An African critical interpretation of the positive theory of accounting of Watts and Zimmerman (1978, 1980, 1986)

The positive theory of accountancy is not new in research in accountancy in developed countries. In fact, it started from the 1960s (Jensen, 1976; Watts and Zimmerman, 1978) and regularly comes up to the scene due to numerous financial scandals of managers nowadays. However, this cannot constitute unanimity. Assumptions at the base of this theory are quickly limited when transposing models to sub–Saharan African countries. In this respect, the objective of this article is to show the difficulties of transposition of the models elaborated in the contexts of developed countries into African countries with different environmental specificities. It is a question of seeking, in a context marked by a strong presence of companies with capital concentrated in the hands of an individual or a family on the one hand and by near absence of money market if not of an embryonic money market, new assumptions that can explain administration options of managers in Africa.