Jamie Y. Tong , James Thewissen , Serene Xu Ni , Shimin Chen
{"title":"CEO retirement and cost stickiness","authors":"Jamie Y. Tong , James Thewissen , Serene Xu Ni , Shimin Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100738","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100738","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cost stickiness is a crucial concern in accounting research. Prior research sheds light on how cost asymmetry is shaped by managerial decisions in adjusting resources either for value maximization or self-interest. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the degree of cost stickiness and intentional resource adjustments made by Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) approaching retirement age. Based on a sample of United States firms between 1993 and 2019, our findings indicate that CEOs approaching retirement tend to reduce their selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses in response to declining sales. This effect is more pronounced when motivating and monitoring mechanisms are weaker. We also explore the influence of cultural differences on corporate decision making and find that the reduction in SG&A costs is more substantial among CEOs coming from countries with a stronger future oriented language. We conduct additional analyses to address endogeneity concerns and to check the robustness of our main findings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53221,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation","volume":"60 ","pages":"Article 100738"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145796606","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":"Audit effort and audit fee stickiness","authors":"Nikolaos I. Karampinis","doi":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100741","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100741","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the presence of fee stickiness in response to declines in audit effort. Potential drivers of reduced effort include changes in client characteristics, auditor learning, and lower audit quality with extended tenure. The asymmetric fee response to reductions in audit effort is conceptually grounded in the credence nature of audit services and the role of transaction costs. Using a proprietary dataset of audit hours from a large sample of public and private firms in Greece, I find that audit fees decrease less in response to reductions in audit hours than they increase with equivalent effort increases – an evidence of audit fee stickiness. This stickiness is most pronounced among the largest international accounting firm auditors with medium tenure. Audit fee stickiness is also positively associated with greater information asymmetry between the auditor and the client, larger changes in audit effort, and higher accounting quality. Collectively, the findings suggest that audit fee stickiness primarily reflects accumulated auditor learning rather than deteriorating audit quality, and that it is more attributable to the credence attributes of audit services than to transaction costs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53221,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation","volume":"60 ","pages":"Article 100741"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145693762","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}
Francesca Rossignoli , Saverio Bozzolan , Andrea Lionzo
{"title":"Financial expert CEOs: Evidence from purchase price allocation","authors":"Francesca Rossignoli , Saverio Bozzolan , Andrea Lionzo","doi":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100711","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100711","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Drawing from the Upper Echelons Theory (UET), this study assesses how firms’ accounting outcomes at the transaction level are influenced by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)’s individual characteristic of financial expertise and managerial status from structural and relational power. We use Purchase Price Allocation (PPA) as a key empirical context, given its technical nature. Utilizing a proprietary dataset that includes information on business combination and key officers’ characteristics, we employ multivariate analysis to explore the relationship between the CEO financial expertise and reporting transparency, and the moderating role of the CEO’s power. Our findings indicate that firms led by financial expert CEOs are more likely to allocate the purchase price to specific assets. Furthermore, CEOs’ structural power enhances the impact of financial expertise on PPA decisions, whereas relational power does not support a similar effect. Robustness checks confirm the validity of our results. This research contributes to the accounting literature by extending UET predictions, highlighting that accounting outcomes are systematically influenced by CEO financial expertise and illustrating how different managerial status within corporate governance affect financial reporting transparency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53221,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 100711"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144578856","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 journal of international accounting, auditing and taxation (JIAAT) excellence in reviewing 2024","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100710","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100710","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53221,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 100710"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145527804","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}
Christos I. Negkakis , Ioannis C. Negkakis , Christos Pavlou , Antonios Persakis
{"title":"Tax avoidance and evasion under economic political uncertainty: The moderating roles of tax morale and religiosity","authors":"Christos I. Negkakis , Ioannis C. Negkakis , Christos Pavlou , Antonios Persakis","doi":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100717","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100717","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine the effect of Economic Political Uncertainty (EPU), measured by the World Uncertainty Index developed by <span><span>Ahir et al. (2022)</span></span>, on tax evasion and avoidance across 39 countries from 1995 to 2015. We further examine the moderating effects of tax morale and religiosity. We highlight how EPU impacts corporate decisions to engage in tax sheltering, and we document the moderating role of tax morale and religiosity. The findings suggest that during periods of higher EPU, firms are more inclined to engage in tax avoidance than evasion. Additionally, higher levels of tax morale moderate the impact of EPU on tax avoidance in developed economies, while religiosity moderates the impact of EPU on both tax avoidance and evasion across the whole sample and specifically in developing countries. We contribute to the understanding of how sociocultural factors influence the relationship between EPU and corporate tax behavior. We offer important insights for policymakers designing tax regulations and firms developing tax strategies in different political and economic environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53221,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 100717"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145060193","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 female audit partners matter for audit quality? Evidence from Iran","authors":"Javad Oradi , Naser Makarem , Reza Hesarzadeh","doi":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100706","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100706","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine the link between female audit partners and audit quality in Iran, a patriarchal country with significant gender disparity, especially in upper organizational ranks. We analyze data from firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2020, where audit reports are signed by two partners: the engagement partner and the review partner. We find that the presence of a female engagement partner is associated with higher audit quality, measured by modified audit opinions (MAOs), audit failures, and audit fees. We also find that female review partners are associated with a higher likelihood of issuing an MAO and fewer audit failures; however, their impact on audit fees is not significant. In addition, the combination of two male audit partners (without a female audit partner) is associated with lower-quality audits, suggesting that gender diversity at the top level of audit teams contributes to audit quality in the Iranian setting. Further analysis shows that the impact of female engagement partners on MAOs and audit failure (audit fees) is more pronounced if they are appointed by private (state) audit firms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53221,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 100706"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144212379","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}
Jean Jinghan Chen , Lingyu Huang , Jason Zezhong Xiao , Haoyu Zhang
{"title":"Do auditors charge clients with higher audit fees for blockchain investments?","authors":"Jean Jinghan Chen , Lingyu Huang , Jason Zezhong Xiao , Haoyu Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100707","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100707","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the impact of clients’ blockchain investments on audit fees. Using a sample of A-share Chinese listed firms spanning the 2015–2019 period, we find a positive association between blockchain investments and audit fees, which is stronger for client firms that have adopted blockchain than those that have only invested in this technology. Our channel analysis further reveals that higher audit fees stem from the increase in client firms’ audit risk and the greater effort in audit planning and execution by the auditors. The positive association between blockchain investments and audit fees is attenuated by audit firms’ extensive information technology (IT) experience and is intensified by considerable external attention to clients’ blockchain activities. Our results are robust to a battery of endogeneity and other robustness checks. This research casts new light on the interactions between disruptive technologies and external auditor practices, as reflected in audit fees.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53221,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 100707"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144313942","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":"Management tone and corporate information asymmetry in times of pandemic crisis","authors":"Yang Wang , Xin Chen , Yifei Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100708","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100708","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this paper, we study the impact of management tones on corporate information asymmetry at earnings communication conferences during China’s COVID-19 outbreak. We show that firms’ information asymmetry was reduced when management used more positive tones. This positive effect was more pronounced for firms in those regions more affected by the pandemic, when participants raised more questions, or when the Chief Executive Officers attended at these conferences. We argue that an internet search is a channel through which management tones reduce information asymmetry. Our paper sheds light on the importance of management tones during a crisis and highlights the positive roles that top management engagement and conference participants’ activism play in the information environment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53221,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 100708"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144330247","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}
Ali Uyar , Habiba Al-Shaer , Cemil Kuzey , Abdullah S. Karaman
{"title":"Internal governance, external pressure, and biodiversity disclosure","authors":"Ali Uyar , Habiba Al-Shaer , Cemil Kuzey , Abdullah S. Karaman","doi":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100703","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100703","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The declining rate of biodiversity due to land, water, and air pollution is alarming. Thus, stakeholders expect firms to engage with cleaner operational processes to preserve biodiversity and share their practices with biodiversity disclosure. To provide a catalyst for biodiversity engagement and disclosure, we explore two important mechanisms: the internal by examining board structure; and the external governance mechanisms by signing the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) commitment and by checking individual country’s public governance quality measured by Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI). Our initial empirical analysis assesses their association with biodiversity disclosure, followed by an assessment of the substitutive or complementary role of these two governance mechanisms in spurring biodiversity disclosure. Analyzing 46,564 observations affiliated with nine sectors and 47 countries, we find that directors with other corporate affiliations as well as independent and female directors spur biodiversity disclosure. Furthermore, the UNGC signatory commitment and WGI stimulate firms’ biodiversity disclosure. Although UNGC signatory status and board structure are substitutes for driving biodiversity disclosure, the interaction effect of WGI with boards of directors is not uniform. For example, WGI and directors affiliated with other corporations are substitutes, but WGI and independent directors are complements in spurring biodiversity disclosure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53221,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 100703"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144147137","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 meetings matter in the insurance industry?","authors":"Michael Adams , Zafeira Kastrinaki","doi":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100713","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2025.100713","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the link between formally scheduled board meetings, profitability, and solvency in the United Kingdom’s (UK) property-casualty insurance industry. A panel data design using 83 UK insurers writing property casualty insurance for the period 2004/5 to 2013/4 is employed. The study finds that increasing the number of board meetings scheduled each year enhances overall attendance rates. However, outside directors with financial experience have relatively better attendance rates than their counterparts with less technical expertise. The study also finds that overall board meeting attendance and directorate turn-out at strategy and remuneration meetings improve profitability but not solvency. In addition, board meeting attendance by outside directors falls when prior period profitability is sound, suggesting a ’complacency-effect’ among non-executives. The lack of significance between solvency and both total and outside director attendance also hints at a ’dependency-effect’, whereby boards rely on professional managers (actuarial technocrats) to optimize financial strength and condition. Our results have implications for insurers and regulators in deciding on the suitability of candidates applying for board-level positions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53221,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 100713"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144704742","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}