Digital Commons Network^™

Obstacles Facing The Development Of Forensic Accounting Curricula Within Australian Universities: Exploring Perspectives Of Practitioners And Educators, Hashem Al-Shurafat, John Sands, Gregory Jones, Claire Beattie

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

Forensic accounting education has become an increasingly significant issue in recent years. In Australia, universities have acknowledged the industry’s growing relevance, and there have been attempts to address gaps in the provision of forensic accounting education. Despite these efforts, forensic accounting education is frequently omitted in university programs. This paper seeks to identify the obstacles that influence the transformation of forensic accounting knowledge into university programs. To do so, this study explores the perspectives of two groups: forensic accounting practitioners and university academics. Simi-structured interviews were conducted with the two groups to gather their perception. The findings show that the …

Learning Environment And Approaches To Learning In China And Australia: A Tale Of Three Accounting Cohorts, Riccardo Natoli, Tracey Mcdowall, Zi Wei, Beverley Jackling

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate whether learning approaches are impacted by the learning environment across two countries and three accounting student cohorts. This paper utilises a logistic regression based on responses from 1,381 students across five higher education (HE) institutions from China and Australia. The findings provide original empirical evidence of the Chinese accounting students’ expectations of deep learning and show that student perceptions of good teaching is a key determinant to a deep approach to learning for all three student cohorts. In addition, clear goals and standards were significant for Chinese accounting students studying both …

Covid-19 Announcements And Investor Reactions On The Australian Securities Exchange, Hadrian Geri Djajadikerta, Terri Trireksani, Kwadjo Appiagyei

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

The extraordinary situation due to COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity to examine the behavioural patterns of investors by way of the level of trading activities on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) around the releases of crucial information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to identify abnormal trading volume at ASX around eight selected significant announcements and measures of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. The study finds sufficient evidence to indicate that the COVID-19 announcements and calculations influence investor decisions on the ASX as the pandemic evolved.

Stock Market Crashes In Australia: A Brief Technical Note, John Christie

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

This paper analyses the three stock market crashes in Australia which have occurred since the All Ordinaries Index was established in 1980. The index behaves in an approximately exponential manner leading up to each market crash and this behaviour can be interpreted as a sign of a looming market crash.

Does Corporate Governance Have A Say On Dividends In Australian Listed Companies?, Omar Al Farooque, Ali Hamid, Lan Sun

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

This paper investigates whether corporate governance has an impact on dividend policy in Australian listed firms. The empirical studies of corporate governance and dividend policy in the Australian context tend to have a limited scope and the findings are mixed. Unlike the existing literature, this paper provides a more comprehensive examination of the relationship between dividend policy and corporate governance mechanisms. Using a sample of 1,438 firm-year observations for the period of 2005 to 2011 and the panel data approach, this study finds that dividend payout is significantly positively (negatively) correlated with board size, board independence, institutional ownership and use …

Examining The Taxation Profession In Australia – A Framework, Michael Curran, Prem W.S. Yapa

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

This paper examines the nature of the taxation profession in Australia and its development over the past three decades and then suggests a framework to analyse important initiatives that have taken place during this period. Using secondary sources and the organizing principles of State, Market and Community (Puxty et al., 1987), we begin with the subject of tax policies and legislation introduced by the state and its impact on the tax profession in Australia. We follow this with a discussion relating to the recognition of Australian tax practice as a profession. The paper then focusses on two key areas of …

Australian, Malaysian And Indonesian Accounting Academics' Teaching Experiences During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hadrian Geri Djajadikerta, Terri Trireksani, Tricia Ong, Saiyidi Mat Roni, Soheil Kazemian, Junru Zhang, Abd Halim Mohd Noor, Shafinar Ismail, Mohamad Azmi Nias Ahmad, Zubir Azhar, Amirul Shah Md Shahbudin, Agus Fredy Maradona, Heri Yanto, Indah Fajarini Sri Wahyuningrum

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

This study analyses and presents accounting academics' experiences in six universities in Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia to adapt to the swift change to the remote virtual classroom delivery model forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, while also gaining valuable lessons from this unique situation. In this study, autoethnography's basic principles were used. The main results suggest that the universities' combined current information and communication technologies, learning management systems, blended learning experiences, training, and supports, although not without hitches, were able to accommodate the shift to a remote virtual classroom model quite effectively. However, the move to fully online assessment has been …

Valuation And Service Trusts, Ian Fargher

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

The oblique nature of control over assets of a trust has always been challenging when personal asset distribution is at issue. This is no more apparent than in the context of Family Law. Complex organisational arrangements may make sense when considering tax planning or asset protection strategies, however, they may present difficulties for the application of sections 79 and 75 of the Family Law Act 1975.

Specific difficulties are experienced when dissecting the economic structures of professionals, where the issues of professional and business intangible assets and tangible assets are held within service trust structures, intertwined with personal professional wages, …

Financial And Social Well-Being Performance After Privatisation Of The Port Of Brisbane: A Case Study, Mudiyanselage Upali Ranjith Jayasundara, Greg Jones, John Sands

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

Available literature has failed to provided a satisfactory expalination to the contradiction between ‘the theory of the firm’ and ‘stakeholder theory’ predictions related to financial and socialwellbeing performance of public versus private firms. Limited literature has evaluated the financial and social-wellbeing performance of privatised ports in Australia. This study investigates the potential impact of the privatisation of the Port of Brisbane Corporation (PBC) to the Port of Brisbane Proprietary Limited (PBPL) on its financial and social-wellbeing performance. Mixed methods research is employed following the theory of the firm, investigating the relationship between the change of ownership and financial and social-wellbeing …

Determinants Of Pro-Environmental Behaviours – A Cross Country Study Of Would-Be Managers, Asit Bhattacharyya, Kumar Biswas, Abdul Moyeen

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

Purpose: This cross-cultural based paper aims to provide an understanding of the determinants contributing to adopting pro-environmental behaviour by ‘would-be managers’ represented by MBA students studying in two highly carbon emitting yet contrasting countries – India and Australia. The paper particularly examines the effects of personal values, moral obligation, attitudes, and subjective norms on pro-environmental behavior of such would-be managers. Design/methodology/approach: In predicting the pro-environmental behavior of would-be managers, a conceptual model was developed by combining Schwartz’s (1992) value theory and Homer and Kahle’s cognitive hierarchy model of value-attitude-behaviour (VAB). Data was collected from 476 respondents consisting of 342 MBA …

Would The Singaporean Approach To Whistleblower Protection Laws Work In Australia?, John Mclaren, Wesley Kendall, Laura Rook

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

Federal, State and Territory Governments have enacted a range of statutory laws to protect whistleblowers. The aim of these laws is to provide protection to those individuals in the private and public sector who report unlawful acts made by organizations, contractors and their employees. Provided the disclosure is made in ‘good faith’, the person making the disclosure is afforded protection from being sued for defamation, breach of confidence under their employment contract or for breach of their common law fiduciary duty. This paper has two purposes; first, the objective of the Australian Government in introducing new whistleblowing laws that extend …

Super Behaviour: A Note On Young Australian Adults’ Engagement With Their Superannuation Accounts, Malcolm Anderson, Martin Clark, Ian Ramsay, Chander Shekhar

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

We examine the behaviour and attitudes towards superannuation of 25-34 year old Australians. Our results suggest that they are generally uninterested in their superannuation accounts. They seldom read the information provided by their funds, rarely change their fund, and a majority of them do not make voluntary contributions. Overall the results suggest significant lack of interest in, and engagement and concern with issues related to their retirement planning.

Australia Is Facing A Housing Affordability Crisis: Is The Solution To This Problem The Singapore Model Of Housing?, John Mclaren, Allan Yeo, Michael Sweet

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

Australia is pricing young buyers out of the housing market. Unfortunately, debt-free home ownership in the retirement years is a key part of the Australian welfare system. This paper provides one possible solution to the current housing predicament of Australia. In doing so, the paper examines the housing strategy in Singapore, where residents are provided with accommodation at a reasonable cost. This strategy is examined and translated for use in Australia. In conclusion the paper proposes that the Singapore model of home ownership is worthy of consideration by the government of Australia.

Financial Exclusion In Australia: Can Islamic Finance Minimise The Problem?, Mohamed Rosli Mohamed Sain, Mohammad Mafizur Rahman, Rasheda Khanam

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

The purpose of this study is to explore the nature and extent of financial exclusion in Australia focussing particularly the Muslim community. Financial exclusion refers to a situation where people lack access to affordable and appropriate financial services and products. In 2013, 16.9% of adults living in Australia were severely or fully financially excluded; that is, almost one in six adults had no access to at least two basic financial products. This paper is based on literature reviews, secondary data and the authors’ personal experience in association with banking industry. The finding of this paper concludes that financial exclusion remains …

Simulating Stock Prices Using Geometric Brownian Motion: Evidence From Australian Companies, Krishna Reddy, Vaughan Clinton

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

This study uses the geometric Brownian motion (GBM) method to simulate stock price paths, and tests whether the simulated stock prices align with actual stock returns. The sample for this study was based on the large listed Australian companies listed on the S&P/ASX 50 Index. Daily stock price data was obtained from the Thomson One database over the period 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2014. The findings are slightly encouraging as results show that over all time horizons the chances of a stock price simulated using GBM moving in the same direction as real stock prices was a little …

Lessons About Best Interests Duty, Aaron Bruhn, Michael Miller

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

Financial advice is essentially a credence good, whose value is hard to assess. Yet in the Australian context the need for quality advice is growing, with self-sufficiency a growing trend and individuals facing significant complexity in their financial affairs. Recent regulatory proposals and reforms have been offered as a means to provide some comfort for consumers about the quality advice that they might receive, yet the challenge remains about what is meant by ‘quality’ in this area. By referring to recent high profile collapses, we describe some factors and features that are generally considered as examples of poor quality advice. …

Preference In Presentation Or Impression Management: A Comparison Study Between Chairmen’S Statements Of The Most And Least Profitable Australian Companies, Zilan Cen, Rongchang Cai

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent of impression management in corporate annual reports in an Australian context. To contribute to this topic, a research question is investigated: do the most profitable Australian companies, assessed by percentage change in profit before tax, organise the chairmen’s statements of their corporate annual reports and disclose information in a way that is significantly different from those least profitable companies?

In terms of the methodology, this research has selected the top 50 most and least profitable companies in ASX 500 as at 30th June 2009 respectively. For reference and comparison purposes, …

The Roles Of Size And Size Difference In Australian And Chinese Inter-Firm Collaborations, Yu (Aimee) Zhang, Zhiming Cheng, Charles Harvie

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

There has been considerable debate on the contribution and significance of firm size to the establishment, operation and success of business collaboration. One important source of this debate arises from differing definitions of firm size used in previous research. This paper uses firm size categories and size differences between collaborating firms to examine their contribution to the formation and performance of inter-firm collaboration in Australia and China. Both qualitative case study and quantitative data analyses are adopted in this paper. Results from both the qualitative case study and quantitative study in Australia and China show that size plays a significant …

Succession Planning In Australian Farming, John Hicks, Richard Sappey, Parikshit Basu, Deirdre Keogh, Rakesh Gupta

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

The theme of this paper is that succession planning in Australian farming is under-developed. It may be linked to economic and social change which suggests that farmers need to adapt to generational change but this is being resisted or ignored. The implications of this are the slow decline of family farming, a poor transfer of skills and knowledge to subsequent generations of farmers in some parts of the agricultural sector and the potential for an extension of the financial services industry to develop a more effective raft of succession planning measures to mitigate the effects of a traditional approach to …

Performance Of Active Extension Strategies: Evidence From The Australian Equities Market, Reuben Segara, Abhishek Das, James Turner

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

This study examines the performance of several active extension strategies, commonly known as 130/30, in the Australian equities market. A detailed analysis of the factors affecting performance is explored using Monte Carlo simulations based on eight years of historical returns for the constituents of the S&P/ASX 200 index under a variety of realistic cost assumptions. We find evidence of a statistically significant increase in performance of active extension strategies over equivalent long-only portfolios, holding all other factors constant. The observed increase is highest for managers with greater levels of skill, where any tracking error limit is high and total costs …

The State Of The Australian Middle Class, Clive Hamilton, Christian Downie, Yi H. Lu

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

There is a widespread view that the middle class in Australia is doing it tough, that they are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a decent standard of living and are suffering from mortgage stress. Indeed, some media reports have announced the end of the middle class dream. This paper tests a number of these popular views against the statistical data. It asks whether the typical Australian family can be said to be struggling? Are mortgages creating severe problems for middle-class families? Is the middle class shrinking? Are families coping financially only because wives are going out to work?

Can We Do Business? A Study Of The Attitudes Of Chinese And Australian Business Students, Parikshit K. Basu, John Hicks, Richard B. Sappey

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

Australia’s business relationship with China is growing. However, there are cultural differences between the residents of the two countries that may lead to differences in attitudes and actions. These differences can present obstacles to optimising the benefits to be gained from mutual business cooperation. In order to understand how the future business leaders (present students) view the potentiality for doing business in each others’ countries, groups of commerce students in Australia and China were surveyed using the same set of questions. The results identified interesting similarities and differences. Analysis of the responses helps us to detect the knowledge gaps and …