Accounting and the Public Interest
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Published By American Accounting Association

1530-9320, 1530-9320

Author(s):  
Brett A. Rixom ◽  
Jessica M. Rixom ◽  
Sonja Pippin ◽  
Jeffrey Wong

This study examines public perceptions of potential overseers charged with ensuring that relief packages are distributed to the intended audience. In an experiment, we assess perceptions of trustworthiness and fraud reduction ability between government and public accounting firm employees in the context of relief package oversight. While actual ability is important, public perceptions of overseer ability is also essential for relief packages to be fully effective. We find that people, regardless of their political party affiliation, rate public accounting firm employees as more trustworthy and better able to reduce fraud than government employees. For government oversight, participant political party affiliation influences perceptions of employee ability and is mediated by general trust in government. These findings suggest public accounting firms are a viable alternative to increase public perceptions that relief packages are distributed effectively. Initial evidence suggests educating the public on the role of career government employees may raise public opinion.


Author(s):  
Jean-François Henri ◽  
Marc Journeault ◽  
Michelle Rodrigue

We examine how managers orchestrate their eco-control package in reaction to different perceived environmental stakeholder pressures. Using survey data from Canadian manufacturing firms, our results show that environmental pressures perceived from societal stakeholders have a greater influence on the integration of environmental objectives into strategic planning than pressures perceived from business stakeholders. This suggests that business stakeholders act as a force that mostly maintains the scope of strategic environmental orientations, while societal stakeholders act as a force that mostly expands the scope of strategic orientations by stimulating further consideration of environmental issues as strategic objectives. The integration of environmental objectives in strategic planning stimulates a domino effect within the eco-control package, where the adaptation of strategic objectives leads to greater mobilization of other eco-controls. This domino effect represents successive effects among components of the eco-control package, revealing how stakeholder pressures play a role in stimulating multi-layered changes in eco-control mobilization.


Author(s):  
Wioleta Olczak ◽  
Dennis Patten

We investigate a phenomenon documented in Patten (2005) and Chen et al. (2014) regarding the overstatement of projections of future environmental capital expenditures (ECE) by firms operating in environmentally sensitive industries. Given that overstatement of ECE seems to be a common practice within these industries, we use an experimental design to examine whether two factors – an overstatement industry norm and/or a legitimacy threat – impact the likelihood of managers making higher ECE projections. Our results show participants are more likely to choose higher ECE projections in the presence relative to the absence of an overstatement industry norm.  However, in contrast to expectations, the presence of a legitimacy threat was not significantly associated with higher projected spending. These findings provide additional understanding of what may drive managers’ behavior regarding environmental disclosure decisions.


Author(s):  
Marc Cussatt ◽  
M. Kathleen Harris ◽  
Fangjun Xiao

A large body of diversity literature examines outcomes associated with specific dimensions of board diversity, such as gender or racial diversity. This paper provides descriptive evidence on inputs to board diversity by analyzing the language contained in diversity disclosures of companies listed on the 2019 Dow Jones Industrial Average. Our analyses demonstrate that the concept of diversity is vast, has different meanings to different audiences, and continues to evolve. In addition, we investigate whether the language used in the disclosures reflects actual diversity for the boards in our sample. Based on our analyses, we discuss potential normative implications, regulatory insights, and limitations related to the disclosures, and highlight avenues for future research. This study will be of interest to researchers and practitioners evaluating how diversity impacts board performance, as well as practitioners and regulators defining, implementing, and/or assessing diversity policies in the hiring process.


Author(s):  
Annika Beelitz ◽  
Charles H. Cho ◽  
Giovanna Michelon ◽  
Dennis M. Patten

A growing number of studies use a dichotomous variable indicating the presence of a standalone CSR report to capture impacts of CSR disclosure.  Our concern is that, without considering differences in the information provided, such an approach could lead to incorrect inferences regarding those impacts.  Accordingly, we extend prior research by examining whether, similar to differences in environmental disclosure, the mere presence of a standalone CSR report mitigates negative market reactions at times of regulatory cost exposure. We focus on the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster and a sample of international utilities with nuclear power generation.  Controlling for other factors related to social and regulatory cost exposures, we find only the environmental disclosures appear to reduce negative market effects.  We thus argue that, in exploring the impacts of CSR disclosure, researchers need to carefully consider, beyond just the presence of a CSR report, differences in the extent of information being provided.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Amy M. Hageman

Author(s):  
Lei Gao

Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires public companies to maintain platforms for employees to report questionable practices anonymously. Technological advancements have now enabled many firms to incorporate technology into their whistleblowing platforms. An online platform is often promoted as a medium that offers more anonymity than the traditional phone platform. Furthermore, developments in artificial intelligence have enhanced the creation of virtual agents, which can run 24/7/365 at a low cost. Using an experimental paradigm, this study found no significant difference in perceived anonymity between online reporting and phone reporting. The phone platform attracted more reporting intention when a live agent handled reports because witnesses feel more support when talking to a live agent over the phone. However, the witnesses were more likely to report to an online platform when a virtual agent handled the reports because witnesses believed that it is more efficient and provides greater control while reporting.


Author(s):  
Juliane B. Wutzler

This study aims to shed light on the determinants and consequences of the revolving door at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). While revolvers may be good monitors due to their SEC experience and, thus, continuously create benefits for the economy ("schooling"), it is possible that they exploit their insights into the enforcement process and private connections to undermine enforcement ("regulatory capture"). Using a newly created dataset of revolvers who moved from the SEC to company boards, this study shows that not all revolvers are appointed for the same reasons and create the same benefits for their new employers. I demonstrate that those revolvers most closely involved in the enforcement process are associated with fewer future enforcement actions while accounting quality does not improve. Contrarily, external revolvers seem to use their monitoring and advising duties to improve accounting quality.


Author(s):  
L. Emily Hickman ◽  
Jane Cote ◽  
Debra L. Sanders ◽  
T.J. Weber

Our experiment, with 106 practicing auditors, tests whether audit judgments are influenced by client CSR performance, individual auditors' views of CSR, and auditors' perceptions of client risk induced by CSR performance. Results indicate auditor judgments are less (more) conservative for clients with positive (negative) environmental performance. We find that client risk assessments mediate the link between environmental performance and account-level judgments. In contrast, results indicate that socially-oriented performance has no overall significant influence on audit judgments in our experiment. Overall, our results indicate that different dimensions of CSR and the salience of the CSR issue can have differential effects on audit judgments.


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