influential old guard shareholder family (the Bronfmans), and an established elite (of prominent representatives of French business). Collusion between the French business establishment and the Bronfman family created a coalition of interest and a locus of control that managerial and agency theories explain inadequately. We highlight the potential for a reading of class relationships in terms of structuration to foster better understanding of the complexities involved when the board of a major corporation decides to support, or withdraw support for, their CEO. We highlight several context-specific structures and mechanisms that were influential in determining corporate control and CEO agency.

The IASB and the Market “Communion”

Since the 1970s, accountants are suspected for having been contributing to the predominance of the market doctrine by setting themselves the objective of ensuring the efficient functioning of financial markets. In this chapter, we set out to analyze how the IASB project accords with this logic. Using the concept of “communion” borrowed to Gurvitch sociology of law (1948/2001), and some shareholder thinking lent to Stout (The shareholder value myth. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler, 2012) and Blair and Stout (Va Law Rev 85(2):247–328, 1999), we argue that the concept of “investor” used in the IASB conceptual framework depicts its membership to a form of an active spontaneous sociality we call the market “communion”. Through its conceptual framework, the IASB contributes to preserving symbols and patterns, such as the Efficient Market Hypothesis [EMH] and the Shareholder Value Maximization [SVM] doctrine. Poised for intellectual collapse, such shared symbols and beliefs form the collective intuitions that enable mediation and communication between the members of the communion to continue adulating the market ideology. The concept of “investor” used in the IASB conceptual framework is socially constructed. It is both constituted by the IASB membership to the market communion, and yet at the same time is the very medium of this constitution.

Promoting corporate social responsibility and sustainability: a model of integrity

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to propose a model of integrity to help assess corporate responsiveness to this new wave of pressure in the backdrop of the prevailing Shareholder Value Maximization doctrine. In a context of ecological crisis, sustainability is considered in an intergenerational perspective on well-being. Nations are required to maintain the productive base, composed of manufactured, natural and human capitals, to continue producing future generations’ well-being. Such macroeconomic challenges require businesses to contribute to human and natural capitals’ conservation. Design/methodology/approach – This paper applies the integrity model to the historical case of the New Lanark mills from Owen’s (1991/1813-1816) new view of society. Owen’s deeds are compared to his promises in light of community expectations in that time to assess Owen’s commitment to social responsibility through “his honoring his word”. Findings – The findings show the importance of the concept of “workability” for...