Economy & Business, Volume 13, 2019

Abstract: This paper explores the process of case research in social studies applicable to the domain of management accounting, with the aim of developing inductive theory. With the goal of providing a guiding framework for case-based research in the context of emerging markets, the paper makes several contributions. Firstly, it focuses on the social nature of management accounting by linking a sociological perspective of management accounting to theoretical research in this domain and to the contemporary understanding of management accounting that is disclosed in frameworks representing the best practices. Secondly, the paper summarizes the wide body of existing literature on case research to distill the relevant components of the case-study research method. Thirdly, this work takes into account emerging markets. This allowed to suggest relevant research strategies and an overall research framework considering the specifics of researchers’ access to collecting data and conducting a study within the limitations that doing research in emerging economies implies.