Confirmation bias in accounting judgments: the case for International Financial Reporting Standards for small and medium-sized enterprises

We conduct an experiment that investigates confirmation bias in the reporting judgments of accountants when applying International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The results indicate that accountants’ judgments are biased towards the recognition and measurement principles of full IFRS when applying IFRS for SMEs. The results also suggest that confirmation bias in judgments can be mitigated by increasing accountants’ awareness of justification requirements and by using appropriate decision aids. These results are likely to be of interest to the 70-plus countries that have adopted the SME standard and countries that continue to contemplate its adoption.     

差错汇报是福是祸?员工差错汇报的多重后效探究

犯错在工作中并不鲜见。在犯错之后,员工常担心揭露自我差错会带来消极影响,从而更倾向于掩盖差错。但是,汇报自我差错是否一定带来消极影响呢?本研究构建了差错汇报的多重后效模型,从三个方面分析差错汇报的影响效果。具体地,本研究提出差错汇报可以通过降低员工的反刍和焦虑感,从而提升工作满意度;差错汇报虽然会降低领导对下属的能力评价,从而降低领导信任,但差错汇报同样会提高领导对下属的正直评价,进而提高领导信任;差错汇报还可以提高成员反思,促进团队反思氛围建立,进而提升团队任务绩效和团队创造力。差错严重性反映了所犯差错可能带来的后果,会作为重要的边界条件进一步影响上述关系。通过对差错汇报多重后效模型的构建,本研究有助于形成对个体差错汇报影响效果的系统把握,也为员工在工作中出现差错后的应对方式提供参考。     

央行履职视角下我国征信业管理热点问题分析

随着互联网金融和金融科技等创新场景的不断涌现和市场对征信服务的需求日益高涨,征信市场出现的新业态、新形式、新需求对中国人民银行征信服务与管理职能的履行提出了新的挑战。挑战主要表现为企业征信机构违规经营、征信系统“曲线接入”并引发投诉、征信信息主体权益保护有待提升等。基于此,从履职视角提出如下建议:中国人民银行应继续强化“建立覆盖全社会征信系统”的目标定位,以信用立法助推国家治理体系和治理能力现代化,确保征信机构评级活动的依法合规,强化征信业务活动的真实性监管,依法提高接入机构的广覆盖,以内控为抓手强化个人信息保护。     

A journey towards a safe harbour: The rhetorical process of the International Integrated Reporting Council

This paper investigates the rhetoric deployed by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) to legitimise itself and Integrated Reporting (<IR>) and establish its ideology. We draw on Aristotle's rhetorical appeals – ethos, logos, and pathos – and the rhetorical theory of diffusion to conduct a rhetorical analysis of the IIRC's initial documents. Our findings demonstrate how the IIRC's rhetorical strategies serve to: authorise and moralise the IIRC's actions through ethos and pathos; contrast certain social interests and privilege a capitalist ideology through logos; and establish and maintain the IIRC's authority in a way that reflects the interests of the financial community and investors, again, through ethos. We demonstrate how the IIRC has strategically used rhetoric to gain support and develop its authority by contrasting and resisting competing ideological pressures. We also show how a capitalist ideology emerged from this struggle as the shaping force behind <IR> at the cost of marginalising wider social interests. Examining the IIRC's rhetorical process contributes to understanding the ideological struggle surrounding <IR> and enriches our empirical understanding of the ideological turn of rhetorical strategies. Our study contributes to theory and practice by advancing knowledge on the rhetorical strategies that shape and establish dominant ideologies in accounting practice.     

Exploring the connections among CSR performance,reporting, and external assurance: Evidence from the hospitality and tourism industry

This study explores the connections among corporate social responsibility performance, reporting, and external assurance in the hospitality and tourism industry by incorporating the Global Reporting Initiative framework. The originality of the study is that it tests signaling theory and the greenwashing tendency by examining different facets of corporate social responsibility engagement using a holistic approach with a cross-country sample. The data for the study were derived from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database for the years between 2012 and 2018. A panel data analysis with a Random-Effects estimator was run to test the hypothesized associations. Several conclusions were drawn based on the study. First, higher corporate social responsibility performers among hospitality and tourism companies have a higher propensity to publish corporate social responsibility reports. Second, higher corporate social responsibility achievements are a significant driving force behind the Global Reporting Initiative framework adoption. Third, among corporate social responsibility reporters, higher corporate social responsibility performers are more likely to assure their corporate social responsibility reports externally. Fourth, among corporate social responsibility reporters, Global Reporting Initiative framework adopters are more likely to assure their corporate social responsibility reports externally. Overall, the results verified the signaling theory but reject a greenwashing tendency in the hospitality and tourism sector. The proven links among the four dimensions of CSR incorporated into the study models indicate complementarity among the indicators. Besides, it should be noted that there is still a gap for improvement, particularly for non-corporate social responsibility reporters and for non-Global Reporting Initiative adopters.     

The selection,use, and reporting of control variables in international business research: A review and recommendations

This study explores the selection, use, and reporting of control variables in studies published in the leading international business (IB) research journals. We review a sample of 246 empirical studies published in the top five IB journals over the period 2012–2015 with particular emphasis on selection, use, and reporting of controls. Approximately 83% of studies included only half of what we consider Minimum Standard of Practice with regards to controls, whereas only 38% of the studies met the 75% threshold. We provide recommendations on how to effectively identify, use and report controls in IB studies.     

Reporting accountant appointments and accounting restatements: Evidence from UK private companies

In recent years, regulators have exempted an increasing number of companies from the requirement to appoint auditors, yet little is known about the role of the accounting profession in preparing and validating the financial statements of unaudited companies. In this paper, we examine empirically the factors associated with the appointment of reporting accountants. We then provide novel evidence on whether unaudited UK small private companies are less likely to restate their annual accounts when they have been prepared by an external accountancy firm (i.e., a reporting accountant). Based on a cross sectional analysis of a large sample of small private unaudited UK companies, we find that, in accordance with the ‘confirmation hypothesis’, larger companies that voluntarily disclose more financial information are more likely to appoint a reporting accountant. We also find that the accounts of companies with a reporting accountant are significantly less likely to be restated than those without. This result is more pronounced for companies disclosing more financial information and for those employing a larger accounting firm. Given the dwindling number of private companies opting for audits, our findings contribute to debates on the role of the accounting profession in enhancing private company financial reporting quality.     

Introduction: Quality of Life Indicators

Economic growth has increased the potential for a materially more fulfilling life. But economic growth has a price: it undermines the contributions of households, communities, and nature, on which all economic activity depends. How can we make visible, in economic terms, the qualities that are lost as a consequence of excessive economic activity? In the spirit of these critical discussions, Feminist Economics has initiated this issue's exploration of quality of life: Which aspects of life do economists regard as essential to the concept? What can we learn from disciplines whose traditions of quality of life research are older than ours? The ten articles that follow suggest, in the brief form allowed by the format, a number of different ways to approach these questions.