For years accounting ethics has been viewed as an unimportant adjunct of academic and professional accounting. However, the economic scandals of the early twenty-first century have dramatically nullified this characterisation, with the ruination of investors in Enron, WorldCom, Waste Management, Aldelphia, Tyco and scores of other business concerns raising questions about the adequacy and relevance of academic research into accounting ethics, as well as the ethical nature of professional parties.
Presenting important papers that reassess these theories, research studies and professional practices in the field of accounting ethics, this collection scrutinizes the body of knowledge that did not protect the investing public, and examines the current crisis in the creditability of financial reports.