Accounting Commons^™

The Effects Of Management Control Systems And Innovation Presence On Bank Efficiency, Marjorie M. Abney

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The banking industry is currently experiencing its most notable period of technological transformation in history. Community banks in the U.S. have invested heavily in technology over the past decade with the goal of improving efficiency but have not achieved the expected outcomes in efficiency ratio. The literature identifies management control systems (MCS) in accounting as having the potential to benefit corporate innovation processes, suggesting that flexible and interactive MCS generally benefit corporate innovation. More specifically, the research suggests that the effectiveness of management controls on firm performance is dependent on the mode of innovation in which the firm operates. Following …

An Analysis Of Corporate Social Responsibility And Real Earnings Management, Rachel Brassine

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Real earnings management (REM) is costly in the form of intense loan restrictions, increased interest expense, and public scrutiny. Nevertheless, companies still practice REM. Based on agency and stakeholder theories, this research predicts that as a company’s CSR score increases, REM will decrease, and this association will become more negative when a critical mass of females on the board of directors exists and when a board-level CSR committee is present. This study also predicts that when a company offers an executive incentive plan based on CSR metrics, REM will decrease, and the relationship will become more negative with a critical …

Accounting Firms’ Concerns With The Sec's Proposal To Report Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Julia Ellerbruch

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Measuring Financial Statement Disaggregation Using Xbrl, Joseph A. Johnston, Kenneth J. Reichelt, Pradeep Sapkota

Faculty Publications - Accounting

We develop a measure of disclosure quality using disaggregation of financial statement items from the Form 10-K XBRL filing. Our measure (ITEMS) extends Chen, Miao, and Shevlin’s (2015),DQ measure and is distinct from R. Hoitash and U. Hoitash’s (2018) ARC measure. Our measure provides a simple measure of disaggregation by counting the balance sheet and income statement line items, it does not depend on the data aggregators’ collection process and is readily available shortly after the Form 10-K is filed. We validate ITEMS by showing that firm fundamentals correlate to ITEMS in the predicted direction using …

The Pursuit Of Truth In Accounting: How Accountants Communicate Findings And Share Their Narratives, Kelly A. Mckenna

2024

This three-paper dissertation investigates two mechanisms by which accountants can share their narrative and express the truth: data visualization and whistleblowing. The first paper is a comprehensive literature review of the quantitative data visualization research in accounting. We find that accounting research is highlighting data visualization usage for performance management, financial disclosure, system design, risk assessment, impression management, and fraud and forensics. While the existing contributions to data visualization research are substantive and important to accounting practice, many opportunities for data visualization remain under-or unexplored. The second paper investigates how accountants make the decision to blow the whistle and share …

Financial Market Intermediaries And Retail Investor Judgments, Timothy John Potsaid

2024

This dissertation examines how retail investors interact with three different financial market intermediaries – online stock brokerages, financial analysts, and auditors.

The first paper explores how trading restrictions impact retail investor perceptions of the brokerage that imposed the restriction contingent on the subsequent price trajectory of the stock. We find that when stock prices increase following a restriction (a non-gain), participants are more likely to react negatively to the brokerage than when stock prices decrease (a non-loss). This relationship is moderated by participants’ level of I-FoMO – or fear of missing out on investment information. These findings provide practical insight …

The Transformative Impact Of Business Intelligence On Unemployment Insurance: Enhancing Decision Making And Operational Efficiency Through A Mixed-Methods Approach, Md Abu Sayem, Fariba Chowdhury, Supti Charkabarty Shadhana, Jerry W. Ferry, Ahmed Selim Anwar

Finance, Economics, and Data Analytics

Background: The increasing complexity and demands of Unemployment Insurance (UI) systems necessitate innovative approaches to enhance Decision Making (DM) and Operational Efficiency (OE). Business Intelligence (BI) offers potential solutions by providing data-driven insights that can transform the administration of UI. This study examines the impact of BI on UI, focusing on DM as a mediator and OE as a moderator, within the framework of the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative and qualitative data. Surveys were administered to UI professionals to collect quantitative data, which were analyzed using regression, mediation, and moderation techniques. Qualitative …

Supply Chain Centrality, Cyber Risk And Supply Chain It Governance, Long Bui

Accounting Dissertations - Archive

In my dissertation, I examine how a firm's position in the supply chain information network affects its cyber risk exposure and cyber risk management. First, I document that firms that are more central in the supply chain information network have higher cyber risk exposure. Second, the positive association between firm centrality and cyber risk is mitigated by both the IT governance strength of the focal firm and its supply chain partners. Third, the exposure to cyber-attacks through supply chain information networks also has several implications on corporate policies. I find that managers of more central firms are more likely to …

Goodwill Elasticity And The Opportunity For Favorable Financial Reporting, Drew Stevenson

Dissertations and Theses

ASC 350-20 grants public business entities (PBEs) the discretion to determine timely recognition of goodwill impairment charges, which likely introduces managerial ambiguity in the goodwill impairment process. Consequently, this paper explores whether the ambiguity in goodwill accounting standards allows managers to engage in favorable financial reporting during economic disruption, such as the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 or the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020. The study introduces an indicator variable to identify PBEs with highly elastic goodwill changes, providing insight into a PBE's internal processes and how its management practices for goodwill impairment differ from standard industry practices. …

Exploring Links Between Foreign Direct Investment And Host Country Economic Development, Thi Ngoc Dao

Doctoral

The thesis explores links between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the economic development of host country, analysing both direct and indirect effects. Concerning direct effects, FDI has been recognised as an important driver of exports and job creation for the host country. In terms of indirect effects, however, a consensus has not been reached on the spillover effects and competition effects that FDI generates in indigenous firms. Evaluating these effects has been critical for small open economies due to their heavy reliance on external markets and factors. There is a need for comprehensive research investigating the impacts of FDI on …

The Visible Hand Of Lawyers: Attorneys’ Selection, White-Collar Fraud, And Criminal Sentences, Jesus R. Jimenez-Andrade

All Faculty Scholarship (Archived)

In the American white-collar fraud prosecution system, attorneys stand between fraudsters and criminal justice. Based on the theory of access literature, this manuscript explores whether attorneys’ selection moderates the relationship between severity of crime and criminal sentence. Collected data from 1,872 white-collar crimes between 2002 and 2020 prosecuted in San Antonio, Texas, test this hypothesis. Findings evidence that attorneys’ selection influences up to 10 percent of the criminal sentence (+,- 64 days). Socioeconomic control variables result in statistical significance, while demographics lack this condition. These findings suggest that fraudsters have incentives to maximize the defrauded amount to gain higher-quality legal …

Transforming Accounting: Robotic Process Automation In The Accounting Environment, Leah Hall

Theses and Dissertations

Over the years, I have worked with many companies that run legacy accounting and operation systems that do not integrate. With the introduction of RPA, it provides these companies with the ability to integrate without the need for customization. This dissertation is my personal pursuit of understanding the risks associated with implementing RPA and identifying specific areas where organizations may face challenges. I accomplish this objective through three papers: a literature review, a survey, and an experiment. The literature review synthesizes RPA literature, organizing it by implementation state. The survey paper provides an analysis of how internal auditors rate particular …

Effects Of Physical Activity Intervention On Reducing Neck And Upper Extremity Pain Intensity For Female Office Computer Workers, Peng Cheng Sung, Tiffany Chiu, Yunsen Wang

Department of Accounting and Finance Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The computer usage among office workers had increased tremendously in past recent years and the surge in computer usage has created a surge in work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) on arm, neck, and shoulder. For prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in relation to gender and age, females had higher risk and prevalence of upper limb complaints and the prevalence of WRMSDs generally increases with age. Systematic review studies had reported effectiveness of various physical activity (PA) interventions on improvements of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (UEMSDs) or neck pain for office workers. However, the degree of adherence of PA interventions with WHO guidelines …

Leading Financial Indicators Of Corporate Bankruptcy, Macee Patritti

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Use Of Voluntary Furloughs To Reduce Labour Costs: The Effect On Employee Effort, Kelsey Matthews

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

To quickly reduce costs in response to external shocks, firms often implement voluntary furloughs. In a voluntary furlough, employees decide whether to accept a reduction in their pay with a corresponding reduction in work hours. Despite the prevalence of voluntary furloughs in practice, it remains an empirical question how employees will respond to this cost reduction practice. The purpose of my dissertation is to investigate how the implementation of a voluntary furlough affects the subsequent effort of employees who volunteer and those who do not volunteer for a furlough.

I address my research question using two experiments where I manipulate …

Environmental Taxation In Spain: Policy And Practice, Emily Sang Lynch

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Understanding Large Accounting Firm Perceptions On The Decline Of Accounting Graduates And Implications Of Supply Shortages, Lilie Murray

Honors Theses and Capstones

The accounting industry in the United States faces a persistent supply shortage, exacerbated by declining undergraduate interest. The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) has reported a decline in accounting bachelor’s and master’s degrees over the last five years, with the largest drop in 2021-2022 (AICPA 2023). Misconceptions about the profession, high barriers to entry, and generational values are factors in this decline. Mass retirements of Baby Boomers and exits of young-to-midcareer professionals put further strain on the shortage. This study aims to better understand the perceptions of accounting professionals at large accounting firms regarding the decline in accounting …

Criminal Recordkeeping, Andrew K. Jennings

Faculty Articles

Business managers must create and keep records for decision-making. Yet doing so presents an obvious problem for those who manage illegal businesses: their records would make for powerful evidence in the hands of prosecutors. That problem raises a question—why would one knowingly create and keep such records when their mere existence risks detection and sanction? The answer, in short, is that the interaction of illicit activity’s complexity and continuity compels recordkeeping. A business, including a criminal one, cannot be managed without adequate information about its operations, obligations, and condition. Just how complex and long-lived its affairs are will drive the …

Professional Identity Development In Large Public Accounting Firms During Covid-19 And Beyond, Alexander J. Tighe

2024

Professional identity is formed by understanding the set of traits and behaviors that help define the social expectations of individuals within a profession. Acquiring these traits and acting in accordance with professional norms allows an individual to feel connected to their profession and other individuals within their field. In public accounting, professional identity is formed through the socialization process. This process teaches new hires the necessary technical knowledge to complete job tasks and behaviors that denote overall professionalism such as proper work attire or polite interactions with clients. The COVID-19 Pandemic radically changed social norms in the accounting profession by …

Ethics In Action: Exploring B Corporation Certification, Value Congruence, And Empathy Within Organizations, Jiahui Lu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation is comprised of three studies. It explores ethical practices within organizational settings from three different perspectives: a macro perspective, an individual perspective, and a micro-level interaction perspective. The first study examines the earnings management behavior of B Corporation managers, providing a macro view of how an external corporate certification may address the broader issue of business ethics. The findings of this study contribute to the legitimacy of B Corporations and our understanding of the relationship between corporate social responsibility and earnings management. The second study investigates the effect of value congruence on employee whistleblowing at for-profit social mission …

Initial Financial Assessment Of The Fraport Greece Cluster A Concession, Dimitrios V. Siskos, Alexander Maravas, Ronald Mau

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

There is a worldwide trend in the privatization of transport infrastructure and airports. Likewise, the Greek government launched an extensive privatization program that granted Fraport AG the right to operate 14 airports for the next forty years. The two separate concessions for clusters of seven airports each are named "Cluster A" and "Cluster B." The financial assessment of privatization contracts is crucial so decision-makers can accurately assess the value of aviation enterprises. This paper applies the Economic Value Added (EVA) methodology and enterprise valuation on Cluster A by assessing the concession company's balance sheets and income statements. We concluded that …

Do Audit Partners Exhibit Hometown Bias?, Yuzhou Chen, Timothy Seidel, Aleksandra "Ally" B. Zimmerman

Faculty Publications

We investigate whether audit partners exhibit greater leniency towards audit clients located in their childhood or pre-professional home state. While prior research has examined the audit quality effects of geographic distance between an auditor and client as well as auditors’ social ties to company management or directors, this study uniquely examines auditors’ psychological affinity to places rather than people. Using hand-collected data on audit partners, company managers, and directors, we find evidence of partners exhibiting hometown bias in the form of greater leniency towards clients’ opportunistic reporting. However, we find no evidence to suggest that these psychological biases affect audit …

Explaining Corporate Tax Avoidance, Andrew Belnap, Kaitlyn Kroeger, Jacob Thornock

Faculty Publications

The tax avoidance literature identifies dozens of variables that are related to corporate tax avoidance, but it lacks a framework for understanding the relative importance of these variables and the theories that drive these relations. We distill thirty years of tax avoidance research into key theories, and then use novel empirical techniques to quantify the relative and total importance of proposed explanations. We find that factors tied to investment opportunities contribute more to explained variation than other proposed theories. On the other hand, agency costs and financial reporting concerns explain very little variation in tax avoidance proxies, while operating metrics …

Regulating Gender Diversity: Evidence From California Senate Bill 826, Abigail Allen, Aida Wahid

Faculty Publications

Do gender diversity quotas enhance firm value? This broad question has sparked significant debate because while diversity is generally thought to improve board functioning, prior research in international settings suggests mandating diversity may have adverse consequences if it moves firms away from market equilibrium. Exploiting the political events leading up to the passage of California Senate Bill 826 as an exogenous shock to assess the market implications of board gender composition, we document either significantly positive or insignificant 2-day abnormal returns for California firms across a variety of model specifications. Importantly, this finding contradicts the strong claims of contemporary studies …

Costs And Benefits Of A Risk-Based Pcaob Inspection Regime, Brant E. Christensen, Nathan J. Newton, Michael S. Wilkins

Faculty Publications

We investigate the costs and benefits of the PCAOB’s risk-based inspection regime by studying how auditors respond to engagement-level inspection risk. Using an established inspection selection model, we find evidence that auditors behave consistent with accountability theory when auditing clients with elevated ex-ante inspection risk. Specifically, we observe an increased propensity to report material weaknesses, a decreased propensity to assert that previous material weaknesses have been remediated, increased audit effort, and a decreased likelihood of subsequent financial statement restatement. In general, these outcomes reflect auditors’ attempts to minimize negative inspection outcomes in a way that could be beneficial to investors. …

Artificial Intelligence’S Capabilities, Limitations, And Impact On Accounting Education: Investigating Chatgpt’S Performance On Educational Accounting Case, Xu (Joyce) Cheng, Ryan Dunn, Travis Holt, Kerry Inger, J. Gregory Jenkins, Jefferson Jones, James Long, Tina Loraas, Mollie Mathis, Jonathan Stanley, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

This study evaluates the capabilities of ChatGPT models 3.5 and 4 to provide solutions to eight educational accounting cases. We find that ChatGPT’s ability to provide accurate solutions varies depending on the type of case requirement and topical area of accounting, with better performance on tasks requiring elements that require explanation, application of rules, and ethical evaluation. However, ChatGPT performs poorly on tasks that require financial statement creation, journal entries, or software use. Our study also finds that detection tools provided by ChatGPT's developer are ineffective in identifying text created by Artificial Intelligence Text Generators (AITG). We suggest ways in …

The Dark Side Of Robotic Process Automation, Marc Eulerich, Nathan Waddoups, Martin Wagener, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

Prior research on Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has largely focused on how it benefits firms and employees. In contrast, we interview 26 high-profile RPA stakeholders at a Fortune 500 firm to ascertain challenges, drawbacks, or pitfalls of using RPA. We identify five key problems related to RPA usage: (1) RPA is often used as a quick-fix band-aid instead of fixing core system issues, (2) RPA can cause serious control and security issues, (3) the true cost of RPA is often misunderstood and understated, (4) RPA governance is complicated and challenging, and (5) RPA usage can lead to a loss of …

Development Of A Framework Of Key Internal Control And Governance Principles For Robotic Process Automation (Rpa), Marc Eulerich, Nathan Waddoups, Martin Wagener, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

Although robotic process automation (RPA) usage is growing rapidly in accounting, concerns are emerging regarding the internal controls and overall governance structure surrounding RPA. To help address these concerns, we use a design science research approach and work with a Fortune 500 company to develop an RPA governance framework. The framework consists of 4 governance areas and 14 control requirements, which help maximize the benefits and minimize the risks associated with the use of RPA. We validate that the framework is useful and generalizable to many organizations by presenting the framework to and subsequently interviewing and surveying 84 professionals at …

Improving The Production And Reviewing Of Design Science Research In Accounting, Noah Myers, Mason Snow, Nathan Waddoups, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

Design Science Research (DSR) is a rigorous research methodology widely used in other fields like computer science and engineering, but its application in accounting is still relatively limited. This paper reviews the implementation of DSR published in accounting journals and provides recommendations to improve the authoring and reviewing processes. We review 51 DSR articles published in accounting journals between 2011 and 2023. The analysis identified areas where papers excelled and fell short, leading to recommendations in the following key aspects: adherence to a research framework, validation of research questions, defining objectives of artifacts, developing a more diverse set of artifacts, …

The General Anti-Avoidance Rule, Mary Cowx, Jon Kerr

Faculty Publications

The general anti-avoidance rule, or GAAR, is an enforcement mechanism that gives a country’s taxing authority broad power to deny a taxpayer tax benefits associated with any transaction. Although GAARs are becoming increasingly common, the presence of a GAAR is generally overlooked by researchers and thus has been left unstudied. In this paper, we provide an initial investigation by studying the effect of GAARs on firm-level corporate tax avoidance behaviors. Using an indicator for the enactment or strengthening of a GAAR within a country in a stacked difference-in-differences design, we find GAAR enactment is associated with a statistically and economically …