Look who's talking

Abstract

This paper discusses trends in international accounting research through a qualitative study of two refereed accounting journals, Advances in International Accounting and The International Journal of Accounting Education and Research, from 1987 to 1996. A multidimensional approach is used to provide the reader with a general descriptive background, pertinent characteristics such as the international breadth of the research, the authorship concentration, the institutional affiliation concentration and the extent of foreign authorship. This paper applies a critical perspective to the extant international accounting literature using a postcolonial lens to determine how the concept of 'international accounting' is constructed. The paper answers the following questions: Who is doing international accounting? Whose interest is being served by the particular way in which 'international accounting' is constructed? Who is absent from this conversation? What is the role of international accounting literature in mediating unequal social relations and constructing the 'other'?