IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/isacfm/v26y2019i4p175-192.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring corporate governance research in accounting journals through latent semantic and topic analyses

Author

Listed:
  • Ferhat D. Zengul
  • James D. Byrd
  • Nurettin Oner
  • Mark Edmonds
  • Arline Savage

Abstract

The literature on corporate governance (CG) has been expanding at an unprecedented rate since major corporate scandals surfaced, such as Enron, WorldCom, and HealthSouth. Corresponding with accounting's important role in CG, accounting scholars increasingly have investigated CG in recent years, so the body of literature is growing. Although previous attempts have been made to summarize extant literature on CG via reviews, none of these attempts has utilized recent developments in text analyses and natural language processing. This study uses latent semantic and topic analyses to address this research gap by analysing abstracts from 1,399 articles in all accounting journals that the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) has rated A and A*. The ABDC journal list is widely recognized as a journal‐quality indicator across many universities worldwide. The analyses revealed 10 distinct research topics on CG in the ABDC's top accounting journals. The results presented include the five most representative articles for each topic, as distinguished by topic scores. This study carries important practice and policy implications, as it reveals major research streams and exhibits how researchers respond to various CG problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferhat D. Zengul & James D. Byrd & Nurettin Oner & Mark Edmonds & Arline Savage, 2019. "Exploring corporate governance research in accounting journals through latent semantic and topic analyses," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 175-192, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:isacfm:v:26:y:2019:i:4:p:175-192
    DOI: 10.1002/isaf.1461
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/isaf.1461
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/isaf.1461?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kees Camfferman & Stephen A. Zeff, 2018. "The Challenge of Setting Standards for a Worldwide Constituency: Research Implications from the IASB’s Early History," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 289-312, March.
    2. Ernest Gyapong & Reza M. Monem & Fang Hu, 2016. "Do Women and Ethnic Minority Directors Influence Firm Value? Evidence from Post-Apartheid South Africa," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3-4), pages 370-413, March.
    3. Hassan, Enas A. & Rankin, Michaela & Lu, Wei, 2014. "The Development of Accounting Regulation in Iraq and the IFRS Adoption Decision: An Institutional Perspective," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 371-390.
    4. Shivdasani, Anil, 1993. "Board composition, ownership structure, and hostile takeovers," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-3), pages 167-198, April.
    5. Weisbach, Michael S., 1993. "Corporate governance and hostile takeovers," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-3), pages 199-208, April.
    6. Volker Laux & Brian Mittendorf, 2011. "Board Independence, Executive Pay, and the Adoption of Pet Projects," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1467-1483, December.
    7. Cooper, David J. & Robson, Keith, 2006. "Accounting, professions and regulation: Locating the sites of professionalization," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 415-444.
    8. Anna Samsonova-Taddei & Christopher Humphrey, 2014. "Transnationalism and the transforming roles of professional accountancy bodies," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(6), pages 903-932, July.
    9. Fabrizio Cerbioni & Antonio Parbonetti, 2007. "Exploring the Effects of Corporate Governance on Intellectual Capital Disclosure: An Analysis of European Biotechnology Companies," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 791-826.
    10. Canada, Joseph & Kuhn, J. Randel & Sutton, Steve G., 2008. "Accidentally in the public interest: The perfect storm that yielded the Sarbanes-Oxley act," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 987-1003.
    11. Stuart Ogden & Robert Watson, 2007. "The influence of comparative pay, customer service measures and accounting profits upon CEO pay in the UK privatised water industry," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 199-215.
    12. Matthew Haigh & Matthew A. Shapiro, 2012. "Carbon reporting: does it matter?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 105-125, January.
    13. Prasad, Acklesh & Green, Peter & Heales, Jon, 2012. "On IT governance structures and their effectiveness in collaborative organizational structures," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 199-220.
    14. Low, Mary & Davey, Howard & Hooper, Keith, 2008. "Accounting scandals, ethical dilemmas and educational challenges," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 222-254.
    15. Chakraborty, Vasundhara & Chiu, Victoria & Vasarhelyi, Miklos, 2014. "Automatic classification of accounting literature," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 122-148.
    16. Anna Samaonova-Taddei & Christopher Humphrey, 2014. "Transnationalism and the transforming roles of professional accountancy bodies: Towards a research agenda," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 27(5), pages 903-932.
    17. Benston, George J., 1982. "An analysis of the role of accounting standards for enhancing corporate governance and social responsibility," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 5-17.
    18. John Harry Evans & Nandu J. Nagarajan & Jason D. Schloetzer, 2010. "CEO Turnover and Retention Light: Retaining Former CEOs on the Board," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 1015-1047, December.
    19. Alpa Dhanani & Michael John Jones, 2017. "Editorial boards of accounting journals: gender diversity and internationalisation," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(5), pages 1008-1040, June.
    20. Collins G. Ntim & Teerooven Soobaroyen & Martin J. Broad, 2017. "Governance structures, voluntary disclosures and public accountability," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(1), pages 65-118, January.
    21. Habersam, Michael & Piber, Martin & Skoog, Matti, 2013. "Knowledge balance sheets in Austrian universities: The implementation, use, and re-shaping of measurement and management practices," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 319-337.
    22. Gavin Nicholson & Amedeo Pugliese & Pieter-Jan Bezemer, 2017. "Habitual accountability routines in the boardroom: how boards balance control and collaboration," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(2), pages 222-246, February.
    23. English, Linda M., 2013. "The impact of an independent inspectorate on penal governance, performance and accountability: Pressure points and conflict “in the pursuit of an ideal of perfection”," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(7), pages 532-549.
    24. Leslie G. Eldenburg & Ranjani Krishnan, 2008. "The Influence of Ownership on Accounting Information Expenditures," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(3), pages 739-772, September.
    25. Pascal Frantz & Norvald Instefjord & Martin Walker, 2013. "Executive Compensation: A Model of Disclosure Choice," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(9-10), pages 1184-1220, November.
    26. Ian Thomson & Colin Dey & Shona Russell, 2015. "Activism, arenas and accounts in conflicts over tobacco control," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(5), pages 809-845, June.
    27. Josiah, Jairos & Burton, Bruce & Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, Jim, 2010. "Accounting for privatisation in Africa? Reflections from a critical interdisciplinary perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 374-389.
    28. Prasad, Acklesh & Green, Peter & Heales, Jon, 2014. "On governance structures for the cloud computing services and assessing their effectiveness," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 335-356.
    29. Philip Brown & Wendy Beekes & Peter Verhoeven, 2011. "Corporate governance, accounting and finance: A review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 51(1), pages 96-172, March.
    30. Joanne Locke & Alan Lowe, 2007. "XBRL: An (Open) Source of Enlightenment or Disillusion?," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 585-623.
    31. Claire Methven O'Brien & Sumithra Dhanarajan, 2016. "The corporate responsibility to respect human rights: a status review," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(4), pages 542-567, May.
    32. Crum, Robert P., 1990. "Accounting magic and corporate control: A discussion of Espeland and Hirsch," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 97-105.
    33. Limei Che & John Christian Langli, 2015. "Governance Structure and Firm Performance in Private Family Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(9-10), pages 1216-1250, November.
    34. Miller, Peter & O'Leary, Ted, 1993. "Accounting expertise and the politics of the product: Economic citizenship and modes of corporate governance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 18(2-3), pages 187-206, April.
    35. Monem, Reza M., 2013. "Determinants of board structure: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 33-49.
    36. Unerman, Jeffrey & Bennett, Mark, 2004. "Increased stakeholder dialogue and the internet: towards greater corporate accountability or reinforcing capitalist hegemony?," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 685-707, October.
    37. Scott Deerwester & Susan T. Dumais & George W. Furnas & Thomas K. Landauer & Richard Harshman, 1990. "Indexing by latent semantic analysis," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 41(6), pages 391-407, September.
    38. Riotto, Joseph J., 2008. "Understanding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act—A valued added approach for public interest," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 952-962.
    39. Roberts, John, 1990. "Strategy and accounting in a U.K. conglomerate," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 107-126.
    40. Arun Upadhyay, 2014. "Social Concentration on Boards, Corporate Information Environment and Cost of Capital," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(7-8), pages 974-1001, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maroun, Warren & Solomon, Jill, 2014. "Whistle-blowing by external auditors: Seeking legitimacy for the South African Audit Profession?," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 109-121.
    2. Hopper, Trevor & Lassou, Philippe & Soobaroyen, Teerooven, 2017. "Globalisation, accounting and developing countries," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 125-148.
    3. Ghattas, Peter & Soobaroyen, Teerooven & Marnet, Oliver, 2021. "Charting the development of the Egyptian accounting profession (1946–2016): An analysis of the State-Profession dynamics," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Nicolò, Giuseppe & Raimo, Nicola & Polcini, Paolo Tartaglia & Vitolla, Filippo, 2021. "Unveiling the link between performance and Intellectual Capital disclosure in the context of Italian Public universities," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Ferhat D. Zengul & Nurettin Oner & James D. Byrd & Arline Savage, 2021. "Revealing Research Themes and Trends in 30 Top‐ranking Accounting Journals: A Text‐mining Approach," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 57(3), pages 468-501, September.
    6. François Brouard & Merridee Bujaki & Sylvain Durocher & Leighann C. Neilson, 2017. "Professional Accountants’ Identity Formation: An Integrative Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 225-238, May.
    7. Samsonova-Taddei, Anna & Humphrey, Christopher, 2015. "Risk and the construction of a European audit policy agenda: The case of auditor liability," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 55-72.
    8. Giuseppe Nicolo’ & Francesca Manes-Rossi & Johan Christiaens & Natalia Aversano, 2020. "Accountability through intellectual capital disclosure in Italian Universities," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(4), pages 1055-1087, December.
    9. Mihret, Dessalegn Getie & Mirshekary, Soheila & Yaftian, Ali, 2020. "Accounting professionalization, the state, and transnational capitalism: The case of Iran," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    10. Rungporn Roengpitya, 2008. "The Effects of Financial Deregulation on Bank Governance: The Panel Data Evidence of the 1990s," Working Papers 2008-08, Monetary Policy Group, Bank of Thailand.
    11. Nguyen, Thi Hong Hanh & Ntim, Collins G. & Malagila, John K., 2020. "Women on corporate boards and corporate financial and non-financial performance: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. Hichem Khlif & Kamran Ahmed & Mohsen Souissi, 2017. "Ownership structure and voluntary disclosure: A synthesis of empirical studies," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 42(3), pages 376-403, August.
    13. Hutchison, Paul D. & Daigle, Ronald J. & George, Benjamin, 2018. "Application of latent semantic analysis in AIS academic research," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 83-96.
    14. Irvine, Helen & Moerman, Lee, 2017. "Gambling with the public sphere: Accounting’s contribution to debate on social issues," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 35-52.
    15. Kabir, Humayun & Rahman, Asheq, 2016. "The role of corporate governance in accounting discretion under IFRS: Goodwill impairment in Australia," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 290-308.
    16. Sokolyk, Tatyana, 2011. "The effects of antitakeover provisions on acquisition targets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 612-627, June.
    17. Canning, Mary & O'Dwyer, Brendan, 2016. "Institutional work and regulatory change in the accounting profession," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-21.
    18. Martynova, M. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2005. "Takeover Waves : Triggers, Performance and Motives," Discussion Paper 2005-029, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center.
    19. Peter M Clarkson & Shams Pathan & Andrew Tellam, 2016. "Do private equity target firms exhibit less effectual governance structures?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 41(2), pages 244-270, May.
    20. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:isacfm:v:26:y:2019:i:4:p:175-192. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/1099-1174/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.