BU Research Blog

Academics from eleven UK universities converged at the Executive Business Centre (EBC), Bournemouth University, on Thursday 18th September, 2014 to discuss research in accounting and finance in emerging economies. This was the 12th meeting of the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) (Research in Accounting and Finance in Emerging Economies (AFEE) Special Interest Group) since it was founded six years ago.
The international conference which was hosted by the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, part of the Business School, welcomed 35 participants from universities such as Royal Holloway (University of London), University of Essex, University of Sussex, University of Huddersfield, University of Plymouth, University of Southampton and Makerere University (Uganda).
Delegates to the conference were welcomed by Professor Steve Letza who is a professor of corporate governance within the Business School. He wished the delegates well in their deliberations and also asked delegates to walk around the Lansdowne Campus to see more of what Bournemouth University has to offer.
The guest speaker for the conference was Professor Chris Napier from Royal Holloway, University of London, who spoke on ‘Historical Accounting Research in Emerging Economies’. Among others, he highlighted the need for such research but also warned of the difficulties with that kind of research given that historical records in accounting often do not exist in emerging economies.
A total of seven papers were presented and each presentation was followed by a discussant who highlighted the merits of the paper and also gave suggestions for improving the paper. The delegates, especially the PhD students, were highly appreciative of the inclusion of the discussant for the first time since the inception of the AFEE Special Interest Group.
Apart from the conference deliberations the delegates were very complimentary about the quality of the venue (EBC, 7th Floor). Above all there were really surprised to learn that the venue is dedicated to our MBA students as their respective universities do not have facilities for the sole use of MBA students.