问责制理论研究综述

问责制是基于委托代理关系的制度安排,它要求代理人必须积极回应并满足委托人的基本要求。本文在委托代理理论基础上,对问责制相关文献进行了解读,从问责主客体、问责类型和问责激励效果三大层面对问责制成果进行了归纳和评价,对我国问责制理论体系的构建具有一定理论价值和实践意义。     

Corporate Governance: Factors Influencing Voluntary Disclosure by Publicly Traded Canadian Firms*

We report on the comprehensiveness of voluntary corporate governance disclosures in the annual reports and management information circulars of Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) firms. We focus on disclosure of the corporate governance practices implemented by our sample of TSE 300 firms vis‐à‐vis the 14 guidelines set out in the TSE's report on corporate governance Where Were the Directors? Our analysis indicates that only a very few firms disclose that they have fully implemented the TSE guidelines, and that the extent of disclosure of corporate governance practices implemented varies widely among the firms. We then test factors associated with the comprehensiveness of such disclosures and the choice of disclosure medium using simultaneous equations multivariate analysis. We also assess the influence of publicized corporate governance failures on disclosure. Overall, our results suggest that the choices of disclosure medium and the extent of disclosure are made concurrently, and are influenced by the strategic considerations of management.     

Does the financial analysts' usage of non-financial information influence the analysts' forecast accuracy? Some evidence from the Belgian sell-side financial analyst

This paper examines whether the use of non-financial information by sell-side financial analysts influences the accuracy of analysts’ forecasts. The research findings, based on a survey of Belgian financial analysts, suggest that financial analysts who use more forward-looking information and more internal-structure information offer more accurate forecasts. Furthermore, the listed Belgian firms examined in this study have improved their non-financial information reporting over time. However, neither the frequency nor the quantity of non-financial information mentioned by financial analysts in their reports appears to have increased over time.     

基于风险控制的高校经济责任审计流程初探

高校经济责任审计随着高校规模的扩大和经济活动的频繁和复杂显得越来越重要.鉴于内部审计的特殊性,经济责任审计还存着着诸多问题,其中由于审计流程不规范引起的审计风险不容忽视.论文从规范高校领导干部经济责任审计流程入手,结合高校经济责任审计的现状和问题,分析审计各阶段的审计风险,提出完善审计流程的方案和防范审计风险的措施.     

高校内部领导干部经济责任审计的审与责

近年来,高校内部领导干部经济责任审计在规范管理、提高绩效、干部评价、廉政建设等方面发挥了重要作用.针对当前经济责任审计面临的形势和问题,如何更好地把握经济责任审计的实质,满足高校内部管理对经济责任审计的需求,本文结合工作实际,谈谈高校内部领导干部经济责任审计的审与责.     

Annual Reporting and Accountability by Municipalities in Canada: An Empirical Investigation*

Prior research regarding reporting and accountability by local governments in several countries has questioned the value of traditional annual reporting and the level of accountability to the public. This article reports on comparable research for local governments throughout Canada. The disclosure index methodology is used to evaluate the quality and quantity of information published in the annual reports and in the financial statements of Canadian local governments in 2003 with a comparison in 2005. Although all municipalities published audited financial statements, less than one‐third of municipalities published a comprehensive annual report in 2003. The results show an overall low disclosure index with significant improvements in 2005 compared to 2003 and significant differences across the country. The results, largely consistent with previously published international studies, raise questions about local government accountability and about the conceptual framework for local government reporting.     

Factors Influencing Corporate Environmental Disclosures

We investigate the effectiveness of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a not‐for‐profit organization that facilitates environmental disclosures of firms with institutional investors, thereby serving as a corporate governance mechanism for shareholders to influence the firm's environmental disclosures. We examine firm characteristics associated with firms' decisions to disclose carbon‐related information via the CDP for a sample of 319 Canadian firms over a four‐year period. In particular, we examine how firms' decisions to disclose via CDP are associated with shareholder activism, litigation risk, and the opportunity for low‐cost positive publicity once requested by the firms' “signatory” investors. Our results also show that management's decision to release climate change data is associated with domestic, but not foreign, signatory investors. We also find that disclosing firms tend to be those from lower polluting industries with less exposure to litigation risk. This suggests that this new form of coordinated shareholder activism may not be successful at altering the behavior of firms that are heavier polluters.     

受托责任及其评价指标体系研究

新会计准则提出的财务报告目标之一是反映企业管理层受托责任履行情况,但企业管理层受托责任具体有哪些以及如何评价尚未明确。本文根据利益相关者理论和实际案例,界定了企业管理层受托责任对象及内容,并提出受托责任评价体系。     

The Life and Death of the Canadian Contingent Gains and Losses Accounting Standards Project*

In April 1994, the Canadian Accounting Standards Board formally approved a new accounting standard for contingent gains and losses. The new standard would have increased the frequency of recording contingent losses, enabled the accrual of some contingent gains, and enhanced disclosures for all contingencies. The changes would primarily have been achieved by requiring management, and their legal advisers, to make predictions, estimates, and disclosures that the existing accounting standard enabled them to avoid. Over two years later, and following numerous changes to the implementation date, the board ultimately decided not to release the new standard, and in July 1999, formally abandoned the contingencies project. This study provides a telling of the standard's genesis, development, and ultimate demise, which should prove instructive to those parties with an interest and a stake in accounting standard setting.     

Annual reporting disclosures 1970-90: an exemplification

This case study examines the annual report disclosures in a UK listed company, Bulmers, from 1970 to 1990. While mandatory disclosure increased sharply, primarily because of the 1981 Companies Act, the even steeper increase in voluntary disclosure was part of a wide-ranging package of measures which Bulmers' chairman, Peter Prior, introduced to reflect a new corporate philosophy. In 1974, Bulmers provided a statement of company objectives, the first known British example, a year before this practice was recommended in The Corporate Report (Accounting Standards Steering Committee, 1975). In 1982, Esmond Bulmer MP introduced a Private Member's Bill on employee consultation and information, the basic aims of which were eventually enshrined in the 1985 Companies Act.     

The Nature and Extent of Contemporary 'Audits' of Directors' Reports

Obligations on auditors to 'audit' directors'reports are different in the U.K., U.S.A. and Australia. This study deals with current practices and attitudes of auditors in Australia in relation to the audit of directors'reports contained in the Annual Report of listed companies. The majority of auditors responding to a questionnaire indicated that they do 'audit' directors' reports, but there was no consensus on the extent of the work done or whether it should be a statutory requirement.     

Accountability in a Free-Market Economy: The British Company Audit, 1886

The relative merits of market forces compared with regulations as the more efficient mechanism for ensuring adequate accountability from business (and non-business) organizations is a subject of keen debate. Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century is regularly cited as an example of how the market will ensure adequate accountability in the absence of regulatory requirements. There is a great deal of speculation but very little hard evidence concerning the precise levels of accountability during this period. This study is designed to penetrate contemporary attitudes and actions by using primary sources to determine the audit arrangements made by quoted companies in the year 1886. It is discovered that professionally qualified accountants generally, and chartered accountants in particular, had achieved a dominant position by 1886, and possibly rather earlier; a finding which is also used to illuminate the question of the nature of the professional accountants' work in the late nineteenth century.     

证券监管机构的责任性治理

证券监管机构责任性治理是关于证券监管机构行使其权力时应遵循规则的制度,这些规则的制度建立了对监管机构的约束机制,使其能更好地在法定宗旨和目标下发挥对市场失灵的矫正功能。责任性治理机制的操作框架应该包括对立法机关、行政部门、司法机关和其他利益相关方四方面的责任机制。     

Accountability and value enhancement roles of corporate governance

We examine the twin roles of accountability and value enhancement of corporate governance in the context of financial reporting. We investigate the accountability role by examining the association between governance structures and abnormal accruals, and the value enhancement role by investigating the association between abnormal accruals explained by governance structures and future performance. We differentiate between governance mechanisms that have direct roles in the financial reporting process (audit related) from mechanisms that have indirect roles (board related). We find that independent and active audit committees and independent boards are important governance attributes for financial reporting. We show that both audit‐related and board‐related governance structures are value enhancing.     

时间压力、责任与审计判断绩效:一项实验研究

近年来,我国注册会计师面临的时间压力和责任日益增加,而时间压力和责任都是影响审计判断绩效的重要环境因素。本文采用实验研究方法,以我国注册会计师为被试,研究了时间压力和责任对我国注册会计师审计判断绩效的影响。研究发现,时间压力显著降低了注册会计师的审计判断效果,但同时提高了判断加工速度,责任能显著提高审计判断效果但对判断效率和判断加工速度没有显著影响。在高责任的情况下,审计判断效果不受时间压力的影响,高责任抑制了高时问压力带来的审计判断效果下降。     

Annual report readability, current earnings, and earnings persistence

This paper examines the relation between annual report readability and firm performance and earnings persistence. I measure the readability of public company annual reports using the Fog index from the computational linguistics literature and the length of the document. I find that: (1) the annual reports of firms with lower earnings are harder to read (i.e., they have a higher Fog index and are longer); and (2) firms with annual reports that are easier to read have more persistent positive earnings.     

Accountability and human rights: A tentative exploration and a commentary

There continues to be many attempts to articulate what is meant by Human Rights but Griseri and Sepella's (2010, p. 176) adaptation of Leighton et al. (2002) as “entitlements that one holds by virtue of being a human being” takes us to the heart of the matter. What is it to be human and what does humanity demand of us? But the notion is far from settled; it is far from uncontentious; despite its domination by lawyers it is far from simply legalistic; and the matter has only relatively recently been taken up as a matter of focus amongst business and management academics. Human rights have, as yet, almost no presence in accounting and finance. This short essay seeks to provide an introduction to the practitioner papers presented in this issue of CPA and in doing so to provide some context within which the papers might be better appreciated. As happens too often for comfort, practice (at least regulatory and NGO practice) is still leading research and theory in the field of Human Rights. Providing that context offers us the opportunity to speculate on how – notwithstanding the potentially seminal papers that also appear in this issue – we might see accounting academe recognising and responding more widely to Human Rights.     

Accountability,maps and inter-generational equity: evaluating the Nigerian oil spill monitor

The Oil Spill Monitor (OSM) is an innovative public sector accounting system intended to improve the regulation of oil pollution in the Niger Delta through greater transparency and stakeholders’ engagement. The Nigerian OSM, an online accounting and geographic information system, was set up by non-governmental organizations before becoming part of the regulator’s accountability system. Problems with data quality, regulatory enforcement and remediating practices meant that improved accountability and stakeholder engagement were necessary but not sufficient in this case.