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Readings in Accounting for Management Control pp 232–265Cite as

The role of budgetary information in performance evaluation

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Abstract

This paper provides a review of studies that focus on the use of budgetary information in performance evaluation. Our survey shows that studies have recognized that this information is used in a variety of ways. In addition, various psychological and behavioural effects of alternative uses as well as factors that give rise to a particular use have been identified. Notwithstanding this breadth of analysis, a critical review of the literature shows that in recent years theoretical development has been piecemeal, and there are instances of selective referencing and an uncritical acceptance of theory statements in related literature. More generally, theoretical development has taken a secondary role to an emphasis on statistical analysis. Further, recent empirical studies tend to be method-driven in their selection of relevant phenomena and, in addition, include several characteristics that cause an uncoupling of the connection between theory statements and empirical tests. The present review interprets these limitations as providing opportunities for future research.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Accounting, University of New South Wales, Australia

    Michael Briers & Mark Hirst

Authors
  1. Michael Briers
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  2. Mark Hirst
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Glasgow, UK

    Clive Emmanuel

  2. University of Lancaster, UK

    David Otley

  3. University of Southern California, USA

    Kenneth Merchant

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© 1990 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Briers, M., Hirst, M. (1990). The role of budgetary information in performance evaluation. In: Emmanuel, C., Otley, D., Merchant, K. (eds) Readings in Accounting for Management Control. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7138-8_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7138-8_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-412-41490-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7138-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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