School of Accountancy

What exactly is expected of a Literature Review?

 Introduction

• finding and evaluating the relevant papers

• what scholars expect a literature review to do
• classifying and synthesising the literature
• criteria and checklist of a good review

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 Aligning your research interest with the
concerns of the discipline experts

Hopefully you’re passionate about your topic,

but will any other researchers be interested?

You’ll need to first listen to their conversations.

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 Listening to the conversations

• Where are the important conversations taking place?

• Who is speaking—and who is actually listening?

• What are the central issues, according to the leading scholars?

• How do they do their research?

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 finding the relevant papers

Reliability

Journal Rankings

Australian Business Deans Council – ABDC (2018)

www.abdc.edu.au/master-journal-list.php

Scimago Journal Ranking (Scopus – Elsevier)

http://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php

The tough review process

• The acceptance rate for top Accounting journals is
about 10%

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 Top Journals

A* Accounting Journals (ABDC 2018)

• Accounting, Organizations and Society

• Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory
• Contemporary Accounting Research
• Journal of Accounting and Economics
• Journal of Accounting Research
• Management Accounting Research
• Review of Accounting Studies
• The Accounting Review
• The European Accounting Review

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 Scimago Q 1 Accounting Journals (July 2018)
4 Journal of Accounting Research 6.957
5 Journal of Accounting and Economics 6.875
6 Accounting Review 3.946
8 Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 3.002
10 Review of Accounting Studies 2.757
11 Contemporary Accounting Research 2.604
12 Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 2.187
13 Critical Perspectives on Accounting 1.773
14 Accounting, Organizations and Society 1.771
15 Auditing 1.710
17 Foundations and Trends in Accounting 1.510
18 Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 1.471
19 Management Accounting Research 1.426
22 Journal of the American Taxation Association 1.227
29 British Accounting Review 0.986
30 Journal of Accounting Literature 0.986
31 Accounting and Business Research 0.970
33 Accounting Forum 0.932

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 Journal and Researcher Impact

Citation Databases
• Google Scholar
• ISI Web of Science (Thomson Reuters)
• Scopus (Elsevier)

Citation metrics (in brief)

• h-index –number of papers and citations
• g-index -weighted for highly cited papers
• contemporary h-index -weighted for recent papers

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 Citations

Google Scholar search for IFRS accounting quality

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 Google Scholar search for IFRS accounting quality
IFRS adoption and accounting quality: a review
NS Soderstrom, KJ Sun - European Accounting Review, 2007
In 2002, the European Union (EU) Parliament passed a regulation that requires consolidated and simple accounts for all
companies listed in the EU to use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) starting after 1 January 2005.
Cited by 806 Web of Science: 173
Search author Search within citation
Incentives or standards: What determines accounting quality changes around IFRS adoption?
HB Christensen, E Lee, M Walker - European Accounting Review 2015 We examine the impact of managerial financial
reporting incentives on accounting quality changes around International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. A
novel feature of our single-country setting based on Germany is that voluntary IFRS adoption
Cited by 431 Web of Science: 29

Does mandatory adoption of IFRS improve accounting quality? Preliminary evidence AS Ahmed, M Neel, D Wang -
Contemporary Accounting Review, 2013 - Wiley We provide evidence on the preliminary effects of mandatory adoption of
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on accounting quality for a relatively broad set of firms from 20 countries
that adopted IFRS in 2005 relative to a benchmark group Cited by 493 Web of Science: 94

International accounting standards and accounting quality ME Barth, WR Landsman - Journal of Accounting Research, 2008 -
Wiley Online -We examine whether application of International Accounting Standards (IAS) is associated with higher
accounting quality…We find that firms from 21 countries generally evidence less earnings management... Cited by 2744
Web of Science: 558 case study
Adaptability to fair value accounting in an emerging economy: A case study of China's IFRS convergence
S Peng, K Bewley - Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 2010 -China is adopting IFRS in response to internal
pressures arising from its rapid economic development…
Cited by 86 Web of Science: 18

Accounting Quality under US GAAP vs. IFRS: The Case of Germany

M Cussatt, L Huang, T Pollard - Journal of International Accounting …, 2018 - aaajournals.org… examines whether accounting
quality changed for a diverse set of German firms that were required to switch accounting standards from US Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
new paper no citations yet
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 Within citation search on Soderstrom & Sun (2007) -since 2016

The economics of disclosure and financial reporting regulation: Evidence and suggestions for future research
C Leuz, PD Wysocki - Journal of Accounting Research, 2016 This paper discusses the empirical literature on the economic
consequences of disclosure and financial reporting regulation, drawing on US and international evidence. Given the policy
relevance of research on regulation, we highlight the challenges with (1) quantifying …
Cited by 259 Web of Science: 62

The Effect of Regulatory Harmonization on Cross‐Border Labor Migration: Evidence from the Accounting Profession
MJ Bloomfield, U Brüggemann- Journal of Accounting Research , 2017 -
The paper examines whether international regulatory harmonization increases cross‐border labor migration. To study this
question, we analyze European Union initiatives that harmonized accounting and auditing standards. Regulatory
harmonization should reduce …
Cited by 23 Web of Science: 1

A review of the IFRS adoption literature

ET De George, X Li, L Shivakumar - Review of Accounting Studies, 2016
This paper reviews the literature on the effects of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. It aims to
provide a cohesive picture of empirical archival literature on how IFRS adoption affects: financial reporting quality, capital
markets, corporate …
Cited by 67 Web of Science: 6

Which Analysts Benefited Most from Mandatory IFRS Adoption in Europe?

C Beuselinck, PPM Joos, IK Khurana - Journal of International Accounting Research2017 - This study examines whether
financial analysts' research structure and portfolio selection choices helped in improving relative earnings forecast accuracy
around mandatory IFRS adoption in Europe. Using a sample of 68,665 one-year ahead forecasts for 1,980 publicly …

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 Google Scholar author search
Mandatory IFRS reporting and changes in enforcement 476 2013
HB Christensen, L Hail, C Leuz. Journal of Accounting and Economics 56 (2-3), 147-177
Incentives or standards: What determines accounting quality changes around IFRS adoption? 434 2015
HB Christensen, E Lee, M Walker, C Zeng. European Accounting Review 24 (1), 31-61
Cross-sectional variation in the economic consequences of international accounting harmonization: 264 2007
HB Christensen, E Lee, M Walker. The International Journal of Accounting 42 (4), 341-379
Does fair value accounting for non-financial assets pass the market test? 256 2013
HB Christensen, VV Nikolaev. Review of Accounting Studies 18 (3), 734-775
Capital versus performance covenants in debt contracts 189 2012
HB Christensen, VV Nikolaev. Journal of Accounting Research 50 (1), 75-116
Capital-market effects of securities regulation: Prior conditions, implementation, and enforcement 185 2016
HB Christensen, L Hail, C Leuz. The Review of Financial Studies 29 (11), 2885-2924
Do IFRS reconciliations convey information? The effect of debt contracting 179 2009
HB Christensen, E Lee, M Walker. Journal of Accounting Research 47 (5), 1167-1199
Accounting Information in Financial Contracting: The Incomplete Contract Theory Perspective 90 2016
HB Christensen, VV Nikolaev, R Wittenberg-Moerman. Journal of Accounting Research 54 (2), 397–435
Why do firms rarely adopt IFRS voluntarily? Academics find significant benefits and the costs appear to be low 65 2012
HB Christensen. Review of Accounting Studies 17 (3), 518-525
The Effect of Regulatory Harmonization on Cross‐Border Labor Migration: Evidence from the Accounting Prof 23 2017
MJ Bloomfield, U Brüggemann, HB Christensen, C Leuz. Journal of Accounting Research 55 (1), 35-78
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 Using the literature review of important papers-
but don’t just repeat what they say!
Christensen, Hans B. .2015. "Incentives or Standards: What Determines Accounting Quality Changes
around IFRS Adoption?". The European accounting review (0963-8180), 24 (1), p. 31

Over the past decade, accounting researchers have produced a large number of
papers that examine the economic consequences of voluntary and/or
mandatory IFRS adoption (see Soderstrom & Sun, 2007 Soderstrom, N., & Sun,
K. J. (2007) and Brüggemann et al., 2013 ) Many of these papers document
substantial economic benefits around IFRS adoption, especially in the
voluntary settings. Although the authors of prior papers often include caveats,
it is common that the benefits are either implicitly or explicitly attributed to the
change in accounting standards (see also Christensen, 2012 Christensen, H. B.
(2012),Christensen, Hail, & Leuz, 2013b). It is not surprising that accounting
researchers have flocked to study the implications of IFRS adoption because it
is one of relatively few areas in accounting research with direct policy
implications. Yet, exactly because of the policy relevance it is important that we
as researchers are careful in drawing inferences based on our own evidence
and when we cite prior work.

Conceptually there are reasons to be sceptical that the benefits documented

around voluntary IFRS adoption can be attributed to the change in
accounting standards
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 Using review articles

De George, E. T., Li, X., & Shivakumar, L. 2016. A review of the IFRS
adoption literature. Review of Accounting Studies, 21(3), 898-1004.

The majority of early studies paint IFRS as bringing significant benefits to

adopting firms and countries in terms of (i) improved transparency, (ii) lower
costs of capital, (iii) improved cross-country investments, (iv) better
comparability of financial reports, and (v) increased following by foreign
analysts. However, these documented benefits tended to vary significantly
across firms and countries. More recent studies now attribute at least some
of the earlier documented benefits to factors other than adoption of new
accounting standards per se, such as enforcement changes.

You can cite any review articles you use. And it’s OK to discuss any arguments they present.
But don’t just repeat what they say. The literature review for your thesis is YOUR job. And it’s
unique to your thesis.

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 Once you find the key papers-
Ten questions to ask

1. Purpose of article – what are the RQs, what is the argument?

2. Literature reviewed by the author(s) – where does paper fit in
the literature and what has previously been done?
3. What is not done or is limited - what is the identified gap?
4. What key studies does the paper build on?
5. What dataset(s) is/are used in the study? Sample?
6. What is/are the unit(s) of analysis: individual, organisational,
institutional, country?
7. What method(s) is/are used?
8. What theory, model, or framework is used?
9. What are the findings (in brief)?
10. What other studies can this be compared to – what are the
similarities and differences?

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 What scholars expect a review to do

‘The literature review frames an article by positioning it against past

research…. A strong framing can be enormously influential in the
review process by convincing reviewers that your scholarly field will
benefit from knowing about your research…. In other words, it
provides another reason— beyond the findings themselves—for an
article to be read and used’.

• motivates your research question

• defines your research constructs
• covers past and recent research thoroughly
• has as point of view
• is well written

Reuber, A. R. 2010. Strengthening Your Literature Review. Family Business Review, 23:2, 105-108.

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 in other words: analysis not description

Examiner’s comment on a recent PhD thesis submitted in our faculty:

The literature review of the thesis very much reads as a summary

of related articles and does not seem to make a point. I am not sure
what to take from this chapter. The PhD candidate needs to provide a
line of argumentation throughout this chapter that ultimately results
in the identification of the gap in the literature. I currently do not see
this.

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 Three levels of a review

macro
the big picture

meso
meta-analysis

micro
due diligence

The mountain of research

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 Micro level: due diligence

Providing details of the significant previous

research

• what are the key papers

• what do we already know about your topic?

• what exactly don’t we know, or what is

limited?

-if a paper is extremely well known, it may be

enough to concisely explain why the study has
been so influential

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 Meso level: meta-analysis*

Classifying & synthesising the literature:

-Analysing the similarities & differences in previous studies,
and evaluating them in terms of:
• context -e.g. developing/developed country; private/public sector
• approaches/theories
• units of analysis
• methods
• findings
‘Meta-analysis refers to the analysis of analyses...the statistical
analysis of a large collection of analysis results from individual
studies for the purpose of integrating the findings’ -Glass, G. V., 1976.
Primary, secondary, and meta-analysis of research. Educational researcher, 5: 10, 3-8.

*I use ‘meta-analysis’ here in the first, broad sense Glass (1976) suggests.

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 Macro level: the big picture

Showing where your work fits in the literature

• by telling us a story about the previous research

• using the literature to support and justify your argument

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 Situating your topic in relation to the larger issues

Corporate
disclosure

Insider
trading

Information
uncertainty

Valuation
implications of
SEC Form 4
Filings

see, Veenman, D., 2012. Disclosures of insider purchases and the valuation implications of past earnings signals, The
Accounting Review, 87:1, 313-342.
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 Connecting your topic with the larger issues

Financial
Management
Earnings
Management
Real Operating
Decisions

Compensation
Incentives

Incentives in
Nonprofit
Organizations

see, Eldenburg, L. G; Gunny, K. A., Hee, K., W; Soderstrom, N., 2011. Earnings Management Using Real Activities:
Evidence from Nonprofit Hospitals ’, The Accounting Review, 86:5, 1605-1630
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 Models for classifying the literature

Review articles are probably the best models to use in

working out how you will classify the literature in your
thesis.

I have collected examples showing a wide range of

possibilities in the following slides.

-note that your literature review may not be as broad in scope

as some review articles

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 Whistleblowing on accounting-related misconduct
Study Type of Misconduct Method Sample Key Findings Type

369 business students at a U.S. public Reporting intentions are higher when
Gao et al. (2015) Fraudulent payments Experiment Internal
university. others are aware of the ……..

Guthrie and Taylor Misappropriation of 295 U.S. adults with current or prior Monetary incentives provided by the
Experiment Internal
(2017) assets work experience. firm moderate the relationship between
retaliation threat and trust,……..

Guthrie et al. Fraudulent financial 45 CAEs and 39 deputy CAEs from CAEs rate anonymous whistleblowing
Experiment Internal
(2012) reporting U.S. organizations. reports to be significantly less credible
than non-anonymous reports. •

Hwang et al. illegal, immoral or 439 participants from CPA firms, Reporting intentions are higher when
Survey General
(2008) illegitimate practices corporations, professional associations individuals perceive greater severity of
and universities in Taiwan wrongdoing …..

Misappropriation of Internal audit quality does not affect

Kaplan & Schultz Experiment 73 MBA students Internal
assets, fraudulent reporting intentions.
(2007)
financial reporting

Kaplan and
Violation of Code of 73 audit seniors in a large international Professional commitment is not
Whitecotton Experiment Internal
Professional Conduct CPA firm. associated with reporting intentions.
(2001)

Lee, G., & Xiao, X. 2018. Whistleblowing on accounting-related misconduct: A synthesis of the literature. Journal of
A ccounting Literature.41:22-46
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 Summary of research on financial disclosure management in nonprofit organizations

Authors (year) Focus of study (database) sample size Method, disclosure variable Summary of major findings

Charitable nonprofits (hand-collected Jones-type model Program ratio varies between revenue
Baber et al. (2001)
Form 990 tax returns) - 1239 org/years Program ratio maximizers and cost minimizers…

A model is developed a model for

Nonprofits (NCCS/IRS 1997–1998) Jones-type model
Trussel (2003) identifying potential accounting
8496 org/years Program ratio
manipulators…

Distributional analysis No unusual clustering of ratios is

Bhattacharya & Tinkelman Nonprofits (NCCS-GuideStar 2001)
(2009)
Program, fundraising, found at or near CBBB-guideline
111,000 organizations
management ratios cutoff points

Nonprofits inappropriately shift

Nonprofits reporting zero fundraising Regression analysis
Krishnan et al. (2006) expenses from fundraising to program
expenses (NCCS 1998) - 4995 organizations Fundraising expenses
services…

Logistic regression 74 percent of nonprofit regulatory

Charities reporting telemarketing to states,
Keating et al. (2008) Fundraising (telemarketing) filings misreport telemarketing
(NCCS 1994–2004) - 4248 organizations
expenses expenses…

Changes in the joint-cost ratio vary

Charities that report joint costs (Maryland Regression analysis
Jones and Roberts (2006) inversely with changes in the direct-
Charitable Organization)- 708 org/years Changes in joint-cost ratio
program ratio…

Avon allocated fundraising costs to

Field study
Tinkelman (2009) Avon Foundation (privately obtained data) programs in order to meet CBBB
Allocations of joint costs
guidelines for fundraising…

Survey and regression Executives admit to managing

Nonprofit managers (hand-collected
Parsons et al. (2012) Reporting of administrative efficiency ratios by adjusting real
survey data) - 238 organizations
expenses transactions…

Hofmann, M. A., & McSwain, D. 2013. Financial disclosure management in the nonprofit sector: A framework for past and
future research. Journal of Accounting Literature, 32:1, 61-87. 26
Wang, R. Z., Ó Hogartaigh, C., & Van Zijl, T. 2008. Measures of accounting conservatism: A construct validity
perspective. Journal of Accounting Literature, 28 , 165-203.
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 Study Method IV DV Sample Key Findings

Stefaniak, C. M., Robertson, J. C., & Houston, R. W. 2009. The causes and consequences of auditor switching: A review
of the literature. Journal of Accounting Literature, 28, 47-121. 28
 Country & findings

*DK = don’t know

Lusardi, A., & Mitchell, O. S. 2014. The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence. Journal of Economic
Literature, 52:1, 5-44.

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 Competing approaches

Merkl-Davies & Brennan, 2007, ‘Discretionary disclosures in corporate narratives: incremental information or impression
management?’ Journal of Accounting Literature, 26: 116-194
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 Sample and findings

Koch, A. S., Lefanowicz, C. E., & Robinson, J. R. (2013). Regulation FD: A review and synthesis of the academic literature.
Accounting Horizons, 27(3), 619-646, p. 628

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 Models for your literature review

In addition to review articles (and completed theses), you can

also get some really good ideas from the literature review
sections of published papers in the top journals.

• But note that these are extremely condensed, and that the
lit review for your thesis will need to be much more
extensive.

A couple of examples of model literature review sections

follow.

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 Competing theories

Cho, Freedman, & Patten, 2012, ‘Corporate disclosure of environmental capital

expenditures: A test of alternative theories’, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability
Journal, 25 : 3, pp.486 - 507

This investigation is relevant because the two theories argue

differing motivations for the choice to disclose environmental
information…
Voluntary disclosure theory (see, e.g. Bewley and Li, 2000; Clarkson
et al., 2008) suggests companies use the information to signal an
unobservable pro-active strategy toward environmental concerns
relative to poorer performing firms,
while legitimacy theory (see, e.g. Cho and Patten, 2007; Deegan,
2002) argues companies use the disclosure as a tool to reduce
exposures to the social and political environment…
prior studies of disclosure provide conflicting results.

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 Examples of reviews

• Even some empirical papers in top journals use tables for their lit
review

Have a look at the comprehensive categories this paper uses:

Armstrong, C. S., Jagolinzer, A. D., & Larcker, D. F. 2010. Chief executive

officer equity incentives and accounting irregularities. Journal of Accounting
Research, 48:2, 225-271

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 Summary of prior literature
Accounting
Primary Equity Unit of Observed
Study Irregularities Research Design Sample
Incentives Proxy Analysis Association
Proxy
Compensation Mix,
Matched pair (year,
Exercisable
Baber, Kang, & industry, exchange, 193 firm-years plus
Options scaled by Restatements CEO None
Liang [2007] assets) logistic matches, 1997–2002
Shares
regression
Outstanding
Option and Bonus
Matched pair (year, Positive for Option
Value scaled by
Harris & Bromiley industry, sales) 434 firm-years plus Value scaled by
Total Restatements CEO
[2007] conditional logistic matches, 1997–2002 Total Compensation
Compensation
regression Value
Value
1,484 firm-years,
Larcker, Abnormal OLS regression,
118 firm-years plus
Richardson, & Compensation Mix Accruals, CEO pooled logistic Positive, none
Tuna [2007]
all other firm-year
Restatements regression
observations,’02-’03
Matched pair (year,
Efendi, Component Value, Restatements, industry, assets) Positive for Option
95 firm-years plus
Srivastava, & Option Intrinsic Severe CEO logistic regression, Intrinsic Value and
Swanson [2007]
matches, 2001–2002
Value, Option Delta Restatements ordered logistic Option Delta
regression
Matched firms
Erickson, Hanlon, Top 5 (year, industry, 50 firm-years plus
Portfolio Delta AAERs None
& Maydew [2006] execs assets) logistic matches, 1996–2003
regression
Matched pair (year,
Top 5 Positive only for
Johnson, Ryan, & Portfolio Delta and industry, revenues) 53 firm-years plus
AAERs execs and incentives related to
Tian [2009] Component Deltas conditional logistic matches, 1992–2001
CEO only unrestricted stock
regression

Armstrong, C. S., Jagolinzer, A. D., & Larcker, D. F. 2010. Chief executive officer equity incentives and accounting irregularities.
Journal of Accounting Research, 48:2, 225-271 35
 Literature Review Criteria

1. Coverage A. Justified criteria for inclusion & exclusion from review

2. Synthesis B. Distinguished what has been done from what needs to be done
C. Placed the topic or problem in the broader scholarly literature
D. Placed the research in the historical context of the field
E. Acquired & enhanced the subject vocabulary
F. Articulated important variables & phenomena relevant to the topic
G. Synthesised & gained a new perspective on the literature

3. Methodology H. Identified the main methodologies & research techniques used

in the field, along with their advantages & disadvantages
I. Related ideas & theories to research methodologies

4. Significance J. Rationalised the practical significance of the research problem

K. Rationalised the scholarly significance of the research problem

5. Rhetoric L. Was written with a coherent clear structure that supported the review
Boote, & Beile. 2005. Scholars before researchers: on the centrality of the dissertation literature review. Educational Researcher. 34: 6, p368.
 Checklist

Does your review-

 show the relationship of your research to the literature

 situate your argument in the literature

 indicate what we already know on your topic, & what we don’t

 identify & explain the significant differences within the literature

 focus only on the literature relevant to your research questions

 classify and synthesise the literature

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 Take away message

Analysis - not description

Always keep the focus on:

• key issues in the research domain, not just the papers

-except if you are extending the work of a specific paper

• how the material relates to your research questions

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