Qualitative accounting research: special issue introduction

This special issue dedicated to qualitative accounting research shows the commitment of Accounting & Finance to support and publish qualitative research. This introductory piece explains the rationale behind this commitment and recounts the process followed with this special issue, before introducing the papers published in it. The first paper in the special issue, co‐authored by De Villiers, Dumay and Maroun, will be of interest to a large cross‐section of accounting researchers, even those with a quantitative bent, because it dispels some myths around qualitative research, and it sets a research agenda that others may pursue.     

Audit market concentration,audit fees,and audit quality: A cross-country analysis of complex audit clients

Regulators around the world are concerned about the potentially harmful effects of high audit market concentration on audit pricing and quality. However, results in the overall literature have failed to reach consensus on this issue. We contribute to this debate by arguing that the audit market is segmented and that concentration in the Big 4 segment of the market leads to higher audit pricing. Accordingly, our analyses use international data and focus on concentration within the Big 4 group of firms across countries. We find that audit fees are increasing in our concentration measure for clients where the barriers to entry by competing auditors are higher, as proxied by client size, international operations, and IFRS use. Finally, we find evidence that audit quality is decreasing in Big 4 market concentration for these types of engagements. This indicates a wealth transfer from shareholders to audit firms when auditor concentration is high because these complex clients are charged more, but receive audits that are of lower quality.     

Investigating Voluntary Risk Disclosure： The Case of Jordanian Banks

The aim of the study is to investigate whether banks in Jordan are compliant with the International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS） 7 requirement for mandatory disclosure and to find out the extent to which the banks provide voluntary risk disclosures. To achieve the objectives of the study, we collected data from all 15 banks listed on the Amman Stock Exchange for the year ending December 2013. The findings of the study suggest that there is strong compliance with respect to mandatory risk disclosure, as required by IFRS. However, the results generally signal a need for further improvement in the voluntary risk disclosure area, since most of the banks do not provide adequate information that can be of use to stakeholders. We also suggest future avenues of research into the topic to determine progress.     

Relevance of Differences between Net Income based on IFRS and Domestic Standards for European Firms

Net income adjustments resulting from mandatory 2005 IFRS adoption in Europe are value relevant for financial and non‐financial firms. Differences in relevance of the aggregate adjustment and adjustments related to several IFRS standards, for financial and non‐financial firms and across country groups, suggest differences in domestic standards and institutions affect investors’ assessment of the relevance of IFRS accounting amounts. Despite these differences, except for French/German non‐financial firms, investors view net income measured using IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement as more relevant than that measured using domestic standards, which is notable because IAS 39 was highly controversial in Europe.     

征信立法几个重大问题分析——以地方立法为考察对象

我国地方征信立法在费用收取、民事责任、信用报告的效用、数据库的联动等重大问题上存在较大的分歧。为了确保规则有效实施,统一制定全国性的征信规范并对相关重大问题做出统一规定已经刻不容缓。     

The impact of mandatory IFRS adoption on foreign mutual fund ownership: The role of comparability

Proponents of IFRS argue that mandating a uniform set of accounting standards improves financial statement comparability that in turn attracts greater cross-border investment. We test this assertion by examining changes in foreign mutual fund investment in firms following mandatory IFRS adoption in the European Union in 2005. We measure improved comparability as a credible increase in uniformity, defined as a large increase in the number of industry peers using the same accounting standards in countries with credible implementation. Consistent with this assertion, we find that foreign mutual fund ownership increases when mandatory IFRS adoption leads to improved comparability.     

Reporting entity concept: a case study of the failure of principles-based regulation

Since 1990 a key element of Australia's regulatory arrangements has been reliance on a 'principles-based' rule to the effect that all 'reporting entities' should prepare general purpose financial reports (GPFRs) that comply with accounting standards. The concept of reporting entity was defined in terms of whether it was 'reasonable to expect the existence of users' who were dependent on GPFRs for information which will be useful to them when making and evaluating decisions about resource allocation. Australia's differential reporting arrangements are reviewed so as to highlight the extent to which reliance is placed on practitioners to apply the 'reporting entity' rule for entities other than publicly listed corporations or borrowing corporations. Illustrations are provided of how this 'principles-based' rule has been ignored. This experience suggests that there is little reason to expect full observance of a principles-based rule, if reliance is placed upon practitioners to ensure compliance.     

Auditor Conservatism,Asymmetric Monitoring,and Earnings Management*

In this paper, we investigate whether, and how, audit effectiveness differentiation between Big 6 and non‐Big 6 auditors is influenced by a conflict or convergence of reporting incentives faced by corporate managers and external auditors. In so doing, we incorporate into our analysis the possibility that managers self‐select both external auditors and discretionary accruals, using the two stage “treatment effects” model. Our results show that only when managers have incentives to prefer income‐increasing accrual choices are Big 6 auditors more effective than non‐Big 6 auditors in deterring/monitoring opportunistic earnings management. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find Big 6 auditors are less effective than non‐Big 6 auditors when both managers and auditors have incentives to prefer income‐decreasing accrual choices and thus no conflict of reporting incentives exists between the two parties. The above findings are robust to different proxies for opportunistic earnings management and different proxies for the direction of earnings management incentives.