Big Data, Accounting and International Development: Trends and challenges

Abstract

This article aims to show how the Big Data techniques application in accounting to monitor international cooperation projects are a green-field in the academic world. To obtain an exhaustive vision of the state of the art in academic research in this field, a bibliometric analysis has been carried out, based on multiple Web of Science searches, with focus on international development, Big Data and accounting, adding the holistic vision of the 17 SDGs or “Sustainable Development Goals” of the UN Agenda 2030. Research on Big Data, international development and accounting is a new field that has started in 2015 although academic literature is still scarce. Publications related to SDGs also begin on that date, but with much more prolific academic literature, without explicit references to the use of Big Data in accounting. The article finds deficiencies in existing academic research compared to other enterprise fields in which Big Data techniques are much more developed, and international organization reports lead this line of research, as opposed to the scholarly world. The main practical implication derived from the paper is the need to deepen in real cases of use outside the academic sphere as a starting point to develop this line of research. The development of this research area will help NPOs and governments to have a better accounting to evaluate the impact of their initiatives and cooperation projects. In addition to the bibliometric techniques used for the analysis of main publications, authors and relevant topics focused on this area of study, the authors consider a challenge and an opportunity to take the plunge into this field from academic world, which will undoubtedly improve decision-making in international development, emphasizing the need to gain momentum given the current state of greenfield.