The intellectual structure of international accounting in the early 1990s

This paper derives an intellectual structure of the international accounting literature using co-citation analysis. The structure is found to be fragmented, with a number of areas needing further research to integrate them. The paper identifies the 10 most frequently cited documents. These are predominantly books and standards. It appears that books written by key researchers provide a foundation for the development of related research. The paper also identifies a core literature in international accounting, which focuses on the areas of comparative systems, classification studies, foreign currency, and inflation. By examining the structure and nature of international accounting research in the early 1990s, this study provides insights into the antecedents to contemporary international research. This is useful in assessing how this area of research has developed since then as it creates a benchmark for comparison. The study also contributes to defining the boundaries of the area. Finally, the paper provides a measure of the degree of fragmentation of the international accounting literature and identifies areas that may be integrated through further research.