The paranoid style in the sociology of financial reporting principles

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the character and strength of the claims made in an emerging literature offering a sociology of financial reporting principles. Design/methodology/approach The analysis evaluates exemplary works in the literature against the characteristics of the paranoid style first identified by Richard Hofstadter: overheated claims of a far-reaching, malign and collusive machinery of influence; a reductive, rationalistic and dualistic reading of events; weak empirics; and weak theorisation. Findings A significant stream within the literature is coming to be constructed in the paranoid style. Paranoid stylistics, used as a diagnostic tool, alerts us here to distorted judgement. Research limitations/implications Alternative ways of avoiding the dangers of paranoid-style readings are suggested, ranging from resisting the temptations towards such readings to a radical re-working of the epistemics of “socio-accounting”. Practical implications The danger of allowing the conclusions advanced in the literature to go unchallenged is that they may influence society’s attitude to accounting, public policy-making and scholars’ willingness to contribute to the crafting of reporting principles and standards. Originality/value Although paranoid style analysis has been widely used to examine narratives in other academic fields, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to apply it to scholarly accounting.

Quality of Accounting Knowledge and Its Impact on Profession

“…Financial accounting can be said to involve ancient knowledge of accounting since accounting derived from the recording of transactions to determine the profit or loss of merchants' operations (Shehata, et al, 2020). Financial accounting produces a financial statement, a product that becomes a symbol of the accounting profession (Rutherford, 2023). Management accounting gained a reputation as a catalyst during the Industrial Revolution era in the 19th century, providing management with reliable data regarding companies' production and costs (Cheng Tan, 2019).…”