Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling is an approach to structural equation modeling (SEM) that has been in use for many years in the field of psychology and the social sciences, including many business disciplines such as marketing (e.g. Fornell and Bookstein, 1982) and information systems (e.g. Chin,1998b).
Studies utilizing PLS as a method for model estimation and testing routinely appear in leading
information systems journals, as well as in leading multi-disciplinary business journals.
However, despite frequent use of this technique in other business disciplines, the accounting discipline has been slower in its general acceptance of PLS and other SEM modeling techniques.