{"title":"The Changing Role of Accrual Accounting: International Evidence","authors":"Haidan Li, Siqi Li","doi":"10.2308/jiar-2022-019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2308/jiar-2022-019","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Under the accrual accounting model, the timing role of accruals leads to a negative correlation between accruals and cash flows. Our study investigates the time-series trend of the timing role of accruals and finds a temporal decline in the magnitude of the correlation between accruals and cash flows in our sample of 51 countries over 1991–2019. This decline is primarily caused by increases in loss firms and operation volatility. Several accounting and economic factors, such as the use of accrual accounting, discretionary accruals, matching between revenues and expenses, IFRS adoption, and accounting connectedness, are positively associated with the strength of the accrual-cash flow relation and therefore decelerate the decline of the accrual timing role. Additional analysis suggests that the decline in accrual timing over time is present regardless of a country’s economic growth, legal tradition or institutions, and the extent of the use of accrual accounting.\u0000 JEL Classifications: M41.","PeriodicalId":45457,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41954409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Labor Market Institutions, Environmental Disclosure, and Environmental Impacts","authors":"Hsuan-Lien Chu, Nai-Yng Liu, Albert H. C. Tsang","doi":"10.2308/jiar-2022-015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2308/jiar-2022-015","url":null,"abstract":"We examine how country-level labor market characteristics affect corporate environmental disclosure practices and the environmental impacts of firms’ operations. Using a sample of firms from 36 countries over the 2005–2016 period, we show that firms domiciled in countries with more developed labor markets have higher levels of environmental disclosure and less damaging environmental impacts than firms in countries with less developed labor markets. In addition, we find that firms operating in countries with better-developed labor markets tend to reduce their environmental impacts through the purchase of goods and services rather than through substantive changes to their own operations. Taken together, the findings suggest that better-developed country-level labor market institutions play an important role in improving firms’ environmental disclosure and in reducing their environmental impacts.","PeriodicalId":45457,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45269121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Attracting Female Directors in the United States: The Roles of Boards, Executives, and Other Stakeholders","authors":"Lauren M. Cunningham, Laurie E. Ereddia","doi":"10.2308/jiar-2021-096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2308/jiar-2021-096","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Previous research related to board gender diversity typically focuses on international settings outside of the U.S. In this study, we examine the influence of boards, executives, and other stakeholders in appointing a female director candidate to a U.S. board, which is a voluntary regime dominated by male candidates. Following institutional theory, social identity theory, and resource dependence theory, we find that boards, executives, and institutional investors play persistent roles across various time periods, company sizes, and levels of CEO power. Workforce and customer stakeholders have become significant influencers only in more recent years and in smaller firms. Understanding factors that allow firms to successfully attract female board members in a voluntary regime should be of interest to board members and regulators worldwide. Our findings should also be of interest to accounting academics examining the role of board gender diversity in the oversight of audit, financial reporting, and tax policies.\u0000 Data Availability: All data are publicly available from the cited sources.\u0000 JEL Classifications: G34; M48.","PeriodicalId":45457,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43993799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Effects of In-Group Identity and Clarity of the Bonus Determination Criteria on Supervisors’ Discretionary Bonus Adjustments: Field Evidence from China","authors":"Joanna L. Y. Ho, Cody Lu, A. Wu","doi":"10.2308/jiar-2022-013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2308/jiar-2022-013","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This study examines the influence of in-group identity between supervisors and subordinates and the clarity of the bonus determination criteria on supervisors’ discretionary adjustments of subordinates’ bonus compensation through the lens of social identity theory. Using field data from a multinational manufacturing company’s subsidiary in China, we find that in-group sales agents receive higher bonus awards and that this effect is more pronounced when there is high clarity of the bonus determination criteria. Additional analysis shows that these effects hold for higher-tenured sales agents and in regions characterized by lower sales agent turnover. Finally, we find that higher bonus awards are positively (negatively) associated with in-group sales agents’ future performance when there is low (high) clarity of the bonus determination criteria. Our findings hold potential implications for management practices in corporations operating in countries that have strong relationship-based cultures.\u0000 Data Availability: Data used in this study are provided by a proprietary source.","PeriodicalId":45457,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49488810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Covers and Front Matter","authors":"","doi":"10.2308/1542-6297-22.1.i","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2308/1542-6297-22.1.i","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45457,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134950112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant: Real-Time Comment Letters and Large M&As in China","authors":"Shuo Yang","doi":"10.2308/jiar-2021-064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2308/jiar-2021-064","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This paper investigates how communications between regulators and firms through comment letters affect the outcomes of large mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in China. Unlike the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which uses comment letters to improve the accuracy of the measurement of deals, Chinese regulators worry about controlling shareholders' self-dealing and use real-time comment letters to expose suspicious deal specifics and to create pressure for controlling shareholders to back down. I find that the Chinese stock exchanges issue more severe comment letters on deal filings that indicate controlling shareholders’ expropriation of minority shareholders. More severe comment letters are associated with a lower market response to the receipt of letters, predict a higher probability of voluntary deal cancellation by management, and indirectly increase the probability of deal withdrawal and lengthen the processing time for equity-funded deals by affecting the approving body’s scrutiny level.","PeriodicalId":45457,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42615931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interaction Effect of Foreign Language and Obedience Pressure on Ethical Judgment in Accounting: Evidence from Japan","authors":"S. Sugahara, Noriyuki Tsunogaya, Jong-Hoon Kim","doi":"10.2308/jiar-2020-057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2308/jiar-2020-057","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This study examines the interaction effect of foreign language and obedience pressure from superiors on the ethical judgment in an auditing context. We conducted a 2 × 2 between-participants experiment with language and obedience pressure as independent variables. Participants are accounting students from eight leading universities in Japan to proxy entry-level auditing professionals. They were asked to provide their judgments based on a consolidation reporting scenario. We found that, under obedience pressure, foreign language use makes one’s judgment less aligned with the superior’s preference (less compliant) than the use of the native language. These results provide new insights regarding the potential boundary of the foreign language effect in auditing issues.","PeriodicalId":45457,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44163627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Two Decades of African Accounting Research 2000–2019: Synthesis, Reflection, Gaps, and Future Directions","authors":"N. Waweru, Songlan Peng, T. Hopper","doi":"10.2308/jiar-2021-078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2308/jiar-2021-078","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This structured literature review analyzes 179 African accounting research articles in 38 major accounting journals published from 2000 to 2019 (inclusive) to assess trends of publications in these journals, topics covered or neglected, research methods employed, the main contributing authors, their research impact, opportunities for future research, and challenges confronting this field. It found that, despite the increase in research publications on Africa, they were almost absent in the top 6 accounting journals and had little presence in the remaining 32. The analysis of research methods, contributing authors, and research impact found that much African research has adopted a qualitative approach, unlike the U.S. tradition employing mostly quantitative and economics-based methods, and most top-contributing authors either originated from Africa or were affiliated with an African university. There was a regional imbalance of African accounting research, which covered only 19 of the 54 countries. These were larger, richer, and had stock markets.","PeriodicalId":45457,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49038463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial Policy","authors":"","doi":"10.2308/1542-6297-22.1.e","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2308/1542-6297-22.1.e","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45457,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134950113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does the U.S. Market Reward Foreign Firms and Domestic Firms Differently? Evidence from Meeting-or-Beating Earnings Expectations","authors":"J. Bannister, L. Ho, Xiaoxiao Song","doi":"10.2308/jiar-2021-108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2308/jiar-2021-108","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This paper investigates whether the U.S. market rewards cross-listed foreign firms and domestic firms differently when they meet or beat earnings expectations (MBE). Using 1,800 matched pairs of foreign firms and domestic firms from year 2005 to 2014, we find that (1) the MBE premium is discounted for foreign firms compared to U.S. domestic firms, (2) although the reward for MBE is discounted for foreign firms, they suffer a similar penalty as domestic firms when they miss expectations, (3) foreign firms from countries with strong legal enforcement and full or substantial IFRS adoption enjoy an MBE premium similar to that of domestic firms, while foreign firms from countries with weak legal enforcement and without full or substantial IFRS adoption experience a discounted MBE premium, and (4) both language difference and culture distance appear to account for the differential MBE premium between foreign firms and domestic firms as well.","PeriodicalId":45457,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44209535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}