The AAA Reform Club

 

Preamble to Three motions for the AGM of the AAA in Hawaii 2003

 

The AAA Council’s proposed “Statement of Responsibilities” (in response to Enron/Andersen) shows a lamentable lack of leadership by this country’s premier national educational and research institution.   Academics are already on the front-line of public concern regarding conflicts of interest. They not only staffed the Enron boardroom and Audit Committee, but the AAA and the professoriate at many schools are now heavily bankrolled by the ‘Big 5-and-friends’ to such an extent that there must be a prima facie question about “the independence” of much research and teaching.  

The AAA – through its journals and other activities – has spent many years promoting research of dubious merit, at the cost of millions of dollars (even more if the wasted work-hours devoured are considered).   Why hasn’t the AAA Council taken the Enron/Andersen opportunity to call for an investigation into the training and education of the auditors at Andersen and Enron/ GlobalCrossings/etc?   Why not ask the Big 5 to provide information about their annual hiring and promotion practices (what schools do they hire from; how many accounting courses did their recruits actually undergo; what were the educational credentials/ origins of auditors associated with various audit failures?)     Such studies would provide direct "feedback" from practice, to the educational experience.  Who knows:   that much maligned "technician" from the accredited undergraduate program may come out smelling like roses compared with that celebrity of Albrech and Sachs: the multilingual cosmopolitan, urbane "accounting-lite" MBA from an Ivy League school.

Instead of the hypocritical pieties contained in the Councils “Statement of Proposed Responsibilities”, I am asking all AAA members to support the three motions (below), to be placed before the AGM in Hawaii, 2003.  

 

  1. The AAA should publish annually, all support (financial and otherwise) received by AAA, its officers, editors, and editorial board members, from any accounting firm or corporation, in excess of $5000.   (Yes ____,  No._____)

 

  1. The AAA should request that each Big 5 firm publish annually, details of new hires, in terms of schools, years of accounting education, and their entry positions (departmental destinations) within the firm.   (Yes ____,  No._____)

 

  1. In the event of an audit failure, the AAA should request an audit firm to make available to researchers, on request, the educational background of members of the audit team involved. (Yes ____,   No._____)

 

NAME (please print).______________________Signature ____________________

 

AAA membership No. (if known) ________________Date: ______________________

 

AAA members, please complete and mail this form to:

 

Professor Tony Tinker

Baruch College: CUNY Box B12-236

17 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10010

USA