Supply and demand for European accounting research. Evidence from EAA congresses

Abstract

We study the supply and demand for European accounting research, referring to author nationality and the country origin of the data to define research as ‘European’. We study both the supply (conference proceedings) and the demand (published papers) for European research. To assess the supply side, we study all papers presented at the 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2005 EAA congresses. Out of the total 1622 papers, 257 (16%) are European, with an increase after 2000. We find that European papers are more often co-authored than local papers. 50% of the European papers are in Financial Accounting (vs. 35% for local papers, 57% for other papers); 46% use the empirical archival methodology (vs. 33% for local papers and 48% for other papers). Out of the 158 European papers presented at the 1998, 2000 and 2002 EAA congresses, 55 (34%) have been published by 2006. As expected, the EAR is the major outlet for European papers, closely followed by British and US journals. The number of co-authors and their nationality are the only significant variables associated with the likelihood of publication. This study furthers understanding of the ongoing construction of the European accounting research community, by studying not only published papers, but also conference proceedings.Accounting research; Co-authorship; Bibliometry; European Research; EAA; Publication