Accounting research homogeneity: understanding and responding to the forces of conformity

Concerns about the homogenization of accounting research have been expressed over an extended period of time. To understand the factors sustaining the persistence and spread of homogeneity we draw on Sewell’s (1992) development of Giddens (1976, 1979, 1981, 1984) ‘duality of structure’. This highlights the mutually reinforcing relationship between schemas (notions and assumptions that underlie and govern social relations) and resources. Using an institutional isomorphism framework, we demonstrate that accounting research homogeneity extends beyond the US and that Australia, as a case example, is exhibiting patterns consistent with those that emerged in the US in prior decades. We suggest that the structures that shape accounting research are deep, implying that any reversal of homogeneity must be intentional and driven by those who control the ultimate resources and thus have the ability to impact directly the formation (and reformation) of the underlying schemas. In so doing we seek to focus the attention of policy makers on the underlying pressures that predispose the accounting research field toward homogeneity and to provide them with a framework for reform.