The framework outlined in this paper seeks to build on the institutional perspective
of management accounting sketched by Scapens (1994). That paper began with a
rejection of the methodological individualism and atomistic modelling of mainstream
economics, which underlies much of conventional management accounting theory
and research; and then, using the methodological holism of OIE, sought to develop a
view of management accounting as organizational rules and routines. This section
will briefly outline such an institutional perspective and describe the nature of
organizational rules, routines and institutions. The next section will then extend the
perspective to provide an institutional framework for studying management accounting
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