Accounting as a social and institutional practice: perspectives to enrich our understanding of accounting change

Abstract

In the past two decades, a body of literature has developed which depicts accounting as a social and institutional practice. Researchers adopting this perspective typically demonstrate an appreciation for the pervasive and enabling characteristics of accounting and an awareness of the importance of local, time‐specific factors which shape accounting change within particular instances. This work examines this literature and classifies its content using the themes identified by Miller (1994 ). Drawing upon aspects of this literature, the final sections develop a broad, thematic framework to assist researchers in future studies directed at understanding the diverse and complex processes through which changes to the accounting domain can occur.