THEACCOUNTINGREVIEWVol.,No.62014
pp.1943–1943
AmericanAccountingAssociation
DOI:10.2308/accr-10408
INTRODUCTION
AForumonNeuroscienceandUltimateCausationinAccountingResearch
Itiswellrecognizedthatacriticalstepinthedevelopmentofmodernaccountingresearchwasthelandmarkstudyin1968byRayBallandPhilBrown(BallandBrown1968).Theirstudydemonstratedtheusefulnessofaccountingbydocumentinganassociationbetweenfinancialstatementinformationandstockprices,amarketphenomenon.Ataboutthesametime,behavioralaccountingresearchersbegantoexploreassociatedquestionsattheindividuallevel,seekingtodeterminehowaccountinginformationaffectsindividualdecisions.Recentresearchinaccountingandfinancehasdrawnonresultsofbehavioralexperimentsinanattempttoexplainmarketanomalies,asfirstidentifiedbyBallandBrownthemselves(1968,173).
Thetwostudiesinthisneuroscienceforumprovideadeeperunderstandingbyagainpushingthefocusdowntothemorefundamentalor‘‘ultimate’’sourcewithinanindividual’sbrain.AsGregWaymirenotesinhiscommentary,thisapproachhasthepotentialtooffernewinsightintotherelationbetweenlongstandingaccountingprinciplesandfundamentalhumanbehaviorsreflectedinsocialnormssuchasreciprocityandfair-dealing.Intheprocess,thisworkoffersaccountingresearchersnewtoolsforunderstandingandexplainingbothindividualandmarketbehavior.
—JohnHarryEvansIII
UniversityofPittsburgh
REFERENCES
Ball,R.,andP.Brown.1968.Anempiricalevaluationofaccountingincomenumbers.Journalof
AccountingResearch6(2):159–178.
PublishedOnline:November2014
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