TRACING THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF ACCOUNTING: A HALF-CENTURY REVIEW (1975–2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62737/eepce158Keywords:
Positive Accounting Theory, Normative Theory, Behavioural Accounting, Digital Accounting, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Transparency.Abstract
In the past fifty years (1975–2025), accounting theory has changed a lot because of the combined influence of the economy, human behaviour, ethics, institutions and technology. This study provides a comprehensive review and critical analysis of the historical development of accounting theories and traces their transformation from prescriptive and normative approaches to empirical, behavioural and sustainability-oriented paradigms. The study shows that accounting ideas have grown step by step, but are still connected. In the late 20th century, Positive Accounting Theory was the main focus. Later, Institutional and Behavioural views developed to handle problems in corporate governance. In the 21st century, new ideas like Sustainability Accounting and Digital Accounting became more important. The study shows that modern accounting theory includes many different ideas and approaches. It focuses on ethical responsibility, social trust and openness through technology. However, there are still gaps in bringing together ethics, sustainability and digital change into one complete framework. The paper concludes that the future of accounting theory depends on combining knowledge from different fields such as economics, data science, behavioural psychology and environmental ethics to build a well-rounded and global foundation for accounting practice.
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