Stakeholder Theory and Accounting

摘要: This chapter reviews the extent to which stakeholder theory has been applied to, and adopted within, the academic accounting literature. The influence of stakeholder theory on accounting is growing but lags behind other business disciplines. This is due to the prevailing dominance of the shareholder primacy paradigm and a lack of convergence between the epistemological structure and socio-cultural characteristics of accounting, with university and professional education lagging behind contemporary thinking. This chapter starts with a discussion of these factors to provide context.The academic field of accounting is vast, and spans various distinct, yet overlapping, fields. This review is based on three sub-disciplines: management accounting (internal control and decision-making), financial accounting (reporting to external stakeholders) and sustainability reporting. Finance, auditing and corporate governance are not included. The review is restricted to the 27 accounting journals identified as 3* or 4* in the ABS Journal Ranking List (2015) and the Journal of Management special issue (52: 7) on accounting for stakeholder value. The review is organized by sub-discipline and structured around prevailing themes.