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Accounting, Finance and Economics Research Group

Members of Staff

The Accounting, Finance and Economics group at Royal Holloway has an established and growing reputation. Its accounting branch is known for distinctive research and teaching of comparative, cultural and social aspects of international accounting, drawing intellectually on the social sciences and on arts disciplines. Its finance and economics section focuses on the regulation and self-regulation of firms, particularly in relation to the management of the environment, labour pay settlement and stock market trading activities.

Research

The group includes internationally-recognised scholars, who have published in a wide range of top-ranking journals including: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal; Accounting and Business Research; Accounting Horizons; Accounting, Organizations and Society; British Journal of Industrial Relations; European Accounting Review; Human Relations; International Journal of Accounting; Journal of Accounting and Public Policy; Journal of Business Ethics; Journal of Business Finance and Accounting; Journal of Public Economics; and Organization Studies.

Accounting, Organizations and Society

Notably, members of the group have a number of recent publications in Accounting, Organizations and Society, acknowledged as the top journal in 'qualitative' accounting, and one of the top 4 worldwide accounting journals used by the Financial Times in compiling its prestigious business school research ranking:

  • Napier, C. (forthcoming 2010). Traditional accountants and business professionals: portraying the accounting profession after Enron’ (with G. D. Carnegie).
  • Davison, J. (2010). [In]visible [in]tangibles: visual portraits of the business élite. (35: 2), 165-183.
  • McSweeney, B. (2009). The roles of financial asset market failure denial and the economic crisis: reflections on accounting and financial theories and practices. (34: 6/7), 835-848.
  • Napier, C. (2006). Accounts of change: 30 years of historical accounting research. (31: 4/5), 445-507.
  • Nobes, C. (2004). On Accounting Classification and the International Harmonisation Debate. (29: 2), 189-200.

In total, members of the group have published 9 articles in Accounting, Organizations and Society.

Since 2006, members of the group have the following publications in leading journals:

ABS journal ranking 4*

  • Accounting, Organizations and Society (5 papers as above)
  • Organization Studies (McSweeney, 2009)

ABS journal ranking 3*

  • Abacus (Napier, 2006)
  • Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (Agyemang, 2009; 2010; Davison, 2007; 2008; 2009)
  • Accounting and Business Research (Nobes, 2006; 2009; forthcoming; Napier, 2009)
  • European Accounting Review (Nobes, 2006)
  • Journal of Accounting and Public Policy (Nobes, 2009)
  • Journal of Business Ethics (Liston-Heyes, 2009; 2010; forthcoming)
  • Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (Liston-Heyes, 2010)

The work of the group is widely disseminated, as evidenced by high citation statistics (around 100+ per Google Scholar) for the following:

  • Nobes, C. (2006) (with R. H. Parker). Comparative International Accounting, Pearson
  • McSweeney (2002). Hofstede’s model of national cultural differences and their consequences: A triumph of faith – a failure of analysis. Human Relations (55: 1), 89-118.
  • Nobes, C. (1998). Towards a general model of the reasons for international differences. Abacus (34: 2), 162-87
  • Nobes. C. (1983). A judgmental classification of financial reporting practices. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting (10: 1), 1-19.
  • Napier, C. (with P. Miller). (1993). Genealogies of calculation. Accounting, Organizations and Society (8: 7/8), 631-647.
  • Napier, C. (with G. Carnegie). (1996). Critical and interpretive histories: insights into accounting’s present and future through its past. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (9: 3), 7-39.
  • Liston-Heyes, C. (1993). Price-cap versus Rate-of-Return Regulation. Journal of Regulatory Economics (5), 25-48.
  • Nobes, C. (1992). International classification of financial reporting. Routledge.

Brendan McSweeney’s Human Relations article is one of the 30 most cited papers from that journal (founded in 1947) and it has been the top downloaded paper every year since 2002.

Further activities include the editing of journal special issues, such as:

  • Exploring the Visual in Organizations and Management (planned for 2012) for Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management (J. Davison, with C. McLean and S. Warren)
  • Visual perspectives on accounting and accountability for Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (2009) (J. Davison, with S. Warren)
  • Shareholder Value for Accounting Forum (2007) (B. McSweeney)

and the editing of books, such as:

  • Islamic Accounting, Edward Elgar Publishing (2010) (C. Napier, with R. Haniffa)
  • Remaking Management: Beyond Local and Global, Cambridge University Press (2008) (B. McSweeney, with C. Smith and R. Fitzgerald)
  • International Financial Reporting Standards: Context, Analysis and Comment, Routledge (2008) (C. W. Nobes, with D. Alexander)

Members of the group serve on a number of journal editorial boards, including Abacus; Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal; Accounting and Business Research; Australian Accounting Review; Accounting, Business & Financial History; Accounting Forum; Accounting History; Accounting Organizations and Society; British Accounting Review; Critical Perspectives on International Business; Irish Management Review; Journal of Islamic Accounting & Business Research; Revista de Contabilidad y Direcciòn (Spain); Revista Contabilidade & Finanças (Brazil). Christopher Napier is co-editor of Accounting Historians Journal.

» Full list of AFE Group publications since 2006 (PDF)

Distinctions and Grants

Brendan McSweeney was responsible for the establishment of the research board of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants; in 2000 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; he is the founding member of an advisory board to the Europe, Middle East & Africa division of a large globally located Japanese company; he is an Expert Advisor to the European Commission.

Christopher Napier was a member of the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (1996-1999), and a member of the Institute’s Financial Reporting Committee (1997-2004). He was one of the invited keynote speakers at the Institute’s Information for Better Markets conference (the main forum for practitioners and academics in the UK) on Accounting for Pensions in December 2008.

Chris Nobes received the ‘Outstanding International Accounting Educator’ Award of the American Accounting Association in 2002. In 2006 he was named as the most productive European author in leading accounting journals between 1991 and 2002 (Chan et al, Accounting and Business Research, 2006). He was a member of the Board of the International Accounting Standards Committee (1993-2001). He is now a member of the Financial Reporting Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and a member of the Academic Panel of the UK’s Accounting Standards Board. He is vice-chair of the accounting group of the Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens.

The success of the accounting section is also reflected in grants awarded:

  • ESRC 2009 £81,000 ‘Advancing visual methodologies in business and management’, J. Davison (with S. Warren, Surrey University and others from inVISIO International Network of Visual Studies in Organizations www.som.surrey.ac.uk/invisio )
  • ESRC 2008 £15,000 ‘Research Seminar Series on visual dimensions of business, management and organizations’, J. Davison (with S. Warren, Surrey University and others from inVISIO)
  • ACCA 2007 £16,791 ‘Assessing the Functioning of NGO Accountability: The Impact on Effectiveness of Aid Delivery’ G. Agyemang (with M. Awumbila, University of Ghana; B. O’Dwyer, University of Amsterdam; and J. Unerman, University of Manchester)
  • Nuffield Foundation 2004 £5772 ‘Non-standard Contracts in UK Universities: Choice and Compulsion in the Creation of Portfolio Working’, D. Brown (with M. Gold, Royal Holloway)
  • EU 2003 70,000 euros ‘Reform of Czech corporate tax system’, C. Nobes
  • ICAS, 2003 £6223 ‘Words, pictures and intangibles’, J. Davison (with L. Skerratt, Brunel University).

Further External Links

Members of the group have been advisors and consultants to a wide range of private and public sector organizations including: Albert Fisher; Allied-Domecq; Banking, Insurance & Finance Union; Carlsberg-Tetley; Corus/British Steel; the European Commission; Electricity Supply Board Officers Association; Fisons; Goldman Sachs; GPT; Hackney Enterprise Board; IBM; the Japanese Government; Jardine Pacific; Manor Bakeries; Midland Bank; Pfizer; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Ranks Hovis McDougall; Reed International; Saatchi & Saatchi/Cordiant; T&N; Transport & General Workers Union; and YKK.

Others have had long-standing connections with the examining activities of the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants); CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants); and ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales).

PhD Students

A number of students are currently working towards PhDs in accounting, or have recently completed:

  • Aysha Al-Salih on Islamic finance (with Christopher Napier, Advisor Brendan McSweeney)
  • Guotian Fu on accounting and the visual (with Jane Davison, Advisor Chris Nobes)
  • Cathy Harbor on the business history of concerts in London (with Catherine Liston-Heyes)
  • Nor Asma Lode on pension accounting (with Christopher Napier, Advisor Jane Davison)
  • Chijoke Uba on car usage and sustainability (with Catherine Liston-Heyes)

(Successful completion 2009)

  • Zamri Osman on accountability in Muslim charitable organizations (with Gloria Agyemang and Jeffrey Unerman)
  • Neeta Shah on corporate governance (with Christopher Napier, Advisor Jane Davison)
  • Christian Stadler on pension funding and accounting (with Chris Nobes, Advisor Catherine Liston-Heyes)
  • Andy Verlade on the management of disability equality in universities (with Gloria Agyemang and Jeffrey Unerman)
  • Na Zhao on sustainability (with Brendan O’Dwyer and Jeffrey Unerman)

MSc in International Accounting

This successful and innovative programme, based on the research expertise of the group, was established in 2006. It was one of the first accounting masters programmes created in response to the increasing recognition of the need to set the theory and practice of accounting in the context of its social, political, natural and cultural environments. It incorporates reflection on the broader setting and implications of accounting in addition to knowledge and understanding of contemporary financial and management accounting. Students take research methods courses, accounting courses and write a dissertation.

Accounting courses offered are currently as follows:

  • International Financial Accounting (Prof Christopher Napier)
  • International Management Accounting (Dr Gloria Agyemang)
  • Comparative International Accounting (Prof Chris Nobes)
  • Communication Issues in Accounting (Prof Jane Davison)
  • Sustainability and Accounting (Dr Leonardo Rinaldi/Prof Brendan O’Dwyer)

The programme is open to quality students from any discipline. See our pages for prospective students for more information:
» MSc in International Accounting


Last updated Tue, 25-May-2010 14:34 GMT / Management-webmaster
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