1st Edition

The Routledge Handbook of Accounting Ethics

Edited By Eileen Z. Taylor, Paul F. Williams Copyright 2021
    440 Pages 15 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    440 Pages 15 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The perspective of this book is to present "ethics" as a conversation about how we decide what is good or bad, right or wrong. It is a collection of conversations employed by educators to assist accounting students in developing their understanding of accounting's ethical aspects and to help them develop into critical thinkers who consider the ethical complexities of the function of accounting in human society.

    Because we are social beings, ethics is a central human concern, since it involves determining the ethicality of human actions and their effect on other individuals, as well as determining the collective societal acceptance or rejection of an action. Thus, the book’s primary goal is to call attention to the intersectionality of accounting and ethics and to encourage students and researchers to consider the ethical implications of accounting decisions. The book contains a diversity of perspectives within which discussions of accountants' and accounting's ethical responsibilities may occur. The contributing authors were deliberately chosen for their diverse perspectives on whence moral guidance for accounting may come. Each chapter stands on its own and represents the thinking of its authors. The book is not a primer on correct behavior for accountants but a place where educators may spur the conversation along.

    List of figures

    List of tables

    List of contributors

    Introduction

    Eileen Z. Taylor and Paul F. Williams

    Part 1 Historical Perspectives on Business and Accounting Ethics

    1 History of Professional Accounting Ethics

    Diane H. Roberts

    2 Historical Development of the Code of Ethics of the US Public Accounting Profession

    Richard Charles Baker

    3 In Our Time: Accountant Ethics and Historical Relativity

    Timothy J. Fogarty

    Part 2 Alternative Perspectives for Thinking About Accounting Ethics

    4 Virtue Ethics and the Accounting Profession

    Marc Peter Neri

    5 Habermas and Discourse Ethics

    Larita J. Killian

    6 Stories and Accounting Ethics

    Sara Reiter

    7 Feminism and Ethics in Accounting: Emancipatory Perspectives

    Cheryl R. Lehman

    Part 3 Religious Perspectives on Accounting Ethics

    8 Use of Stories in the Jewish Talmud to Emphasize Substance over Form

    Dov Fischer and Hershey H. Friedman

    9 A Christian Accounting Ethic: God’s Image and Work Transform Our Image and Work

    Martin Stuebs and John M. Thornton

    10 Human Accountability and Divine Grace in the Qur’an Perceived Through an Accounting Perspective

    Athar Murtuza, Khalid R. Al-Adeem, and Mary B. Curtis

    Part 4 Topical Perspectives on Accounting Ethics

    11 Ethics in Auditing

    Georgios Papachristou and Michalis Bekiaris

    12 Promoting a Stronger Ethical Focus in Management Accounting Research and Practice

    Wioleta Olczak and Robin W. Roberts

    13 Development and Analysis of Three Sustainability Initiatives

    Robert Bloom

    14 Governmental Accounting Ethics: Providing Accountability to Maintain the Public Trust

    Patrick T. Kelly

    15 Ethics and Accounting Information Systems

    Richard B. Dull and Lydia F. Schleifer

    16 Blockchain Technology in Accounting Information Systems: Intended and Unintended Consequences

    Robin R. Pennington

    17 Ethical Considerations of Corporate Tax Avoidance: Diverging Perspectives from Different Stakeholders

    Nathan C. Goldman and Christina M. Lewellen

    18 Personal Tax Compliance: Ethical Decision making in the Tax Context

    Jonathan Farrar, Dawn W. Massey, and Linda Thorne

    Part 5 Education and Accounting Ethics

    19 The Role of Practical Wisdom in Accounting Ethics Education

    Steven M. Mintz and William F. Miller

    20 Ethics in Higher Education

    Christine Cheng, Kristy Schenck, and Renee Flasher

    21 Have Advanced Degrees Increased Ethical Professionalism for Auditors?

    Francine McKenna

    22 A Business Practitioner’s Guide to Resolving Moral Dilemmas: Employing a Location Map to Define Boundaries of Permissible Behavior

    Michael Alles and Michael Kraten

    Part 6 Ethical Accountants and Ethical Accounting

    23 An Examination of the Virtues of Accounting Exemplars

    Patrick T. Kelly, Timothy J. Louwers, and John M. Thornton

    24 Investigating the Ethical Implications of Whistleblowing within Accounting

    Phebian Davis, Amy M. Donnelly, and Robin R. Radtke

    25 The Boundary Problem in a Surveillance Society: Moving Beyond Individual Ethics and Compliance

    Louella Moore

    26 A Survey of Diversity Ethics in the Accounting Profession

    Margarita Maria Lenk

    Index

    Biography

    Eileen Z. Taylor, PhD, CPA, CFE, is a professor of accounting in the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University. Her teaching and research focus on whistleblowing, ethics, and data security.

    Paul F. Williams, PhD, is a professor of accounting in the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University. His scholarly interests include accounting ethics, theory, and critical perspectives in accounting.

     

     

    "Trading upon their professional accounting status, four massive firms (the Big Four) audit and advise the world’s most powerful institutions (corporations and governments). However, they have not always acted in the public interest, so this work, which is directly concerned with accounting ethics, is of extreme contemporary importance." — Professor Christine Cooper, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

    "This comprehensive book offers the reader a unique and wide-ranging perspective on making ethical decisions in accounting. It is an essential resource for anyone who wishes to understand the ethical implications of accounting decisions." — Mitchell Stein, Associate Professor, Managerial Accounting and Control, Ivey Business School, Western University