The production of knowledge in accounting

Abstract

This paper is a case study in knowledge (non) production in accounting. It starts by telling the story of Professor Arthur L. Thomas who aimed to produce knowledge by demonstrating the basic ambiguity of income measurement in his two penetrating monographs. As the story proceeds, it becomes apparent, however, that creativity itself is just the starting point for a successful finding. We shall see how the individual researcher, in his efforts to change the prevailing conceptual order, is tied to a whole variety of institutions and networks in the wider society. That connection appears to constrain the scope of possible successful findings in accounting. A new continuation cannot be just any continuation, but it must fit in with some part of the network. Only then can a researcher generate enough allies who will lend their support to the discovery. The analysis of the communal base of knowledge production will demonstrate how the locus of conceptual order is in the audience and how this creates a basis for understanding how certain kinds of knowledge claims in the accounting arena face better chances of success than others. This setting, which emphasizes the role of the audience in deciding what is knowledge, is not without its problems. The major problem arises from the fact that only individuals, who are prepared to suggest new controversial ideas, can provide material for conceptual change. But this begs the question of how to provide them with a forum in the modern academic world? A few ideas are suggested. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.