Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
Mandy Cheng, A. Schulz, Peter Luckett, P. Booth (2003)
The Effects of Hurdle Rates on the Level of Escalation of Commitment in Capital BudgetingBehavioral Research in Accounting, 15
Michael Bowen (1987)
The Escalation Phenomenon Reconsidered: Decision Dilemmas or Decision Errors?Academy of Management Review, 12
M. Keil, J. Mann, Arun Rai (2000)
Why Software Projects Escalate: An Empirical Analysis and Test of Four Theoretical ModelsMIS Q., 24
Stephen Salter, A. Schulz, Philip Lewis, J. V. (2008)
Otra Empanada En La Parilla: Examining the Role of Culture and Information Sharing in Chile and AustraliaNew Institutional Economics
Stephen Salter, D. Sharp (2001)
Agency effects and escalation of commitment: do small national culture differences matter?The International Journal of Accounting, 36
G. Northcraft, G. Wolf (1984)
Dollars, Sense, and Sunk Costs: A Life Cycle Model of Resource Allocation DecisionsAcademy of Management Review, 9
C. Chow, Yutaka Kato, Michael Shields (1994)
National culture and the preference for management controls: An exploratory study of the firm—Labor market interface☆Accounting Organizations and Society, 19
D. Sharp, Stephen Salter (1997)
Project Escalation and Sunk Costs: A test of the International Generalizability of Agency and Prospect TheoriesJournal of International Business Studies, 28
Barry Staw (1976)
Knee-deep in the Big Muddy: A study of escalating commitment to a chosen course of action.Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16
D. Kahneman, A. Tversky (1979)
Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk Econometrica 47
G. Hofstede, G. Hofstede, M. Minkov (1991)
Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind
K. Saffu (2003)
The role and impact of culture on South Pacific island entrepreneursInternational Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 9
Robert Rutledge, K. Karim (1999)
The influence of self-interest and ethical considerations on managers evaluation judgments 1 The daFuel and Energy Abstracts
Barry Staw, Jerry Ross (1987)
Behavior in escalation situations: Antecedents, prototypes, and solutions.Research in Organizational Behavior
P. Harrison, A. Harrell (1993)
IMPACT OF 'ADVERSE SELECTION' ON MANAGERS' PROJECT EVALUATION DECISIONSAcademy of Management Journal, 36
Glen Whyte (1986)
Escalating Commitment to a Course of Action: A ReinterpretationAcademy of Management Review, 11
Glen Whyte (1993)
Escalating Commitment in Individual and Group Decision Making: A Prospect Theory ApproachOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 54
Graeme Harrison (1993)
Reliance on accounting performance measures in superior evaluative style — The influence of national culture and personality☆Accounting Organizations and Society, 18
Bernard Wong-On-Wing, Gladie Lui (2007)
Culture, implicit theories and the attribution of moralityBehavioral Research in Accounting, 19
H. Arkes, C. Blumer (1985)
The Psychology of Sunk CostOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 35
A. Tversky, D. Kahneman (1981)
The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice.Science, 211 4481
S. Pan, Gary Pan, M. Newman, D. Flynn (2006)
Escalation and de-escalation of commitment to information systems projects: Insights from a project evaluation modelEur. J. Oper. Res., 173
S. Davis (2006)
The Effect of Obedience Pressure and Perceived Responsibility on Management Accountants' Creation of Budgetary SlackBehavioral Research in Accounting, 18
C. Chow, P. Harrison, T. Lindquist, A. Wu (1997)
Escalating Commitment to Unprofitable Projects: Replication and Cross-Cultural ExtensionManagement Accounting Research, 8
P. Tetlock (1983)
Accountability and the perseverance of first impressions.Social Psychology Quarterly, 46
H. Garland (1990)
Throwing Good Money After Bad: The Effect of Sunk Costs on the Decision to Escalate Commitment to an Ongoing ProjectJournal of Applied Psychology, 75
A. Harrell, P. Harrison (1994)
An incentive to shirk, privately held information, and managers' project evaluation decisionsAccounting Organizations and Society, 19
Christine Denison (2009)
Real Options and Escalation of Commitment: A Behavioral Analysis of Capital Investment DecisionsThe Accounting Review, 84
Mandy Cheng, A. Schulz (2002)
Persistence in Capital Budgeting Reinvestment Decisions - Personal Responsibility Antecedent and Information Asymmetry Moderator: A NoteARN Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Journals
R. Libby, R. Bloomfield, M. Nelson (2001)
Experimental Research in Financial AccountingBehavioral & Experimental Finance eJournal
M. Keil (1995)
ESCALATION OF COMMITMENT IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT: A COMPARISON OF THREE THEORIES., 1995
J. French, B. Raven (1959)
The bases of social power.
J. Rubin, J. Brockner (1975)
Factors affecting entrapment in waiting situations: The Rosencrantz and Guildenstern effect.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31
James Maroney, R. McDevitt (2008)
The Effects of Moral Reasoning on Financial Reporting Decisions in a Post Sarbanes‐Oxley EnvironmentBehavioral Research in Accounting, 20
Joan CheneyMann (2003)
Preventing Runaway IT Projects: Protecting Auditors from Entrapment
Barry Staw, Frederick Fox (1977)
Escalation: The Determinants of Commitment to a Chosen Course of ActionHuman Relations, 30
Alan Lord, F. DeZoort (2001)
The impact of commitment and moral reasoning on auditors' responses to social influence pressureAccounting Organizations and Society, 26
H. Garland, S. Newport (1991)
Effects of absolute and relative sunk costs on the decision to persist with a course of actionOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 48
Jonathan Frank, J. Toland (2002)
Email as a learning technology in the South Pacific: An evaluationJ. Educ. Technol. Soc., 5
Graeme Harrison, Jill McKinnon, S. Panchapakesan, Mitzi Leung (1994)
The Influence of Culture on Organizational Design and Planning and Control in Australia and the United States Compared with Singapore and Hong KongJournal of International Financial Management and Accounting, 5
J. Brockner (1992)
The Escalation of Commitment to a Failing Course of Action: Toward Theoretical ProgressAcademy of Management Review, 17
Purpose – This purpose of this study is to further the study of escalation of commitment by considering the supportive role of accountants in providing reports that favour continuation of unprofitable projects and whether this role is influenced by culture. Research on the escalation of commitment suggests that the decision to commit resources to a failing project is due to several factors that include sunk costs, personal responsibility and culture. Design/methodology/approach – This study employs a between-subjects design to examine accountants’ willingness to provide a report that facilitates continuation of an unprofitable project. The manipulated independent variables are sunk cost (present or absent), the level of reporting responsibility (high or low) and culture (Pacific Islands or Australia). Findings – Our results show that the presence of sunk cost is a motivation for accountants to provide reports that favour continuation of an unprofitable project. The results on cultural difference are also consistent with the contention that culture is influential in decision-making with respect to providing reports that favour continuation of an unprofitable project. We do not, however, find evidence consistent with a personal responsibility affect using the manipulation defined in this study. Research limitations/implications – Consistent with this type of research, the results must be interpreted with respect to the specific design choices used in the experiment. Practical implications – Continued research is needed to examine the impact of sunk costs and specific attributes of culture, such as the willingness to follow superiors, on the escalation of commitment to unprofitable projects. The mitigation of such effects through education of accountants to provide reports that do not favour continuation of unprofitable projects would, for example, be of interest to aid agencies and others investing in projects in developing economies in particular. Originality/value – While previous research generally examines the decision-making role of managers in escalation of commitment to unprofitable projects, this study examines the supportive role that accountants play in facilitating managers’ escalation decisions. This issue is studied within a context examining the potential cultural impact of respect for authority.
Pacific Accounting Review – Emerald Publishing
Published: Nov 10, 2014
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.