Students’ conceptions of learning in the context of an accounting degree

Students' conceptions of learning (CoL) play an important role in the learning process leading to the development of generic skills. This paper investigates whether CoL of accounting students can be developed by incorporating high-level cognitive skills progressively within the accounting curriculum. First, the study explored, using phenomenography, the variation in accounting students' CoL. The findings highlighted some nuances in accountings students' CoL and that lower-order CoL were prevalent among accounting students. However, more (less) third-year students than second-year students adopted higher- (lower-) order CoL. Upon examining the learning objectives, teaching methods and assessment of all units comprising the accounting major of the host university, evidence was found that CoL are progressively developed and shaped, albeit in a limited way, based on the levels of cognitive domain emphasised within the curriculum. The findings highlight the need for accounting educators to take a whole of the programme approach to developing higher-order CoL.     

An empirical investigation of analytical procedures using mixture distributions

Analytical procedures are evaluations of account and transaction flow information made by a study of plausible relationships between both accounting and non‐accounting data. This study investigates the performance of Tweedie distributions (which have Gaussian distributions as members) in improving fit of zero‐inflated, non‐negative, kurtotic and multimodal analytical review data. The study found that account valuations are more informative than marginal data in analytical review, that mixture Poisson–Gamma distributions offer better fit than Gaussian distributions, even under assumptions of central limit theorem convergence, and that mixture Poisson–Gamma distributions provide better predictions of future account and transaction volumes and values. Model performance improvement with price versus returns data in this empirical study was substantial: from less than one‐quarter of variance, to almost two‐thirds. Tweedie generalized linear model risk assessments were found to be a magnitude smaller than traditional risk assessments, lending support to market inefficiency and increased risk from idiosyncratic factors. An example with several differing distributions shows that use of mixture distributions instead of point estimation can reduce sample size while retaining the power of the audit tests. The results of this study are increasingly important as accounting datasets are growing exponentially larger over time, requiring well‐defined roles for models, algorithms, data and narrative which can only be achieved with statistical protocols and algorithmic languages.     

财务重述影响供应商向企业提供商业信用吗——来自A股上市公司的经验证据

以我国2007-2014年上市公司为样本,实证检验财务重述对供应商向企业提供商业信用融资规模的影响.研究结果表明:财务重述引起了供应商对目标企业会计信息质量的关注,导致企业商业信用融资规模减少,并且在非国有企业、市场地位低的企业以及金融生态环境较差的地区更为显著.进一步研究发现,上述结论因财务重述性质的异质性而存在差异.     

创业机会共创研究探析

过往研究就创业机会的来源和产生等问题存在争议,而且聚焦于创业者、创业企业及外部环境等独立要素,割裂了创业机会在不同要素之间的互动关系。本文通过系统梳理创业机会研究的演进脉络,发现创业机会共同创造(co-creation)已成为未来研究的主要趋势。在已有研究的基础上,本文初步界定了"创业机会共创"的概念,并对相关概念进行了辨析。进一步,基于创业生态系统视角探讨了机会共创的参与要素,以此区分了实现创业机会共创的四种基本互动路径:即机会之间的互动,创业主体与机会的互动,创业主体之间的互动,创业主体与环境的互动。最后,提出了未来研究的思路与建议。     

主办券商声誉机制对新三板挂牌企业会计信息质量影响的实证研究

新三板作为完善我国多层次资本市场的重要举措,在扩宽企业融资渠道、促进实体经济 发展等方面发挥着重要作用,然而信息披露质量不完善仍是制约新三板挂牌企业发展的重要因素。 基于企业会计信息质量视角,文章以 2006-2015 年新三板挂牌企业为研究样本,探讨主办券商声 誉机制是否能够发挥相应的治理作用。研究发现:高声誉主办券商促进了新三板挂牌企业信息披 露质量的提高,而且主要体现在市场化水平较高的省份;进一步研究表明主办券商声誉对信息质 量的治理作用在协议转让与创新层企业中更为明显。研究表明主办券商声誉能够对新三板挂牌企 业发挥相应的持续督导作用,对于如何提升新三板挂牌企业信息披露质量具有一定的借鉴意义。     

服务投入与中国农业劳动生产率的追赶进程--对中国农业劳动生产率阶段性特征的新解释

长期以来,中国农业劳动生产率严重滞后于国际先进水平。文章对我国农业劳动生产率相对于美国的追赶进程进行了分阶段的分析,基于增长核算框架着重分析了服务投入在其中所发挥的作用。研究发现,我国农业劳动生产率在1995－2003年期间对美国的追赶效应明显,但服务投入密度提高的贡献相对偏小。我国农业劳动生产率在2003－2009年期间对美国的追赶效应更加明显,但服务投入密度相对偏低的贡献反而拖累了追赶进程。服务投入的内部结构分析显示,我国农业服务投入的发展滞后基本上是全方位的。进一步提高我国农业劳动生产率,缩小与国际先进水平的发展差距,需要充分认识到服务投入的重要性。解决我国农业服务投入发展滞后的问题需要在农业金融、农业保险、农业营销、农业物流、农业“互联网＋”和农业机械融资租赁服务等方面予以改进。     

Flipped v’s traditional teaching perspectives in a first year accounting unit: an action research study

With the need to move accounting students towards deeper learning approaches and understandings, this first cycle of an action research study sought to determine the student’s perspective of the flipped learning approach. With this learning approach gaining momentum in recent times, this study focuses on a first-year introductory accounting class in an undergraduate business degree. In making changes to the learning environment, we survey students and find that there are significant differences between the flexible student, that is, students that are already exposed in a limited way to this approach, and the face-to-face student. Results indicate further action research is required if the flipped learning approach is to be considered a serious teaching and learning contender for the first-year student.     

Fair Value Accounting and Debt Contracting: Evidence from Adoption of SFAS 159

We examine how fair value accounting affects debt contract design, specifically the use and definition of financial covenants in private loan contracts. Using SFAS 159 adoption as our setting, we find that a small but significant proportion of loans (14.5%) modify covenant definitions to exclude the effects of SFAS 159 fair values. Only a limited number of these modifications exclude assets elected at fair value (less than 7%), while all exclude liabilities elected at fair value. Notably, we document that covenant definition modification is unassociated with ex ante fair value elections. We find that covenant definition modification positively varies with common incentive problems attributed to fair value accounting and negatively varies with benefits attributed to fair value accounting. Our results suggest that fair value accounting is not uniformly detrimental for debt contracting and fair value adjustments are included when they are most likely to improve performance measurement.     

Use of social media by university accounting students and its impact on learning outcomes

The proliferation in the use of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, among university students is well documented. With many universities providing student resources in formats suitable for iPad, laptop, and mobile phone use, the use of social media for university activities has become easier. This study explores the use of social media by university accounting degree students to support their academic activities in an informal setting. It explores the impact these media have on learning outcomes. Our findings suggest that university accounting degree students use social media for a number of academic-related purposes. Students establish and maintain fluid mentor/mentee relationships around academic activities related interactions through the social media. We have found that the use of Social Media is significantly associated with students’ grades.     

Institutional Differences and International Private Debt Markets: A Test Using Mandatory IFRS Adoption

Institutional differences between countries result in additional information risks between borrowers and lenders in cross‐border private loans. This study examines the effect of these information risks on the structure of optimal debt contracts in international (cross‐border) versus domestic private debt markets. Using mandatory IFRS adoption as an indicator for institutional changes that reduced differences between countries, I compare attributes of international versus domestic loans before and after IFRS adoption. I find that, in the pre‐IFRS period, international loans are associated with a higher credit spread, a weaker relationship between the bank and the borrower, a more diffuse loan syndicate, and less reliance on accounting‐based covenants than domestic loans. These results are consistent with incremental information risks in international debt markets that make it more costly for lenders to screen and monitor borrower credit quality, resulting in a more arm's‐length relationship between borrowers and lenders. Many of these associations attenuate after IFRS adoption, suggesting that the pre‐IFRS differences in contract terms are driven by incremental information risks related to institutional differences between countries. My findings imply that incremental information risks result in a different optimal contract in international debt contracts compared to domestic debt contracts.