Discourse in a Material World

We challenge recent assertions that discourse studies cannot de facto address materiality. We demonstrate how a Foucauldian theorization of discourse provides a way to analyse the co‐constitutive nature of discursive and material processes, as well as explore the power relations implicated in these relationships. To illustrate our argument, we identify exemplary studies that have effectively combined a study of discourse and different aspects of materiality – bodies, objects, spaces, and practices. In doing so, we show how discourse scholars are able to study both materiality and power relations.     

重要性水平在审计实务中应重视的几个问题

本文阐述了重要性水平在审计实务应用中应重视的几个问题，对审计实务中重要性水平的正确应用有一定的指导作用。     

Fostering Stakeholder Engagement: The Role of Materiality Disclosure in Integrated Reporting

This paper studies the determinants of materiality disclosure among International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) Pilot Program companies implementing the IIRC Framework. In other words, it studies which variables influence the way in which such companies provides information about their materiality determination process. In order to test our hypotheses we performed a number of statistical analyses on a unique hand‐collected dataset including IIRC and non‐IIRC Pilot Program companies for the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years. Our results indicate that industry and some firm‐level characteristics (board size and diversity) do play a significant role in the determination of materiality disclosure, whereas the legal environment in which companies operate does not. Also, we found that IIRC Pilot Program companies disclosed more information about materiality than their competitors that did not join the program. This paper provides interesting insights for policy makers (in particular, the IIRC) and extends previous academic literature on integrated reporting. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Unpacking the Dialectic: Alternative Views on the Discourse–Materiality Relationship

This paper extends the issues raised in this forum by highlighting assumptions and characteristics of the discourse–materiality relationship that appears in five explanatory frameworks, including the Foucauldian approach and the materiality–performativity perspective presented in the previous two papers. It argues for preserving the dialectical relationship between the two by holding the tensions between them in continual interplay. Using a dialectic lens, it overviews how each of the frameworks treats the point of entry, nature of the relationship, and management of these tensions.     

Carbon Disclosure,Contextual Factors,and Information Asymmetry: The Case of Physical Risk Reporting

Abstract

The paper focusses on the reporting of climate change-related physical risks. Drawing on data from the CDP questionnaire for 717 European companies over three years (2011–2013) we find that information asymmetry is generally smaller when firms report about their physical risks. Furthermore, we find that reporting of a higher exposure to physical risks is associated with lower information asymmetry for firms falling under the regulation of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, whereas for other firms the direction of the relationship reverses. We can rule out that our results are driven by other climate change-related risk disclosures and by disclosures about opportunities arising from climate change. This study is not only relevant because it attests the materiality of climate change-related physical risks. Moreover, we show how a contextual factor – in this study: whether a company falls under climate change-related regulation – moderates the direction of the relationship between reported information and information asymmetry.     

Materiality in integrated and sustainability reporting: A paradigm shift?

This paper investigates the implementation of integrated reporting (IR) by Generali, one of the most important listed companies in Italy. The research questions we aim at answering are the following: Is the IR approach to materiality inherently different from the sustainability reporting (SR) approach? Does IR lead to the identification of different material topics than does SR? On the one hand, institutional theory suggests that IR and SR material topics are going to be significantly different because IR is mainly driven by a market logic, whereas SR is inspired by a stakeholder logic. On the other hand, organizational change theory predicts there will be some resistance to change by the organization, therefore leading to IR and SR topics being similar. In order to answer our research questions, we implement two empirical analyses. First, we propose and develop an innovative methodological approach on the basis of content analysis, which allows measuring the materiality of different issues under the IR approach. Second, we rely on evidence obtained through interviews, which suggests that IR and SR approaches to materiality are inherently different.     

Financial materiality in the informativeness of sustainability reporting

This study examines whether financial materiality in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure benefits the stock market by increasing the amount of accessible and relevant firm-specific information. Based on the value relevance of information and the principle of financial materiality, we demonstrate that disclosing material ESG information increases stock price informativeness. We conduct an automated content analysis of 150,000 electronic documents filed by firms listed on the S&P/TSX Composite Index from 1999 to the end of 2014. Our findings show that ESG disclosure is indeed value relevant for investors and that financial materiality in ESG disclosure leads to more informative stock prices. In addition, the effect of ESG disclosure on stock price informativeness differs across the ESG components, being more sensitive to the social component. This study contributes to the literature on sustainability reporting, and in particular to the ongoing discussion about whether the financial materiality of ESG issues matters. This study also deepens the understanding of agency theory predictions about the economic effects of ESG disclosure.     

Performative Achievement of Routine Recognizability: An Analysis of Order Taking Routines at Sushi Bars

The concept of performativity, a central theme in routine dynamics research, suggests that a routine does not first exist as a recognizable phenomenon, and then actions are taken subsequently. On the contrary, actions themselves need to achieve the recognizability of the routine. This paper revisits recognizability in light of routine interdependence and materiality. Focusing on order taking routines at sushi bars, the analysis reveals that participants constantly achieve the beginning of a routine performance by drawing on performances of other routines and materiality, both of which are seemingly unrelated to the focal routine. Prior to routine initiation, much material and embodied work is conducted in order to make the routine recognizable. Once initiated, the routine performance makes subtle use of materiality, allowing participants to engage in a seemingly unrelated routine while they remain subordinately attentive to the focal routine. While a routine appears to exist on its own once it is recognized, the achievement of this recognition relies largely on factors that are not part of the routine.     

再论重要性、审计风险与审计证据的关系

审计风险与重要性互为存在的条件,对两者的判断可以充分体现在审计测试中,最终通过审计证据反映审计工作结果,因此,理解审计风险与重要性之间的关系,并在此基础上加以正确评估,对于审计人员开展工作是至关重要的。本文从审计风险、重要性的概念入手,在探讨审计风险、重要性与审计证据属性及分类的基础上.着重阐述三者之间的关系,以期对审计工作起到一定的指导作用。     

论重要性原则在会计核算中的运用

重要性原则是会计核算必须遵循的一条基本原则,在会计核算的很多方面都体现着重要性原则的精神。重要性原则在会计核算中的具体运用主要表现在会计账户的设置、会计处理方法的选择和会计信息的披露等3个方面。     

Exploring equality,diversity, and inclusion in multiethnic settings: A context-sensitive approach

Organisations, worldwide, have introduced human resource management (HRM) and equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) policies to address the inherent disadvantages experienced by employees with diverse social identities in different national contexts. In this study, we draw on McCall's comparative intersectional framework and Chadwick's narrative methodologies on materiality and voice, to investigate employees' experiences of EDI policies in a multiethnic setting. Vignette and interview data were obtained from employees in two banks, in the ethnically extremely diverse country of Nigeria, and analysed. Our findings suggest that EDI policies require a universal, widely acknowledged, core alongside specificities reflecting the context in which the EDI is to be enacted. Furthermore, we integrate and build on intersectionality, materiality, and voice to nuance and challenge EDI approaches and mutually supportive HRM policies in the Global South that may, in turn, have implications for the Global North and, particularly, multinational companies.     

从美国判例入手探讨重要性遵循机制问题

美国法院在一些判例中诠释了重要性概念。这使我们得以探究重要性的遵循机制，并促使我们关注我国新的会计、审计准则体系的实施问题。     

Sustainability reporting,materiality, and accountability assessment in the airport industry

Air travel is, nowadays, recognized as being one of the most popular modes of transport. Air transport is among the most significant contributors to the world gross domestic product and is accountable for a great environmental and social impact. Driven by the well‐established sustainability discourse and the vital role businesses can play in disseminating the sustainable development concept, this paper attempted to map airport industry's most material operational aspects and assess airport operators' accountability level on disclosing corporate information regarding airports' economic, environmental, and social performance. In this context, 33 reports and 903 material issues representing 193 international airports were reviewed and assessed, and a methodology for benchmarking the accountability level of best reporting airport operators was developed, showcasing materiality assessment as a useful management tool for strengthening airport operators' business strategy and enhancing their corporate performance. The paper indicated that (a) customer focus (i.e., health, safety and satisfaction), economic viability, and business continuity and preparedness are operational aspects of high materiality and (b) the disclosure level, especially concerning specific performance indicators, is still moderate. In conclusion, this study has shown that materiality assessment gains ground as a management tool among airports' management teams and the completeness of Sustainability reports is positively correlated with the “level” of adherence as described by the Global Reporting Initiative.     

The Contraction of Meaning: The Combined Effect of Communication,Emotions, and Materiality on Sensemaking in the Stockwell Shooting

In this paper, we seek to understand how individuals, as part of a collective, commit themselves to a single, and possibly erroneous, frame, as a basis for sensemaking and coordinated actions. Using real‐time data from an anti‐terrorist police operation that led to the accidental shooting of an innocent civilian, we analyse how individual actors framed their circumstances in communication with one another and how this affected their subsequent interpretations and actions as events unfolded. Our analysis reveals, first, how the collective commitment to a framing of a civilian as a terrorist suicide bomber was built up and reinforced across episodes of collective sensemaking. Second, we elaborate on how the interaction between verbal communication, expressed and felt emotions, and material cues led to a contraction of meaning. This contraction stabilized and reinforced the overall framing at the exclusion of alternative interpretations. With our study we extend prior sensemaking research on environmental enactment and the escalation of commitment and elaborate on the role of emotions and materiality as part of sensemaking.     

The Industrial Statistics Divide: Are Statisticians Really Relevant to Business and Industry?

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In the present paper, the results from research on the influence of criteria （factors） such as depreciation method, materiality threshold, and inflation rate on the selection of depreciation policy are shown. The research has been carried out with the help of specifically devised simulation models. The simulation is realized in accounting for the unevenness of money in time and the profitability of the company, the tax rates for corporate tax, and the inflation rate. The models have been devised after analyzing methodology issues, related to depreciation policy and investigating current practices in its implementation in specific agricultural companies in present-day Bulgaria. It has been determined that there is a clear-cut relation between the profitability of the companies and the materiality threshold and depreciation method chosen. The main conclusion is that when the companies develop their depreciation policy, at ceteris paribus they should select higher materiality thresholds and diminishing balance depreciation methods due to the inequality of money in time, the acceleration of obsolescence, and the inflation processes.     

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Modelling Category Inflation with Multiple Inflation Processes: Estimation,Specification and Testing1

Zero-inflated ordered probit (ZIOP) and middle-inflated ordered probit (MIOP) models are finding increasing favour in the discrete choice literature. We propose generalizations to these models – which collapse to their ZIOP/MIOP counterparts under a set of simple parameter restrictions – with respect to the inflation process. These generalizations form the basis of a new specification test of the inflation process in ZIOP and MIOP models. Support for our generalization framework is principally demonstrated by revisiting a key ZIOP application from the economics literature, and reinforced by the reassessment of an important MIOP application from political science. Our specification test supports the generalized models over the original ZIOP/MIOP ones, suggesting an important role for it in modelling zero- and middle-inflation processes.     

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Modelling Category Inflation with Multiple Inflation Processes: Estimation,Specification and Testing1

Zero‐inflated ordered probit (ZIOP) and middle‐inflated ordered probit (MIOP) models are finding increasing favour in the discrete choice literature. We propose generalizations to these models – which collapse to their ZIOP/MIOP counterparts under a set of simple parameter restrictions – with respect to the inflation process. These generalizations form the basis of a new specification test of the inflation process in ZIOP and MIOP models. Support for our generalization framework is principally demonstrated by revisiting a key ZIOP application from the economics literature, and reinforced by the reassessment of an important MIOP application from political science. Our specification test supports the generalized models over the original ZIOP/MIOP ones, suggesting an important role for it in modelling zero‐ and middle‐inflation processes.