The purpose of this paper is to introduce counterfactual analysis and reasoning to the study of accounting history. The counterfactual focus is the institutionalisation of public…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce counterfactual analysis and reasoning to the study of accounting history. The counterfactual focus is the institutionalisation of public accountancy in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a counterfactual research design using Ferguson and Bunzl and asks a “what if” question of an event of importance to accounting historians in order to create a plausible counterfactual outcome that is grounded in rationality and causal analysis. The specific counterfactual question relates to the royal charter granted to public accountants practicing in Edinburgh in 1854. The counterfactual outcome is compared to the actual timeline of public accountancy institutionalisation in the UK.
Findings
The “alternative” history reveals uncertainties that confronted public accountants in the past and provides a basis for suggesting that the current fractured and inefficient state of institutionalised public accountancy in the UK has its origins at least partially in the 1854 royal charter. It also suggests that attempts to register and unify public accountants in the UK have been hindered by nineteenth century royal charters.
Research limitations/implications
The study argues that counterfactual analysis is a useful historical tool with which to understand the consequences of historical decisions made in the professional project of British public accountancy. In addition, the study reveals the potential for counterfactual analysis to illumine the consequences of decisions in other areas of accounting and auditing history.
Originality/value
This study is the first counterfactual analysis in the accounting history literature and therefore provides a template for further studies and improved research design.
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Naveed Yasin, Khalid Hafeez and Aidin Salamzadeh
This paper responds to several calls for a cross-national comparative study of immigrant entrepreneurship throughout the longstanding discourse of this phenomenon. This study aims…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper responds to several calls for a cross-national comparative study of immigrant entrepreneurship throughout the longstanding discourse of this phenomenon. This study aims to comparatively analyze the nature of immigrant enclave entrepreneurship among one immigrant community across three different jurisdictional contexts (UK, Denmark and Norway) based on comparative ethnographic methods of inquiry.
Design/methodology/approach
The data was collected in person from April 2022 to June 2023 by the researchers to identify the similarities and differences of migrant entrepreneurial activities in three immigrant enclaves (Manchester, Oslo and Copenhagen). Comparative ethnographic narrative analysis methods and template analysis approaches were combined to analyze interviews, observations and secondary published data.
Findings
This study examines spatiality, sectoral occupation and market orientation for comparative analysis. Through detailed analysis, it uncovers the spatiality and nuances in market demands and sectoral similarities across diverse regulatory environments. Notably, it identifies traditional migrant sectoral occupations shared across regions and its relevance to immigrant enclaves.
Originality/value
This scholarly contribution explores immigrant entrepreneurship in various national contexts, emphasising their engagement in neglected and low-value sectors within immigrant enclaves. The study addresses the influence of the host economy’s conditions on immigrant entrepreneurs, impacting their strategic orientation and the extent of their “embeddedness”. It responds to the theoretical gap in immigrant entrepreneurship literature by conducting a cross-national investigation across countries, extending the comparative dimension to Norway and Denmark. The research employs a unique design focusing on a specific immigrant group and emphasizes spatial contexts, sectoral proliferation and market orientation within immigrant enclaves, offering insights into the mixed embeddedness perspective and the broader environmental forces shaping migrant entrepreneurial activities in the UK and Scandinavia.
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This study aims to explore sexist codes in the creative departments of Chilean advertising agencies, where women represent only 4.7% of all creatives.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore sexist codes in the creative departments of Chilean advertising agencies, where women represent only 4.7% of all creatives.
Design/methodology/approach
This study provides new insights into the experiences of women in advertising through 18 in-depth interviews with Chilean creative women.
Findings
The results show that gender discrimination begins in universities, where male professors are often the same people who hire creative talent into the advertising agencies and prefer men, which continues throughout women’s careers.
Originality/value
While there are numerous studies of advertising creative women in North American and European agencies, there are few on creative women in South American and virtually none on creative women in Chilean agencies.
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Hasan Ghura, Xiaoqing Li and Arezou Harraf
The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that illustrates how resource-based countries, such as those in the Gulf Cooperation Council, can move their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that illustrates how resource-based countries, such as those in the Gulf Cooperation Council, can move their economies towards a more sustainable diversified model, through creating and fostering institutions that are conducive for opportunity entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
Several key variables pertaining to formal and informal institutions which impact opportunity entrepreneurship are presented in a conceptual framework based on a comprehensive, non-systematic literature review.
Findings
Findings from the comprehensive literature review suggest that institutions play a moderating role between opportunity entrepreneurship and economic development. Institutions can stimulate entrepreneur’s behaviour leading to economic growth and subsequently development. Proposals worth pursuing in empirical studies in the future are presented based on the review of the literature.
Practical implications
This framework offers a model for oil-based countries in resolving structural problems in fostering entrepreneurship when responding to economic challenges.
Originality/value
The proposed framework in this study takes into consideration a comprehensive set of formal and informal institutional factors, rarely discussed in the existing literature, that link opportunity entrepreneurship and economic growth and development. Insights offered by this study have implications for government policy changes in developing effective institutions.
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The purpose of this study is to particularly define the usability regarding interface of digital library Web site. It discusses the multi-dimensional constructs of usability and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to particularly define the usability regarding interface of digital library Web site. It discusses the multi-dimensional constructs of usability and methods applied in the evaluation of the usability of digital library Web site interface. The Usability of HEC National Digital Library Web site interface is measured in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, a qualitative approach, that is, focus group technique, is used. This study includes eight members in the focus group. These members were MA students from the Department of Information Management, University of the Punjab Lahore.
Findings
Usability evaluation was made by using effectiveness, efficiency, learnability and satisfaction constructs. It also discovers the opinion of focus group members on the “ease of use”, “organization of information”, “terminology and labeling”, “visual attractiveness” and “mistake recovery”. “Click cost” is particularly examined.
Originality/value
No usability study has been conducted in Pakistan about the National Digital Library of HEC. This library is a very important source of electronic content for academic community. This study will explore the usability evaluation, problems faced by users and solutions to solve these problems.