Climate for conflict management,exposure to workplace bullying and work engagement: a moderated mediation analysis

The present study investigates a potential preventive factor in relation to workplace bullying. Specifically, we examine how climate for conflict management (CCM) may be related to less bullying, increased work engagement, as well as whether CCM is a moderator in the bullying engagement relationship. The study was based on a cross-sectional survey among employees in a transport company (N = 312). Hypotheses were tested simultaneously in a moderated mediation analysis which showed that bullying and job engagement were related (H1), CCM was related to less reports of bullying (H2), CCM was related to work engagement (H3) and that CCM was indirectly related to job engagement through bullying (H4), but only when CCM was weak (H5). That is, CCM moderated the relationship between bullying and work engagement in that this relationship only existed when CCM was low. The present study contributes to theory within this research field by showing that organizational measures may not only prevent bullying, but may also affect how employees react when subjected to bullying. Furthermore, the effect of climate in relation to bullying may be down to the narrow bandwidth facet of CCM. The study informs employers how they may act to prevent bullying while also reducing the potential negative outcomes of those cases of bullying that inevitably will show up from time to time.     

Horizontal inequity under a dual income tax system: principles and measurement

Tax systems with separate taxation of wage and capital income, also called dual income tax systems, have gained relevance through the Mirrlees Review. Obviously, such tax systems are exposed to horizontal equity (HE) failures, or horizontal inequity (HI). HE and HI have a firm grip on assessment of fair tax policies, both from an academic point of view and in general public debate. The dual income tax system of Norway was modified by the tax reform of 2006 precisely because the previous schedule failed to deliver equal tax treatment of equals. This paper discusses the meaning and measurement of HI effects of dual income tax systems, and evaluates the development of HI for Norway over the time period 2000–2008 using microdata. A copula-based identification strategy efficiently establishes a framework for evaluations of HI over time. The dual income tax system and the early announcement of its impending revision during the period under examination created measurement problems which we had to account for by defining a new income concept for the empirical strategy. As expected, we find less HI in Norway after the reform of 2006.     

The Role and Current Status of IFRS in the Completion of National Accounting Rules – Evidence from Norway

Abstract

Although not a EU member, Norway is required to implement the EU Accounting Directive through its obligations under the EEA agreement. An expert group has prepared a draft law that will be decided upon by the legislator, most likely during 2017. The draft law has a strong orientation towards IFRS, which is evidenced in particular by the choice of IFRS for SMEs as the basis for Norwegian accounting standards.     

IFRS Policy Changes and the Continuation of National Patterns of IFRS Practice

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) contain several policy options. This paper examines the choices made in 2008/9 IFRS financial statements by large listed companies from five countries on all the options that are observable. We compare these choices with those that had been made by the same companies in 2005/6, which (except for the German companies) was the year of transition to IFRS. For Australian and UK companies, we find – as expected – that there were few policy changes. However, despite the constraints on policy change within IFRS, we find that French and Spanish companies not only made more changes than the other companies but that they also made more changes after transition than at transition. Further investigation reveals that these findings are largely driven by a small number of topics. One possible explanation for the pattern of these changes is a ‘learning’ process, which is supported by finding that nearly all the post-transition changes made by the French and Spanish companies were away from previous national requirements. However, we consider other possible explanations. We also present the profiles of IFRS practices for 2008/9. Despite the changes in policy from 2005/6, we find clear evidence that national patterns of IFRS practice continue through the period, so that international comparability remains in doubt.     

Discounting and the Treatment of Taxes in Impairment Reviews

Abstract:  IAS 36 requires an asset's recoverable amount to be measured by discounting its pre-tax rather than post-tax cash flows. Although defined so as to produce the same value, the pre-tax approach is claimed to be simpler and more reliable. The paper demonstrates that an appropriate pre-tax discount rate varies between assets with different tax depreciation schedules and that it changes over time. Hence, pre-tax discounting is likely to become complex. The paper advocates an amendment of the standard such that value in use is measured by company-specific after-tax cash flows, and such that deferred taxes are included in the impairment review.     

Understanding instrumental motivations for social responsibility engagement in a micro‐firm context

Firms engage in social responsibility activities for diverse reasons. This study focuses on understanding firms' instrumental motivations for engaging in socially responsible activities. We suggest that the instrumental motivations underlying firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement are associated with their market, learning, and risk‐related behaviors; thus, we identify market orientation, learning orientation, and risk‐taking attitudes as three constructs that influence firms' CSR engagement. This research was conducted in the Norwegian firewood sector, in which CSR expectations are high and in which we expect CSR engagement to be encouraged by both instrumental and normative motivations. The firms in this study are micro‐firms with fewer than 10 employees and represent an important but highly neglected segment of firms in CSR research. Data obtained from 230 firms were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Our results indicate that market orientation, learning orientation, and risk‐taking attitudes affect social responsibility toward different stakeholder groups in different ways. In some cases, the size and age of firms also affect these relationships.     

Bank stability and transparency

A number of recent policy initiatives have called for enhanced transparency of banking firms. While the hope is that enhanced transparency may improve incentives ex ante, it is less clear whether transparency is necessarily a good thing ex post, when a bank might have hit hard times and provision of information could have a destabilising effect. This paper provides a synopsis of these different effects and provides some new, bank-level evidence in an attempt to clarify empirically whether, taking ex ante and ex post effects together, transparency is likely to reduce or increase bank stability. The analysis suggests that, on balance, transparency reduces the chance of severe banking problems and thus enhances overall financial stability.     

Discussion of ‘Making Deferred Taxes Relevant’

Abstract

In this discussion of Brouwer and Naarding's article ‘Making Deferred Taxes Relevant’, which is published in this issue of Accounting in Europe, I question several aspects of their proposal to change the tax accounting standard. I argue that a quest for more value relevance of individual balance sheet items is not a good guideline for accounting standard setting. The distinction between book-first and tax-first temporary differences may be helpful for some analytical purposes, but it is not sufficiently robust to serve as a basis for an accounting standard. However, I agree with the authors that the efforts to improve IAS 12 should not be abandoned.     

Taxation of Housing: Killing Several Birds with One Stone

High and sustained housing-price growth has been observed in many countries over recent decades. In Norway, real housing prices increased by 200 percent between 1990 and 2015, and many households have high debts. In addition, maintaining the welfare state as the population ages likely involves higher taxes in the coming years. Norway taxes housing leniently. Increased taxation of housing is a way of killing several birds with one stone: generating tax revenue, moderating housing prices, and increasing efficiency. In this paper, I use a microsimulation model to determine the effects on revenue and distribution of a hypothetical tax change where housing is taxed as other capital assets. I take into account the effect of taxation on housing demand, using a simple user-cost model. This housing tax would increase personal tax revenue by 11 percent and make the tax system more progressive. Housing prices would fall by 20 percent.     

International differences in IFRS policy choice: A research note

Building on literature that suggests motives and opportunities for national versions of IFRS practice, we examine whether there are systematic differences in IFRS accounting policies between countries. Using information from the annual reports of companies in the blue chip indices of the largest five stock markets that use IFRS, we reject a null hypothesis that IFRS practice is the same across countries. For 16 accounting policy issues, we find instead significant evidence that pre‐ IFRS national practice continues where this is allowed within IFRS. By this, we document the existence of national patterns of accounting within IFRS. We also point out some policy implications that arise from our findings.