Pacific Accounting Review最新文献

{"title":"Do state tax changes affect corporate tax aggressiveness? US evidence","authors":"Dawei Jin, Hao Shen, Haizhi Wang, Desheng Yin","doi":"10.1108/par-09-2021-0156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/par-09-2021-0156","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore whether and to what extent the changes in state corporate income tax rates affect corporate tax aggressiveness.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using a differences-in-differences approach with dynamic treatment, the authors investigate the effect of staggered changes in state corporate income tax rates in the USA on corporate tax aggressiveness.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Firms become more aggressive in avoiding taxes following state tax increases but are insensitive to tax cuts. The effect of state tax increases on tax aggressiveness is weaker for firms with greater debt tax shields and marginal tax rates. Firms are more likely to shift their operations and relocate their headquarters out of states experiencing tax increases.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to study the relation between state tax policy changes and corporate tax aggressiveness. This paper finds an asymmetrical pattern of corporate tax aggressiveness in response to state tax changes.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46088,"journal":{"name":"Pacific Accounting Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45148373","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":"Do board secretaries influence annual report readability?","authors":"Wenzhang Sun, Jiawei Zhu, Xuhui Wang","doi":"10.1108/par-01-2022-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/par-01-2022-0014","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of board secretaries’ characteristics on annual report readability using an original method that evaluates the readability of Chinese characters.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The authors manually collect board secretaries’ characteristics from the China Securities Market and Accounting Research database and obtain annual reports from the China Information website. Ordinary least square regression is applied to evaluate the impact, and then robustness tests and additional regression analyses are conducted.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Board secretaries’ legal-professional expertise, international expertise and role duality improve annual report readability. However, their political connections are negatively associated with it. The effect of expertise (role duality) is more pronounced for firms with lower ex ante litigation risk (board secretaries with equity holdings). Furthermore, higher readability increases the compensation of board secretaries, whereas lower readability increases their turnover. Finally, annual report readability is positively related to firm performance.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The authors only investigate listed firms in China from 2007 to 2017 because of the difficulties of obtaining data and text mining.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The authors provide managerial insights for regulators aiming to establish an effective governance mechanism with Chinese characteristics. First, certain requirements for board secretaries’ expertise can improve annual report readability. Further, firms can consider appointing board members or senior executives as board secretaries to enhance disclosure quality.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to verify the effect of board secretaries’ characteristics on disclosure quality, especially annual report readability. Moreover, this study proposes a novel measure of annual report readability for Chinese texts.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46088,"journal":{"name":"Pacific Accounting Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42483200","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":"A comparative analysis of capital structure of G-20 firms on regional basis","authors":"Muhammad Riaz, Shu Jinghong, U. Siddiqi","doi":"10.1108/par-07-2021-0123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/par-07-2021-0123","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this study is to illuminate financial commitment of a firm vis-a-vis corporate behavior of 519 reported fabric businesses in G-20 states. This study also aims to take into account the regional baseline comparisons (i.e. subsampling) of G-20 firms based on the available data. The pattern of the current study comes from the registered companies in the G-20 states. For the fabricating business, the 2007–2018 annual financial statements are obtained from the Thomson Reuters Data Stream and World Stock Exchange.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000For the investigation, the panel data were analyzed from the period 2007–2018 by applying summary statistics of ordinary least square, correlation matrix and generalized method of moments.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings of this study suggest that Ln assets, dividends and investments have a positive association with the debt level. In addition, profitability and working capital were negatively associated with change in total debt under pecking order theory.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The effects of the geographical location of the firms and current global economic downturn were accounted for the capital structure decisions and corporate performance of G-20 firms.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This study instigates observed phenomenon elicited from capital structure theory by applying analytical method, instead of describing them in terms of administrative selection, taking measure and chief financial officers risk preference. Finally, work is required to form new hypothesis and explore novel factors that could enrich academic scholars’ motivation.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46088,"journal":{"name":"Pacific Accounting Review","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41581069","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 increasing number of subsidiaries and stock price crash risk: evidence from the Chinese stock market","authors":"Saisai Li, Qianhua Lei, Liuyang Ren","doi":"10.1108/par-07-2021-0120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/par-07-2021-0120","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000With the development of the economy, an increasing number of listed companies form subsidiaries in China. Though the increase in the number of subsidiaries affects the hierarchical structure and risk of conglomerates, few studies relate the hierarchical relationship between the parent company and its subsidiaries to its capital market performance at the conglomerate level. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship between the number of subsidiaries and crash risk.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using a sample of all the A-share companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets from 2007 to 2015, this study conducts multivariate regression analyses between the number of subsidiaries and the stock price crash risk.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000This study finds an inversed U relationship between the number of subsidiaries and the stock price crash risk, and the above inversed U relationship is steeper in conglomerates with stronger managerial power and less finance distress.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This research has an incremental contribution to the agency problem and governance effect of the parent–subsidiary system in conglomerates. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to show a significant quadratic relationship between the future crash risk and the number of subsidiaries. This paper provides new evidence that the number of subsidiaries has an incremental ability to predict future firm-specific crash risk above other predictors identified by previous research.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46088,"journal":{"name":"Pacific Accounting Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46314308","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":"Guest editorial: Accounting in transition: influence of technology, sustainability and diversity","authors":"S. Chong, A. Rahman, A. Narayan","doi":"10.1108/par-07-2022-210","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/par-07-2022-210","url":null,"abstract":"The conference saw a line-up of experts which among others included The Honourable James Shaw, Minister of Climate Change in New Zealand, who promoted the incorporating of climate change information as a part of the New Zealand financial reporting framework;and Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley who shared his knowledge, experiences and thoughts on diversity and ethnicity. Impact of technology on the required skills of tomorrow’s accountants The adoption and use of new technology such as intelligent automation, big data, blockchain and cloud-based software have brought about significant changes to the accounting profession (Qasim and Kharbat, 2020). The authors find a climate of positive attitude towards new technology and accompanying actions in the Big-Four firms and that financial auditors are providing deep business insights through data visualisation. The manuscripts on the technological influences on accounting suggest that digital transformation has radically changed the nature of accounting practices and for accountants to be ready to leverage the potential of digital tools, they need to focus on developing their core competencies through lifelong education and skill development training.","PeriodicalId":46088,"journal":{"name":"Pacific Accounting Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44564332","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":"How accountants responded to the financial fallout owing to the COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"V. Botes, H. Davey, Daniel Esposo, B. R. Smit","doi":"10.1108/par-09-2020-0177","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/par-09-2020-0177","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the last time a crisis affected businesses worldwide by putting economies into hibernation was in 1918 – the Great Influenza Pandemic. Environmental, social and governance frameworks require businesses to respond to such crises as it significantly changes the business environment. With approximately 2.84 million accountants existing across 130 countries, this study aims to determine whether the accounting profession responded to this crisis. As these responses can provide insights into the type of activities accountants performed during the lockdown, the authors analysed them for emerging themes and identified changes in the way that accountants performed tasks.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using search engines, the authors examined publicly available secondary sources such as websites of professional bodies, the Big Four and mid-tier accounting firms and government organisations using the keyword “COVID-19” to identify responses on issues faced by accountants during the 2020 lockdown period in New Zealand. The authors used interpretive text analysis to examine the responses for emerging themes.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The accountants’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic emphasised information technology and soft skills but most importantly the interaction, integration and immersion of technical skills with information technology and soft skills. The findings also highlight changes in the way accountants performed their tasks.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The study insights enable accounting academics to better understand the interconnection between hard and soft skills for incorporating it in syllabi, thereby preparing students for future roles. In addition, the study findings will assist both practitioners and researchers to explore the emerging changes in the way accountants perform their tasks.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46088,"journal":{"name":"Pacific Accounting Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46043198","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":"Stock market reactions of Malaysian firms and industries towards events surrounding COVID-19 announcements and number of confirmed cases","authors":"Redhwan Aldhamari, Ku Nor Izah Ku Ismail, Haithm Mohammed Al-sabri, M. Saleh","doi":"10.1108/par-08-2020-0125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/par-08-2020-0125","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to examine the stock market reactions of firms and industries in Malaysia to the government’s COVID-19 movement control order (MCO) announcement. As China is Malaysia’s leading trading partner, the authors also observe if the Chinese Government’s confirmation of human-to-human coronavirus transmission affects firms’ stock market reactions. In addition, this study examines whether the Malaysian Government’s ease of restrictions on economic activities affects firms’ stock market reactions. Finally, this study analyses the effect of COVID-19 number of confirmed cases on firms’ abnormal returns.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This study uses an event study methodology to determine the abnormal returns between day −30 to day 30 of the announcements. In addition, this study uses the regression estimation to determine whether the COVID-19 number of confirmed cases explain the abnormal returns.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000This study finds that investors react negatively to the announcement of the MCO and confirmation of the human-to-human transmission of coronavirus over the event windows. However, the cumulative average abnormal returns (CAARs) started to recover when stimulus packages were introduced, and the lockdown measures were eased, allowing businesses to reopen. This study also finds that only firms in the health-care sector reported significant positive CAARs. Stock returns of the utilities and telecommunication firms showed no changes, while eight other sectors fell remarkably. The results also show that the COVID-19 number of confirmed cases adversely affects firms’ abnormal returns.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000This study suggests that stock prices incorporate bad and good news surrounding the announcements of major international and local events related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, investors should consider such factors in making investment decisions.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the early research works investigating the stock market reactions to the COVID-19 major announcements (MCO, human-to-human transmission and ease of restrictions on economic activities) using an event study methodology in an emerging market, namely, Malaysia. This study is timely in light of the recently increasing calls for researchers to analyse the potential economic impacts of COVID-19 on global capital markets, especially in emerging markets whose evidence is scarce.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46088,"journal":{"name":"Pacific Accounting Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48187714","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":"Board characteristics, ownership concentration and SME IPO underpricing","authors":"N. Arora, Balwinder Singh","doi":"10.1108/par-08-2020-0111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/par-08-2020-0111","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose This study aims to explore the moderating impact of governance structure, that is, board characteristics including board size, board independence, board committees and ownership structure like ownership concentration, on the underpricing of small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) initial public offerings (IPOs) in the context of an emerging economy such as India. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample size of 403 SME IPOs listed on Bombay Stock Exchange SME platform and National Stock Exchange EMERGE, this study uses moderated hierarchical regression analysis to investigate these relationships. Findings The findings highlighted that board independence, board committees and ownership concentration negatively influence underpricing measured using market-adjusted excess returns. While analysing the moderating relationship, this study finds that ownership concentration positively moderates the relationship between board independence and underpricing, as well as the relationship between board committees and IPO underpricing. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to a single country only. Although perfectly suitable for our research inquiry, it is imperative to check the validity of the findings by extending it to other emerging countries with similar socio-economic characteristics. Furthermore, this study tested the hypotheses concerning three board characteristics only. Hence, it could be extended to explore additional governance characteristics for a more comprehensive understanding. Practical implications This study provides a foundation for managers to adopt a fine-grained approach to effectively design the board structure ahead of an IPO event. Additionally, the findings may assist policymakers in formulating various policies and guide regulators in regulating the limit on ownership held by various shareholders to prevent their opportunism. The results of this study may further advise potential investors interested in SME IPO firms to critically consider the ownership concentration as a driving factor when scrutinizing their investment portfolios. Originality/value This study is unique as it advances the debate on the importance of a governance characteristic, that is, ownership concentration, as a moderating variable in the underexplored context of IPO underpricing of small- and medium-sized firms in India.","PeriodicalId":46088,"journal":{"name":"Pacific Accounting Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43380039","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":"Culture and the decision to adopt and use social media for corporate disclosures","authors":"Linghuan Ma, A. Rahman","doi":"10.1108/par-06-2021-0104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/par-06-2021-0104","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to examine the influence of culture on the adoption and use of social media platforms for corporate disclosures by firms in a cross-country setting.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000It is contended that social media corporate disclosure (SMCD) is culturally influenced because the primary purpose of social media is to connect people in social settings, and social settings are distinguished by their cultures. Using a sample of 1,420 firms from 36 countries and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, this study examines the direct effects of culture on SMCD and its moderating effects on the relationship between SMCD and the agency determinants of corporate disclosure.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000It is found that cultural dimensions directly affect the adoption and use of SMCD. Additionally, the agency determinants of disclosure, size, leverage and growth are positively associated with the adoption, and use of SMCD, and these associations are moderated by the cultural dimensions.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The Hofstede cultural dimensions are broad country-level variables based on the culture of the majority in the population. However, larger countries have many cultures. This study does not cover within-country cultural effects on SMCD. It also does not cover firm-level culture and accounting culture because these factors are derived from national culture. This study adds culture as a country-level determinant of why companies adopt and use social media.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The study provides investors and policymakers with an understanding of the nature of SMCD adoption and use in different cultural settings. It also makes managers aware of which cultural settings are more amenable to SMCD.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000Social media, by design, have social implications. Examining the role of culture in the use of social media provides societal reasons for the use of SMCD by companies.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Since social media are interactive in form rather than simply one-way disclosure devices, this study goes beyond the realm of corporate disclosure into the less researched area of corporate communication via social media.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46088,"journal":{"name":"Pacific Accounting Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47410343","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":"A contingency-based accountability and governance framework for the non-profit sector in the post-COVID-19 era","authors":"H. Huang","doi":"10.1108/par-09-2020-0164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/par-09-2020-0164","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The COVID-19 global pandemic has caused significant disruptions to the non-profit sector, highlighting the issues that the narrowly focused, traditional conception of governance fails to address. The purpose of this paper is to propose a contingency-based framework with its theoretical underpinnings in the existing literature, in order to support future empirical research on non-profit governance and accountability practices.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000From a theoretical perspective, this paper synthesizes relevant existing literature and proposes a contingency-based accountability and governance framework in the non-profit sector. This paper draws on Ostrower and Stone’s (2010) contingency-based framework on boards and Hyndman and McDonnell’s (2009) conception of governance systems. This paper engages with the New Zealand and Australia context while reviewing relevant literature and relevant regulations.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The global pandemic has caused severe worldwide disruptions both socially and economically. There have been dramatic changes to the ways in which non-profit organisations (NPOs) operate. There is an urgent need to understand how such changes in the external environment impact on NPOs’ governance and accountability practices. In this context, the contingency-based accountability and governance framework proposed in this paper has important implications for non-profit research, while opening up an avenue for future research in this field.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000This paper does not involve empirical analysis.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000This paper contributes by facilitating better understanding on how external contingencies like the COVID-19 global pandemic affect the external and internal environment of an NPO, how they impact on stakeholders and their interplay with an NPO’s governance and accountability systems. It also suggests that regulators of the non-profit sector, umbrella support organisations, and funders proactively encourage and guide NPOs to embrace a wider scope of governance and strengthen the level of governance in the sector.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This paper contributes to the literature by proposing a contingency-based accountability and governance framework in the non-profit sector to support future research in this field. It also sheds light on competing theoretical debates relating to the conceptualisation and operationalization of accountability and governance.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46088,"journal":{"name":"Pacific Accounting Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47285417","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}