Business Commons^™

The Golden Age Of The Economics Of Bureaucracy, Chang-Yeh (Michael) Wu

Theses

The economics of bureaucracy (EOB) is a field of research that emerged from the public choice movement in the mid-1960s through to the early 1970s. It entailed applying traditional economic theories and modelling techniques to study decision-making in non-market hierarchies that are often referred to as bureaucracies. The field was pioneered and codified by Gordon Tullock, Anthony Downs, and William Niskanen in what may be called the ‘golden age’ of EOB. Establishing EOB as a bona fide research domain was a challenging intellectual enterprise due to the absence of a pre-existing conceptual framework to readily model bureaucracies within the economics …

The Commercialist Identity Of Mid-Tier Firm Auditors: A Precarious Balancing Of Priorities, Michael Harber, Gizelle D. Willows

Business Papers and Journal Articles

Purpose: This paper aims to extend our understanding of how mid-tier firm auditors legitimise and institutionalise the logic of commercialism within their profession. This paper is responsive to research that shows how Big Four auditors have restructured the market and re-cast the relationality between the two logics to forge an identity that suits them commercially. Such research provides insight into auditor agency and intentionality, illustrating how auditors maintain and indeed grow their status and role within society.

Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews with audit executives situated in a strategically challenging regulatory context are interpreted through a theoretical framework developed from institutional …

Disputed Interpretations And Active Strategies Of Resistance During An Audit Regulatory Debate, Michael Harber, Grietjie Verhoef, Charl De Villiers

Business Papers and Journal Articles

Purpose: The paper aims to examine disputed interpretations of “key meanings” between the audit regulator and Big 4 firms during a highly contentious regulatory debate, showcasing their use of “strategies of resistance” to achieve their intended outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative analysis is performed of the discourse in a South African audit regulatory debate, set within the country's unique political and historical context. The analysis is informed by the theoretical construct of a “regulatory space” and an established typology of strategic responses to institutional pressures.

Findings: The study’s findings show how resistance to regulatory intentions from influential actors, notably the Big …