Climate change mitigation: Carbon assurance and reporting integrity

Concern about climate change has increased the pressure on firms to be accountable for social impact and to report on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Focusing on the view that sustainability-oriented firms are likely to consider wider stakeholder interests and pursue high financial reporting integrity, this paper examines the association between carbon assurance and earnings management. Using a sample of firms listed on the New York Stock Exchange, we find voluntary adoption of carbon assurance (level), carbon disclosure and gender diverse boards are negatively associated with earnings management. Additional tests using different components of carbon assurance (percent and verification) confirm our main results. Our results suggest that firms that voluntarily invest in carbon assurance, carbon disclosure and gender diverse boards are less likely to engage in earnings management and thus have higher reporting integrity. This aligns with the view that firms' ethical concerns translate into higher quality reporting.     

The Effect of IFRS Adoption and Investor Protection on Earnings Quality Around the World

This study examines the effects of mandatory IFRS adoption and investor protection on the quality of accounting earnings in forty-six countries around the globe. The results suggest that earnings quality increases for mandatory IFRS adoption when a country's investor protection regime provides stronger protection. This study extends the current literature that shows that accounting practices are influenced by country-level macro settings. The results highlight the importance of investor protection for financial reporting quality and the need for regulators to design mechanisms that limit managers' earnings management practices.     

Remittances and investment nexus in Bangladesh: an ARDL bounds testing approach

Bangladesh is the 8th largest remittance recipient country in the world and one of the heavily dependent (11 % of GDP) countries of remittances. Despite its importance in policy making in developing countries like Bangladesh, there is absence of any study regarding the effect of remittances on the level of investment. In an attempt to fill the gap, we examine the cointegrating property and stability of the relationship among these variables using the ARDL bounds testing approach combined with CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests. Our findings show that both remittances and trade openness positively and significantly influence the level of investment in Bangladesh, meaning that contrary to most conclusions found in the literature, migrant remittances in developing countries are not entirely spent in basic consumption needs. We also find that foreign aid has very little and insignificant impact on investment. Finally, we find long-run unidirectional causal relationship running from remittances to investment indicating that favorable policies to increase the flow of remittance will promote investment in Bangladesh.     

Accounting for goodwill under FRS 136： Case of Malaysian plantation companies

The introduction of FRS （financial reporting standards） 136 to Malaysian PLC＇s （public limited company） in 2006 indirectly formalized accounting for purchased goodwill for the first time. Based on a sample of 2006 annual reports of 10 Main Board companies from plantation sector, the study finds the level of desired disclosure has yet to be met. Whilst the intention of the standard is noble, actual practice for first time reporting entities indicate that Malaysian PLC＇s and their auditors have far to go before they can meet the expectation set by FRS 136 in particular and International Financial Reporting Standards in general.     

A machine learning analysis of citation impact among selected Pacific Basin journals

This study uses a machine learning approach to identify and predict factors which influence citation impacts across five Pacific Basin journals: Abacus, Accounting & Finance, Australian Journal of Management, Australian Accounting Review and the Pacific Accounting Review from 2008 to 2018. The machine learning results indicate that citation impact is mostly influenced by: length of a journal article; the field of research (particularly environmental accounting), sample size; whether the sample is local or international; choice of research method (e.g., archival vs survey/interview); academic rank of the first author; institutional status of the first author; and number of authors of the article. The results may be useful for predicting future trends in citation impact as well as providing strategies for authors and editors to improve citation impact.     

Segmental reporting by Malaysian companies： IAS 14 versus MASB 22

This paper reports on the effects of a local standard, MASB 22, on disclosure practices among Malaysian companies and whether the introduction of MASB 22 has resulted in greater level of disclosure with respect to segmental reporting in Malaysia compared to its predecessor segmental reporting under IAS 14. Based on the Annual Reports of top 53 by market capitalization companies listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia in 2003, findings indicate that MASB 22 has improved segment disclosure practices of sample companies compared to IAS 14 regime, with greater number of line of business and geographical segments reported by sample companies.     

How does the inclination to bicycle sway the decision to ride in warm and winter seasons?

Many cities are creating policies and programs aimed at expanding bicycling mode shares. Attitudes towards bicycling in combination with weather conditions, however, can strongly influence the decision to ride. In locations with wide annual seasonal variation, attitudes can radically alter demand on bicycle networks across the year. Though researchers have looked at weather impacts on bicycling, the link between attitudinal factors that might impact riding decisions and seasonal variation remains understudied. This paper investigates heterogeneous taste preferences about the inclination to bicycle for riders who ride only in the warm weather and those who ride all year long (including during severe winters). This research relies on survey data from Edmonton, Canada and presents results from a hybrid discrete choice model. After controlling for age, sex, education, income, the supply of bike lanes, and the latent variable “bicycling inclination,” the results indicate that attitudes have a significantly positive impact on the decision to ride across seasons. The findings suggest that public education and season-specific training programs—particularly aimed at adults and women—have the potential to increase bicycling all year around.     

Linkages between income inequality,international remittances and economic growth in Pakistan

This paper explores the dynamic linkages between income inequality, international remittances and economic growth using time series data over the period of 1976–2006 in case of Pakistan. The cointegration analysis based on the bounds test confirms the existence of a long-run relationship between income inequality, international remittances and economic growth. Our results reveal that income inequality and international remittances enhance economic growth. The causality analysis based on innovative accounting approach shows bidirectional causal relationship between income inequality and economic growth and same is true for international remittances and income inequality. International remittances are cause of economic growth but not vice versa. Although we find support for Kuznets hypothesis but Pakistan is yet to benefit, in terms of reducing the gaps of income inequality, from the international flow of remittances and economic growth. The paper argues that, from a policy perspective, there is an urgent need for policy makers in Pakistan to reduce the widening gap of income inequality by focusing on income redistribution policies and to go beyond the traditional factors in balancing income inequality.