Does Industry Matter? How Industry Context Shapes Management Accounting Practice

Abstract

The essay raises the question whether industry matters for management accounting practice and, if so, how this type of context can be accounted for in empirical work. To this end, I first explain what I mean by ‘industry context’ and in which sense organizational practice can be regarded as industry specific. In a second step, I discuss how the extant management accounting literature has incorporated industry effects. In particular, I highlight variation within these studies with respect to (1) the kind of industry specifics they have focused on; (2) the effects on management accounting they have identified; and (3) the empirical approach they have taken. In each case, I suggest opportunities for further research.

Keywords: industry specifics, context, management accounting, management accountants

JEL Classification: M41