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This study aims to examine the over 60-year evolution of behavioral accounting research (BAR), with the main aim of critically and accurately tracing its past, present and future.

This study used Scopus and Google Scholar databases to collect 2,263 articles of BAR published on relevant accounting journals. Thus, this study used Bibliometrix to provide a temporal overview of articles and a temporally oriented network co-occurrence analysis of BAR topics.

This study retraces the history of BAR since its origins and, also on the basis of triggering events inside (e.g. Nobel Prizes for behavioral economics studies) and outside (e.g. accounting scandals) the academic debate, this study critically discusses the evolution and interconnections of BAR topics. Then, future research is addressed toward main promising avenues, thus integrating recent technological applications into the behavioral accounting experimental designs to improve their external validity, exploring the potential positive effects of professionals’ heuristics in performing accounting tasks under certain environmental conditions, exploiting behavioral accounting frameworks to analyze and improve sustainability reporting and sustainability performance management.

Although BAR is rich of contributions, including subfields and contaminations, it lacks a holistic evaluation of its origins, development and future perspectives. In this vein, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to use a bibliometric analysis to evaluate the evolution of BAR.

This paper examines the ability of those governmental reforms adopted in response to the COVID-19 outbreak to affect earnings management (EM).

The paper focuses on the Italian decision to suspend the recapitalization obligation to guarantee the respect of the going concern’s assumption. By analysing a sample of unlisted entities, this analysis uses different techniques to detect EM before and after the suspension of that obligation.

The results suggest that EM decreased after the decision to suspend recapitalization obligations.

Accounting quality depends on not only accounting standards but also management practices in response to those government measures instituted during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The results are a novelty in the literature. In terms of the institutional theory, they provide evidence of EM decrease, thereby validating the assumption that regulation can enable and empower social actors – particularly their actions – despite the visions of repression and constraint conjured by that concept. Isomorphism theory supports the thesis and results that indicate that EM decreases not only in emerging markets, where corporate governance mechanisms are less able to obstruct EM, but also in the developed countries. Thus, insightful and novel conceptualizations can still be achieved by using institutional theory. Yet the findings also extend agency theory assumptions and demonstrate that also the issuance of less severe regulation can reduce agency costs and, in turn, also EM.

This paper aims to verify whether the integration of sustainability in executive compensation positively affects firms’ non-financial performance and whether corporate governance characteristics enhance the relationship between sustainability compensation and firms’ non-financial performance and to expand the domain of the impact of sustainability on non-financial performance.

This analysis is based on a sample of companies listed on the Milan Italian Stock Exchange from the Financial Times Milan Stock Exchange Index over the 2016–2020 period. Regression analysis was used by using data retrieved from the Refinitiv Eikon database and the sample firms’ remuneration reports.

The findings of this paper show that embedding sustainability in executive compensation positively affects firms’ non-financial performance. The results of this paper also reveal that specific corporate governance features can improve the impact of sustainability on non-financial performance.

This analysis is limited to Italian firms included in the Financial Times Milan Stock Exchange Index; however, the findings are highly significant.

The findings provide regulators with useful insights for considering the integration of sustainability goals into executive remuneration. Another implication is that policymakers should require – at least – listed firms to fulfil specific corporate governance structural requirements. Finally, the findings can provide investors and financial analysts with a greater awareness of the role played by executive remuneration in the long-term value-creation process.

This paper contributes to addressing the relationship among sustainability, remuneration and non-financial disclosure, drawing on the stakeholder–agency theoretical framework and focusing on Italian firms. This issue has received limited attention with controversial results in the literature.

This paper aims to explore how the accounting and management practices of monastic institutions were shaped by their surrounding social, political, geographical and economic environments, as well as religious ideologies, during critical historical periods.

By applying institutional theory and the comparative international accounting history perspective, this study conducts a comparative analysis of archival records from two monasteries, examining how their accounting and managerial practices were influenced by differing institutional logics. The research relies on systematic archival data collection, complemented by secondary sources, to analyze how religious beliefs shaped the accounting and management practices of these institutions and the degree of convergence between the two.

This study found that both monasteries adapted their accounting and management practices to their external environments. San Placido demonstrated resilience amidst disruptions such as wars and earthquakes, while Silos showed financial sophistication through diverse income streams. The resilience of these institutions was driven by their ability to align internal operations with external political, economic and social factors. This adaptability, coupled with strategic management, enhanced their capacity to maintain financial stability, illustrating the direct link between external changes, organizational resilience and improved financial health.

This study highlights the historical interplay between religious principles and accounting management practices in Benedictine monasteries by comparing two monasteries. It reveals how external environments shape internal operations, showcasing the resilience and adaptability of these institutions in maintaining financial sustainability through the alignment of external pressures with internal resilience mechanisms, which in turn bolster their financial health.

This research contributes valuable insights to historical managerial and accounting literature, shedding light on the financial resilience and strategies used by Benedictine monasteries. It underscores the enduring respectful legacy of their accounting practices and the unique interplay between spiritual devotion and organizational structure within these institutions.