Machismo in Organizations: Individual Predictors & Context-Dependent Outcomes

Two studies were conducted to examine possible predictors of machismo value endorsement and to test the possibility that machismo’s effects on job-related outcomes may be stronger in “family-oriented” than in “team-oriented” organizations. A total of 178 students were recruited from upper-level management and MBA classes at a large university in the Southwestern U.S. In Study 1, participant gender, familism values, and femininity predicted machismo values. Unexpectedly, ethnicity did not predict machismo values. Study 2 replicated results for predictors of machismo values, except that femininity did not emerge as a significant predictor. Additionally, Study 2 results indicated that machismo’s effects were dependent on the extent to which the company was viewed as family-oriented. Results suggest that machismo values: (a) may be relevant for both Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, (b) are related, yet somewhat distinct from theoretically related variables like gender role endorsement and familism, and (c) are especially likely to affect expectations and behaviors when the organization’s culture includes elements (e.g., family orientation) that evoke a connection to those values. One of the most prominent recent demographic trends to emerge in the U.S. workforce is the rapid increase in workers of Hispanic descent. Organizations should expect an accompanying wave of employee values, attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral expectations influenced by aspects of Hispanic culture. Further, it would be of considerable applied value to identify ways to strategically harness positive effects of machismo values while mitigating potentially negative effects.     

Carbon Trading: Accounting and Reporting Issues

The impetus for this special debating forum arises from the concern about the impact of anthropogenic induced global climate change (GCC) and the assumption that GCC raises issues of significance with respect to the accountability of firms to stakeholders for financial and non-financial performance. Governments and supra-national bodies have sought to respond to GCC in a variety of ways, with the creation of markets in which carbon may be traded being just one manifestation. Carbon markets have the effect of putting a price on what was until very recently free and this change is likely to have financial consequences for firms in the longer term. In order to place the accounting implications of carbon markets in context, the paper provides a scientific and policy introduction to GCC. As regards accounting issues, the paper reviews the problems that are associated with the valuation of pollution allowances and their identification as assets (and the liabilities that arise if companies pollute beyond allowed levels). A closer inspection of the risks and uncertainties that arise from GCC initiates a discussion of non-financial accounting and reporting about carbon. Non-financial reporting is necessary to allow conditions for democratic accountability in an uncertain setting.     

The Effect of Aggregation of Accounting Information via Segment Reporting on Accounting Conservatism

In a sample of U.S. multiple-segment firms, we document a negative association between aggregation via segment reporting and timely loss recognition. A higher level of aggregation, as reflected in a firm’s reported organizational structure (the definition and characteristics of its segments), causes a multiple-segment firm to exhibit less cross-segment variation in profitability than a matched control portfolio of single-segment firms. We find that firms that engage in more aggregation report accounting numbers that provide less timely information about economic losses. We also observe that firms that provide more disaggregated segment data subsequent to adopting SFAS 131 experienced an increase in timely loss recognition. This result implies that higher quality segment reporting leads to an increase in timely loss recognition, which, per extant research, is associated with better governance. Our results complement results in Berger and Hann [2003. The impact of SFAS No. 131 on information and monitoring. Journal of Accounting Research, 41, 163–223] that show a decline in inefficient internal-capital-market transfers subsequent to the adoption of SFAS 131. Overall, we provide evidence supporting Beyer, Cohen, Lys, and Walther’s [2010. The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 50, 296–343] contention that accounting conservatism is, in part, a function of managers’ aggregation choices.     

中美军队财务会计报告目标比较与借鉴

近年来中国军队后勤改革,使中关两国军队所面临的军事经济环境逐渐趋同。本文通过对两国军队财务会计报告的比较,分析了异同点及原因,提出了借鉴美国军队经验改进中国军队财务会计报告的思路。     

Accounting,organizations & institutions. Essays in honour of Anthony Hopwood

In this article we discuss the motivation for and role of theory in management accounting. We argue that theories in an applied field such as management accounting research should provide explanations that are useful for those we study – managers, organizations and society. We evaluate the nature of theories currently used and developed. Those theories that are considered theories by the research community are largely imported from other disciplines, but have hardly anything that makes them unique to management accounting. Those theories that are not currently regarded as theories by many of our colleagues attempt to explain how to apply management accounting to achieve superior performance. We argue that both forms of theories, at present, largely fail to provide valid support for practitioners. We contend that management accounting theory should help us to answer questions of what kind of management accounting systems we should apply, how, in what circumstances, and how to change them. We provide suggestions on how management accounting research could proceed to produce better theories in this regard.     

Why More Forward-Looking Accounting Standards Can Reduce Financial Reporting Quality

A premise of standard setters and of much empirical research is that improving the quality of accounting standards and their implementation increases information in capital markets. This paper challenges this premise and shows that there are situations in which ‘better’, that is, more forward-looking, accounting standards reduce the information content of financial reports. The reason is that a forward-looking accounting standard affects the smoothness of reported earnings, which can conflict with the manager's smoothing incentive and her willingness to incorporate private information in the financial report. Although the manager could eliminate the effect by earnings management, it is too costly to do so. As a consequence, the capital market's ability to infer the financial and nonfinancial information in reported earnings declines. This finding should increase the awareness that an ‘improvement’ in accounting standards, without considering incentives and other information residing in firms, can adversely affect the quality of financial reporting.