The erosion of jurisdiction: Auditing in a market value accounting regime

In recent years, accounting standards worldwide have been modified so as to render them more heavily based on fair or market value. This paper explores the behavioural and jurisdictional consequences of the normative drift towards fair value. Being informed by Giddens’ work on late modernity, trust and expertise and drawing on a series of interviews with Canadian professional accountants, we argue that fair value accounting makes it increasingly harder for auditors to feel and actually be in control of their own expertise. That is, auditors’ system of expertise is now considerably more reliant on a “secondary” – but perhaps in actual fact primary – layer of expertise revolving around market valuation techniques and principles. In so doing, the auditors’ job is increasingly transformed as the involvement of valuators now represents a recurrent and pervasive phenomenon in audit processes. The auditor's role nowadays resembles that of an arbiter having to mediate discrepancies over subjective values – a number of which being produced by highly specialized valuators. Important implications ensue from a system of expertise in which the experts’ degree of control over their own jurisdictional work is increasingly eroding.     

Testing the limits of structuration theory in accounting research

In 1985 I published a paper in Accounting Organizations and Society with Bob Scapens titled Accounting Systems and Systems of Accountability; understanding accounting practices in their organisational contexts. The paper suggested the potential usefulness of Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory for efforts to understand accounting in its organisational contexts. Rather than engage in a further review of the use of structuration theory in accounting, this paper sets out to test our original proposition as to the usefulness of Giddens ideas for accounting research. I explore three points of possible criticism in the paper. That structuration theory does not take the ‘agency’ of accounting sufficiently seriously; that Foucault and Lacan allow us to get much closer to the ways in which accounting information works back upon human subjects; and that Giddens and accounting share a lack of ethics.     

The effect of rankings on honesty in budget reporting

We conduct an experiment to investigate the effect of rankings, which are pervasive in practice, on the honesty of managers’ budget reports, which is important for sound decision making in organizations. Participants in our experiment are ranked in one of four ways: (1) firm profit, (2) own compensation, (3) both firm profit and own compensation, and (4) randomly, which serves as our baseline condition. None of the rankings affect participants’ remuneration. Compared to our baseline (random rankings) setting, where participants indeed exhibit honesty concerns, we find that rankings based on firm profit significantly increase honesty and that rankings based on own compensation significantly decrease honesty. Participants who received both rankings were significantly more honest than participants in the own compensation rankings condition. We did not, however, find significant differences in honesty between the both rankings and firm profit rankings conditions. As such, participants in the both rankings condition seemed to focus more on the firm profit metric than on the financially congruent own compensation metric. We also find that our results are stable across periods, suggesting that the effects of rankings neither increased nor dissipated over time. We discuss the contributions of our study and concomitant findings to accounting research and practice.     

Relationships and the internet: The mediating role of a relationship banker

The role technology plays in building (or weakening) relationships with customers has become increasingly debated since the advent of the internet. Arguments, and some emerging empirical evidence, have shown that there is support for both sides of the argument; technology can both build and erode customer relationships. In this paper the authors seek to add further insight into this inquiry. The paper examines relationships that primarily exist within a technology context (in this case the internet) compared to those that primarily exist in a traditional face-to-face context (in this case the branch). The mediating role of a relationship banker is used to explore these dynamics further. Results show that the channel which the customer primarily adopts as the mode of interaction makes little difference to the strength of the relationship. What makes a difference, in terms of trust, is the existence of a ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ one-to-one relationship with an assigned banker. Intriguingly, the effects of the relationship banker are dependent on whether the customer uses primarily the branch versus the internet.     

The Impact of Journal Rankings on Australasian Accounting Education Scholarship – A Personal View

Abstract

The higher education environment in which academics currently find themselves is one characterised by corporatisation and commodification. The pursuit of scholarly academic research is increasingly plagued by quantification, ranking pursuits, and what might be referred to as a ‘publication’ maximisation culture. This paper provides reflective insight into the impact felt of journal rankings on Australasian accounting education research. The paper challenges the short-termism and narrow focus currently adopted by many business faculty executives, who continue to use journal rankings as the sole measure of academic performance. The paper argues that this results in incentive schemes not too dissimilar to that recently found within the financial industry. The paper concludes that such a narrow approach to measurement should be abandoned in order to encourage creativity and innovation in business research that assists in solving business problems today and well into the future.     

Structuration theory in accounting research: Applications and applicability

Ever since Giddens’ structuration theory (ST) was introduced into the accounting literature some 25 years ago, it has strengthened its position as one of the major schools of thought used to explore accounting as organizational, social and political phenomena. The purpose of this study is to review how ST has been applied, and can be applied, in this sizeable literature. Overall, the review of some 65 published papers, suggests that not only has ST contributed to challenge the assumptions of ‘inherent and functional’ features of accounting systems per se characterizing mainstream research, but also to develop other alternative theoretical perspectives. However, our review also suggests several limitations. These include that the accounting community has not really worked as a collective to develop a structurationist understanding of accounting practices, and that most researchers remain largely uncritical to ST as a theory. We also find that accounting scholars have not yet developed a mutual understanding of how to interpret ST (i.e. there are conceptual unclarities and even inconsistencies), or how to apply ST methodologically in empirical research. Based on these limitations, and the identification of a number of ‘black spots’ in the literature, we suggest several directions for future scholarly effort.     

The concept of an accounting regime

This paper develops and illustrates the concept of an accounting regime. The concept is mobilized in order to explore the nature and power of accounting in totality and to identify its dimensions. Drawing on the work of Anthony Giddens, we portray an accounting regime as a set of social practices constructed through the disembedding and reembedding of accounting as an abstract system that interrelates institutions of modernity and modern forms of reflexivity. The regime simultaneously generates trust and scepticism, and displays recursive cycles of dissolution and reconstruction. Its power—although temporary, partial and fragile—depends on its ability to provide guarantees of expertise in the face of risk. We conclude that the concept of an accounting regime offers a useful framework for the study accounting as a totality, and thus to detect its power in the modern world.     

Reflections on the application of and potential for structuration theory in accounting research

This paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the value of structuration theory as ‘an ontology of potentials’ for empirical research in accounting. In engaging with the two main papers in this issue, it considers issues of methodological bracketing and the extent to which the work of Coad and Glyptis (2013) offers an agency focus rather than an institutional focus for analysis. Further to Englund and Gerdin's (2013) analysis, it also considers in more depth the limited use in the literature of many of the concepts Giddens, 1976, Giddens, 1984 identifies as central to change, suggesting there exists potential to further develop this area, rather than necessarily seeking to supplement structuration theory with insights from other theoretical frameworks in order to analyse and understand how accounting is implicated in organisational change.     

财务会计的信任功能

本文初步论证了财务会计的信任功能。财务会计发挥作用的起因是委托人对代理人的不信任;财务会计信息能够增进委托人对代理人的信任;而财务会计系统能够增进委托人对代理人提供的财务会计信息的信任。财务会计是一个自身构建十分完善的信任机制。在论证财务会计的信任功能之后,本文建立了一个初步的分析框架,将其他信任机制与财务会计联系起来。进一步地,将理论应用于分析制度对财务会计信息的影响,厘清了现有研究中的一些争论。     

The contract,accounting and trust: A case study of an international joint venture (IJV) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

This paper reports on the results of a case study that examines the effect of the contract and accounting on inter-organisational trust in an international joint venture (IJV). The empirical setting of the research was an IJV relation between a United Arab Emirates (UAE) firm and its western partner. Data were gathered from multiple sources, including documents, observations, interviews and discussions with managers. The paper aims to explore the process of trust development and the role of the contract and accounting in this. We find that trust developed differently for the partners. Moreover the trust concerns of the partners were not the same. Based on this we conclude that trust was not automatically reciprocated. Instead it needs relating to other items such as the contract, accounting and also the institutional environment. The open-book accounting we observed could only be termed ‘partial’ because the western partner had access to the local partner's books but not the vice versa. But this partial open-book accounting created conflicts between the partners. We argue that developing one kind of trust through one particular medium may help one party but may damage the relationship between the partners.     

Reconfiguring relations of accountability: Materialization of social media in the travel sector

Expanding use of Web 2.0 technologies has generated complex information dynamics that are propelling organizations in unexpected directions, redrawing boundaries and shifting relationships. Using research on user-generated content, we examine online rating and ranking mechanisms and analyze how their performance reconfigures relations of accountability. Our specific interest is in the use of so-called “social media” such as TripAdvisor, where participant reviews are used to rank the popularity of services provided by the travel sector. Although ranking mechanisms are not new, they become “power-charged”—to use Donna Haraway’s term—when enacted through Web 2.0 technologies. As such, they perform a substantial redistribution of accountability. We draw on data from an on-going field study of small businesses in a remote geographical area for whom TripAdvisor has changed ‘the rules of the game,’ and we explore the moral and strategic implication of this transformation.     

IT governance: Objectives and assurances in internet banking

This paper develops and tests a new factor of the trust model in electronic commerce; namely, internet banking. Internal control of internet banking is very consistent with high levels of trust factors such as security, privacy, and other risk issues. However, this type of association has not yet been widely recognized as a trusted model from the consumer's electronic commerce point of view. This study attempts to create new factors in IT governance and the COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies) assurance seal. The empirical results of this experiment show that customer familiarity with IT governance and the COBIT assurance seal has impacted customers' trust in internet banking. Moreover, the results also show that perceived internet banking quality and reputation impact customers' trust in internet banking. Given the results of this study, we propose future research aimed at developing a COBIT assurance web seal of internal control, applicable to information technology based on IT governance.     

Back to the future: New potential for structuration theory in management accounting research?

For three decades, the use of structuration theory has made a distinctive contribution to management accounting research. A recent development of the theory by Stones [Stones, 2005. Structuration Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke] advocates a move away from the relatively abstract concepts evident in the work of Giddens, towards providing more concrete constructs that give epistemological and methodological guidance to researchers in the field. In order to achieve this, he recommends deployment of the concept of position–practices, combined with use of a quadripartite model of structuration. The main purpose of this paper is to examine the potential of this development for management accounting research. We do so by setting it within our own skeletal model of the structuration process, and then using it to analyse a case study of management accounting practices in a privatised utility company. We conclude that investigation of position–practices focuses attention on the strategic conduct of agents, the importance of power in social interaction, and a plurality of structures and theories of action. But, whilst the quadripartite model highlights the phenomenology, hermeneutics and practices of agents, we note that it provides few direct insights into the processes of reproduction, learning and change in management accounting. We suggest this limitation can be overcome by using structuration theory in a flexible manner, drawing inspiration from other theoretical perspectives which ascribe central roles to path dependency, contradiction and praxis.     

Implications for brokerage firms’ financial disclosures: From CSR perspectives

Given the importance of transparency in today's financial environment, it is surprising that limited research has examined investors’ attitudes toward brokerage firms’ financial disclosures and how their attitudes toward brokerage firms’ financial disclosures influence subsequent responses such as perceived trust and attitude toward brokerage firms. Research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and the Social Contract Theory suggests that investors may put a relatively high value on brokerage firms that practice financial disclosures responsibly. This research probed the relevance of this assumption by testing the relations among investors’ attitudes toward brokerage firms’ financial disclosures, attitudes toward CSR practices, perceived trust toward brokerage firms, attitudes toward brokerage firms and behavioral intentions toward brokerage firms with a survey study. The study used brokerage firms’ financial disclosures in general as the focus of this study's survey questions and a convenience sample consisting of investors. The results suggested that investors’ positive attitudes toward brokerage firms’ financial disclosures positively enhanced their attitudes toward brokerage firms’ CSR practices and perceived trust toward brokerage firms, whereas investors’ attitudes toward brokerage firms’ CSR practices mediated their attitudes toward financial disclosures to enhancing their perceived trust toward brokerage firms. Moreover, investors’ attitudes toward brokerage firms mediated their perceived trust toward brokerage firms on enhancing their behavioral intentions toward brokerage firms.     

Ranking Accounting Ph.D. Programs and Faculties Using Social Science Research Network Downloads

We rank accounting Ph.D. programs and accounting faculties based on downloads individuals' working papers posted to the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) receive. We retain 185 individuals included in Accounting Faculty Directory 2002–2003 (Hasselback, 2002) whose work has been most heavily downloaded as of August 21, 2002. We rank Ph.D. programs (faculties) both adjusting and not adjusting for program (faculty) size. We provide rankings both without regards to when individuals graduated and for individuals graduating during three consecutive sub-periods: pre-1982, 1982–1991 and 1992–2001. We first provide rankings without regards to teaching or research area. After dichotomizing individuals into those whose teaching/research area is financial versus non-financial we provide additional rankings focusing on non-financial research areas.     

Does trust in the bank build trust in its technology-based channels?

Trust appears as an important factor for the adoption of technology-based distribution channels. This paper investigates the construct of trust and its antecedents in the context of technology-based distribution channels, such as ATMs, the internet and phone banking. Specifically, it tests the role of trust in the bank in building trust in these channels. It reports findings from a retail bank customer survey, which revealed two dimensions of trust, affective and cognitive trust, and the significant role of three variables in forming trust in these channels: trust in the company, reputation of the company and disposition to trust. Implications of further research on understanding the antecedents of trust towards channels as well as managerial recommendations on how to build such trust are discussed.     

Controllers’ role in managerial sensemaking and information trust building in a business intelligence environment

This study explores how an organization’s controllers (management accountants) give sense to the information provided by its business intelligence (BI) system, and thus shape the construction of information trust. A qualitative case study was conducted within a Finnish food manufacturing company, building on the notion of trust related to management accounting information and sensemaking theory. The study was informed through open-ended interviews and an examination of internal accounting and management reports. The authors found that the company used an integrated BI system that enabled the production of information in a timely and perceivably standardized manner. Controllers managed this accounting information and gave sense to it, helping deliver a shared understanding of the daily business situation. The findings show that controllers play a pivotal role in building information trust by giving sense to the information provided by the BI system.     

Shared auditors,social trust,and relationship-specific investment in the supply chain

An auditor common to a supplier and customer may serve an information role, reduce information asymmetry, or mitigate a potential hold-up problem in the supply chain. The information role of shared auditors could be more important in a lax institutional environment where a lack of trust exists between the supplier and customer. Using a sample of listed firms in China from 2009 to 2015, we find that (1) a shared auditor enhances the supplier’s relationship-specific investment (RSI), and (2) this positive association is stronger when the customer is located in a region with lower trust. We also document an incremental effect of a shared audit partner on enhancing the supplier’s RSI in addition to the effect of a shared auditor at the audit firm level. Additional analyses suggest that a shared auditor alleviates information asymmetry between the supplier and customer and hence improves the supplier’s RSI. A shared auditor particularly improves the supplier’s RSI when the customer is limited in its legal protection, which validates the usefulness of this unique research setting (China) for studying the information role of shared auditors. By extending the research on shared auditors and social trust, this paper provides a reference for companies that wish to explore the role of auditors in enhancing RSI in the supply chain.     

Accounting’s contribution to a conscious cultural evolution: an end to sustainable development

Influential institutions are acknowledging the need for more change to reverse practices that seriously damage social and ecological systems. The depth and extent of these changes are indicated by the call for a conscious cultural evolution. This paper considers a possible contribution from accounting to comply with such an evolution.A theoretical basis for accounting’s contribution to a conscious cultural evolution is outlined by means of a truth classification scheme developed in this paper as well as the works of Foucault, Giddens, evolutionary biologists and life-world theorists. This theoretical basis is then used to interpret the results of an EU funded research project that was to identify the criteria and specifications for a sustainable development management and accounting tool. The strengths and weaknesses of traditional, social and environmental accounting are evaluated against the needs of sustainable development as identified during the course of this project as well as a proposed balanced accounting. The theoretical basis identified in this paper is further employed to re-evaluate the concept of accounting equity in the context of equitable communities and face-to-face relationships. Finally, the potential resistance to changes of this kind that may exist within contemporary mainstream accounting is considered. The end of sustainable development is considered within the conclusion.     

Career concerns and peer effects in institutional tournaments: Evidence from ECB reserve currency portfolios

Using data on European Central Bank's (ECB's) reserve currency portfolios, we find that money managers react to relative rankings (i.e., own vs. peers’ performance) by adjusting portfolio active risk levels measured ex ante by actual deviations from their benchmark. This occurs in the absence of explicit incentives as no monetary reward is promised for winning this “tournament” among portfolio managers. We collect information on managers’ characteristics, including age, education, tenure, salary, and career path, and investigate the role played by implicit incentives. We provide evidence that both individual career concerns and institutional peer pressure contribute to the documented relationship between ranking and risk taking.