Approaches to managerial accounting in brazilian periodicals

Abstract

Managerial Accounting is understood by the plurality of concepts and encompasses different theoretical, epistemological and methodological perspectives in the investigation of its phenomena. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze Brazilian studies that have adopted the Managerial Accounting scope. A search was carried out with the term Managerial Accounting in the title, abstract and / or keywords of articles published in periodicals indexed in the Scientific Periodicals Electronic Library (SPELL) database, which resulted in a sample of 102 articles after refinements in the selection process. The meta-interpretation of the contents analyzed shows that theoretical and methodological multidisciplinarity does not predominate in the area yet, few studies have adopted theoretical, methodological perspectives and differentiated analysis lenses. The community of researchers has few influential actors, who approach different problems and epistemological trajectories and use different methodologies. It is observed that, over time, there is an increase of qualitative researches and with greater methodological rigor, besides an evolution in the subjects investigated. The initial publications, mainly from 1998 to 2004, provided a theoretical basis on concepts of Management Accounting, while the most recent, especially those published as of 2010, focused on theoretical-empirical research in the area. Based on the research carried out, it is observed the necessary to pay attention to: (i) improve the identification of research gaps and the contributory justification of the studies; (ii) adopt theories from different fields of knowledge that can effectively substantiate the studies; (iii) to increase in the conclusions the highlight of the theoretical and practical implications of the study; and (iv) further explore the limitations of the study and the directions of future research.