Auditing and the Purification of Blame

Although public sector special audit and performance audit are frequently involved in blame, very few studies (save for Radcliffe 1997) provide detailed empirical accounts on how auditing participates in blame allocation. This study sets out to study one case of blame allocation by describing and characterizing the origins of failure and antecedents leading to the need for blame allocation, the institutional entities and arrangements that participate in the blame game, and how these entities, including the supreme audit institution, are mobilized in the processes of blame allocation. Applying a case methodology with Actor–Network Theory principles, the study extends Hood's (2002, 2007) research on blame and blame avoidance strategies by showing how a blame‐frame evaluates and allocates blame. The contribution of the paper is in four parts: first, it reveals the mechanisms that cause scapegoating of particular people and the role of auditors as experts in such mechanisms; second, it assists to develop an understanding of some factors at the core of the “accountability paradox” noted by Roberts (2009); third, it contributes to explanations as to why failing public sector reforms survive controversy and scandal since a scapegoating process can “reboot” reforms by erasing the reform's problems; and fourth, it demonstrates that an understanding of blame can be a useful addition to Actor–Network Theory.     

Insights Regarding the Applicability of the Defining Issues Test to Advance Ethics Research with Accounting Students: A Meta-analytic Review

Numerous researchers have investigated accounting students’ levels of moral reasoning, ethical choice and judgment employing the Defining Issues Test (DIT) and using its P score as an indicator of moral reasoning. Not surprisingly, a number of DIT studies report conflicting results. Moreover, despite widespread use of the DIT, there is concern that it may not adequately measure all facets of ethical judgment (cf. Bailey et al., Behav Res Account 22(2):1–26, 2010). Thus, we endeavor to provide insight not only into the contradictory results but also about the applicability of the DIT for studying accounting students. To do so, we collect published and unpublished DIT studies employing accounting students as subjects and use meta-analysis to aggregate findings across these studies to quantify their results, examining commonly employed variables. We show significant relationships between P scores and some variables (length of professional experience, choice of major, political ideology, gender, GPA and education level) but not others (age). Further, our findings demonstrate that the DIT provides added insights when exploring questions of ethical choice, and ethics instruction, particularly when the instruction is embedded in an accounting course. Finally, we find that the level of DIT P scores reported in the studies relates to whether the study was published. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research.     

Sophisticated but confused: The impact of brand extension and motivation on source confusion

Legal and consumer psychology scholars have focused recent attention on source confusion, which is the likelihood that consumers will be confused regarding the company that is a product's source or sponsor. The authors evaluate two potential antecedents of source confusion: (1) consumer motivation and (2) a brand extension that has been undertaken by a competitor. There have been disagreements in the courts, the scholarly legal literature, and the consumer psychology literature concerning the nature and extent of the impact of these two variables on the likelihood of consumer confusion. Based on schema theory, the authors hypothesize that consumer motivation and brand extension will influence the likelihood of source confusion. An interaction between the two variables is proposed, with consumer motivation having an effect that is opposite to the effect typically identified in the literature and case law. The results of a controlled laboratory experiment support the theoretical predictions. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Innovative Assets And Inter-Asset Linkages—A Resource-Based Approach To Innovation

The paper proposes a framework for analyzing assets and inter-asset linkages associated with technological innovation. The framework is consistent with a Penrosian view of the firm and draws on recent contributions from both the more general resource-based perspective and the innovation and technology perspective of the firm.

Three broad categories of firm assets are distinguished: tradeable resources, technical/functional capabilities and managerial competences. Assets for technological innovation are defined as resources, technical capabilities and managerial competences for developing new products and processes. A taxonomy of generic innovative assets is proposed that distinguishes four generic categories of innovative assets: Scientific research assets, process innovative assets, product innovative application assets and aesthetic design assets. Critical inter-asset linkages are analyzed in terms of inter-asset specificity. It is argued that high degrees of inter-asset specificity provide greater scope for innovation and make higher demands on the innovative assets and their coordination than low degrees of inter-asset specificity. It is moreover suggested that complementary assets not only play the role of assuring proper commercialization of given innovations; they may also play a critical role as a ‘focusing device’ for directing the innovative process.

Finally, some implications for strategy in innovative firms are indicated. Thus, the proposed inter-asset framework may help to specify the notion of core competences and provide a more differentiated perspective on innovation strategy and first-mover advantages.     

An environmental performance index for products reflecting damage costs

Several studies have demonstrated how to use DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) based techniques to estimate environmental performance indices. None of these studies, however, are taking information on the environmental damage costs of the pressure types considered into account. This study is bridging a gap between environmental indices founded in physical pressures and damage costs founded in welfare economics. The aim of the paper is twofold: first, to demonstrate how to implement the information on environmental damage costs within a DEA based environmental performance index, and second, to estimate these indices at product level by using Danish input-output data and environmental data from 1997.     

The impact of MAS on perceived auditor independence-some evidence from Denmark

The Enron case has highlighted that the provision of management advisory services (MAS) can endanger auditor independence. Recently, a number of changes have not only been made to the relevant international and US regulations, but also to the Danish regulations in this area. Theoretical research explains the emergence of non-independence and demonstrates that the provision of MAS can decrease independence. According to the economic model of DeAngelo, the existence of client-specific quasi-rents impairs auditor independence. The provision of MAS increases quasi-rents and thus, is a threat to independence. Antle used an agency theoretical approach. Information asymmetries between auditor and client could lead to a moral hazard risk, i.e. the auditor could give up independence from client's management and accept payments for withholding detected errors and irregularities. The client's management could also use MAS to legally compensate the auditor for giving away independence.A large number of empirical studies have investigated the influence of MAS on the perceived independence of the auditor. Most of these studies were performed in English speaking countries and the majority found a negative impact. Sociological research reveals cultural differences between English speaking and Nordic countries, e.g. concerning the dimension ‘masculinity’. Thus, an empirical investigation of the impact of MAS on perceived auditor independence in Denmark is promising. It was found that shareholders, bank loan officers and journalists perceive a negative effect on auditor independence if MAS are provided. The recent liberalization in Denmark is inconsistent with this finding. Furthermore, it was shown that the type of MAS influences the degree to which auditor independence is perceived to be impaired. Thus, independence rules related to MAS should be differentiated. Additionally, the study ascertained that perceived auditor independence does not increase if MAS are provided by a separate department of the audit firm. An internal separation of the auditing and the consulting function within the same audit firm is not viewed as being beneficial in Denmark.     

The Relation Between Investor Uncertainty and Market Reactions to Earnings Announcements: Evidence from the Property‐Casualty Insurance Industry in the USA

Abstract:   This paper investigates the relationship between investor uncertainty, gauged by properties of analysts' forecasts, and the stock market response to earnings. We find that uncertainty is best characterized by a comprehensive measure recently proposed by Barron, Kim, Lim and Stevens (1998) , BKLS. The BKLS measure is related to uncertainty‐inducing events, as well as factors that affect the difficulty faced by analysts in forecasting earnings. We conclude that, first, pre‐disclosure uncertainty is a significant determinant of the price reaction to the earnings release, and second, BKLS is a more comprehensive measure of uncertainty than simple dispersion.     

Corporate venture capital in Germany: A comparative analysis of 2000 and 2003

Established corporations are often at a disadvantage vis à vis technology-based entrepreneurial firms when it comes to generating and adapting to radical technological and business-model innovation. Consequently, industrial corporations increasingly wanted to participate in the financial or strategic success of start-ups. The tool of choice for many corporations was Corporate Venture Capital (CVC). CVC had already seen two waves of popularity in the USA when it was introduced in Germany in the early 1990s. This development is often assumed to have come to a halt in 2001, when so-called ‘New Economy’ spiraled into decline.This paper analyzes central attributes of strategy, investment and organization of the CVC units active in Germany in 2000 and 2003. We find evidence for a continuation of strong CVC activity in Germany. We differentiate between CVC units that were a) active at both points in time, i.e. ‘survivors’ b) those that have closed down since 2000, i.e. ‘losers’ and c) those that were founded after 2000, ‘new entrants’. The comparison of the characteristics allows us to make inferences for the use of CVC.     

Output and expected returns

This paper shows for 1929–2003 U.S. data and also for international G-7 data that the ratio of share prices to GDP tracks a large fraction of the variation over time in expected returns on the aggregate stock market, capturing more of that variation than do price–earnings and price–dividend ratios and often also providing additional information about excess returns. The price–output ratio tracks long-term U.S. cumulative stock returns almost as well as the cay-ratio of Lettau and Ludvigson [2001a. Journal of Finance 56, 815–849, 2005. Journal of Financial Economics 76, 583–626], although the cay-ratio tracks variation in U.S. excess returns better. The price–output ratio, however, involves no parameter estimation and is easily constructed for non-U.S. countries.