Accounting Commons^™

Jp Morgan Chase Strategic Analysis, Carson Swartzbaugh

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

JP Morgan Chase is an American financial institution that touches all sides of the financial sector, including commercial banking, consumer banking, investment banking, and asset management, to name a few. JP Morgan Chase is the largest American Bank and a global leader in the financial industry. A PESTEL analysis of JP Morgan Chase and the financial sector of the United States will give an overall view of the industry while providing critical insight into the opportunities and challenges faced by JP Morgan Chase and its competitors. Additionally, Porter’s Five Forces will focus on the competitive environment in which JP Morgan …

Financial Literacy And Ipo Underpricing, Xiaoran Jia, Kiridaran G. Kanagaretnam, Chee Yeow Lim, Gerald J. Lobo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using an international sample of IPO firms and two country-level measures of financial literacy, we find strong evidence that financial literacy is negatively associated with IPO underpricing. In cross-sectional analyses, we find that the effect of financial literacy in reducing IPO underpricing is more pronounced when the information environment is less transparent. Employing path analysis, we document that information friction, firm transparency, and stock market participation are mechanisms that mediate this relationship. Our study contributes to and extends the literature by providing strong evidence that citizens' financial literacy has an important and consistent influence on IPO underpricing.

The Governance Of Director Compensation, Lily Fang, Sterling Huang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The average total compensation of directors in U.S.-listed companies was $342,030 in 2020, 5.06 times the median household income. Directors set their own pay, giving rise to potential self-dealing. We argue and document that in the presence of self-dealing, external mechanisms such as legal standards act as effective means of governance. Following a landmark Delaware court ruling that subjected director pay to a more stringent legal standard, Delaware-incorporated firms reduced director compensation relative to non-Delaware firms and experienced positive and non-transient stock price reactions. Our results indicate that proper governance of director compensation enhances firm value.

Essays In Accounting And Financial Institutions, Hanmeng Wang

Olin Business School Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Financial institutions, e.g., mutual funds and banks, are important entities in the capital markets. They make decisions based on accounting information. Further, their activities influence information production on the firm side, because interests are aligned between institutional investors and firms either through contracting or through market price pressure. Within this context, my dissertation focuses on the interactions between financial institutions and firms. In Chapter 1, I study how institutional investors’ myopia affects firms’ voluntary disclosures. This research question is motivated by the concurrent debate in accounting theory about whether myopia leads to more or less voluntary disclosures. I explore the …

The Implications Of Artificial Intelligence On Junior Auditors, Kaye Ragasajo

Senior Honors Theses

The aim of this paper is to explore the evolving intersection of financial statement auditing and artificial intelligence (AI). A timeline of AI adoption in auditing is traced, detailing its impact on audit processes and the contemporary role of junior auditors. Challenges faced by junior auditors are identified, with an emphasis on the potential benefits and ethical concerns surrounding AI integration. Recommendations for adapting to AI's emergence and addressing challenges are provided. The analysis underscores the need for industry-wide collaboration, regulatory adjustments, and the cultivation of digital ethics. As AI continues to reshape auditing, future trends expected within the profession …

The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act And The Increase Of Stock Buybacks, Ruben Colon

Honors Theses

In 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) decreased the corporate tax rate from thirty-five (35) percent to twenty-one (21) percent. In addition, the TCJA imposed a one-time tax on liquid and fixed assets held off-shore at fifteen-point five (15.5) percent and eight (8) percent, respectively, paid over eight (8) years, by awarding essentially an interest-free loan, creating an incentive for corporations in the United States to repatriate their offshore cash. This research investigates how the TCJA impacted corporate government tax revenue (CGTR), how corporations used the cash gained from the corporate tax rate decrease, whether the decrease in …

Presentation Format And Disclosure Overload: Evidence From The Public Sector, Melissa Hicks

Dissertations

Disclosure overload is a condition that occurs in some users of financial statement disclosures that may result in adverse effects, such as a lack of comprehension of information and increased time for cognitive processing. Disclosure overload research has focused primarily on decision quality and accuracy when using non-mandatory disclosures, largely excluding consideration of mandatory financial statement disclosures. This study examined mandatory financial statement disclosures through the lens of cognitive fit theory using an experimental research design. Cognitive fit theory was tested across different disclosure formats and at varying levels of financial accounting literacy to measure the effect on overload symptoms. …

Exploring Entrepreneurial Intention And Subjective Beliefs: A Comparative Analysis Of General Education Schools And Commercial Schools, Julia Riess, Bettina Fuhrmann, Gerhard Geissler

International Journal for Business Education

This study examines the entrepreneurial intentions of Austrian secondary school students, specifically comparing students from commercial schools with those from general education schools. We analyzed 2,329 data sets and found that subjective beliefs, primarily behavioral and control beliefs, significantly influence entrepreneurial intentions. In addition, demographic factors such as gender, language, acquaintance with entrepreneurs, and school type play a significant role in explaining the variance in entrepreneurial intentions.

Our detailed analysis shows that students from commercial schools have stronger entrepreneurial intentions and subjective beliefs. Particularly notable are the differences in behavioral beliefs, where students from commercial schools find all aspects of …

Navigating Uncertainty In Tax Strategy Due To The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act (Tcja) Sunset, Tate Smith

Student Research Symposium

Everyone files taxes and wants to pay as little as possible, but tax planning becomes complicated when new laws could come into effect. This research was designed to find the best tax planning strategy for the upcoming 2025 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Sunset.

The Impact Of Recent Accounting Exam Scandals On Students' Perceptions Of The Accounting Profession Versus Individual Firms, Emily Blondin

Honors Projects in Accounting

Scandals regarding major accounting firms have not been uncommon throughout the twenty-first century; however, advancing technology and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam restructuring have created a new era of significant accounting scandals. This research paper analyzes the effects of the 2022 Ernst & Young LLC (EY) exam scandal on the perceptions of the accounting profession for the future workforce. Data collected explored undergraduate and graduate students’ perceptions of both the accounting profession and EY before and after reading about the scandal. This examination investigates whether the American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants’ (AICPA) Code of Professional Conduct (Code) holds true, …

The Effect Of Massage Therapy On Test Anxiety Experienced By Traditional-Aged Undergraduate Business Students, Jorge A. Pazmiño

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Test anxiety impacts traditional-aged undergraduate business students and influences their academic performance and overall well-being. This study explored the efficacy of massage therapy (MT) as a means of mitigating test anxiety within this demographic. Building on existing literature that addresses the consequences of anxiety and alternative coping mechanisms, this research study focused on MT as a potential strategy for test anxiety management. The study employed the Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale–College Version (AMAS-C) to gather data from participants at a private liberal arts institution in the East South-Central region of the United States. An experimental group received an MT intervention, while …

Market-Based Oil Spill(Overs): Market Reactions To The Energy Windfall Tax Announcements And Disclosures In The United Kingdom, Kristian D. Allee, Raffael Speitmann, Arthur Stenzel, Yuchen Wu

Accounting Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigate the market reaction to a windfall tax regulation announcement for oil and gas firms in the UK. We find that firms subject to the windfall tax experience a significant abnormal price effect of 6.0 to 7.3 %. The effect is concentrated among large and more profitable firms. The results also show that firms voluntarily disclose more precise information after the regulation to offset the negative abnormal price reaction at the windfall tax announcement date. Evidence suggests that these disclosures are largely effective at allaying the price effects associated with increased investor disagreement. Moreover, our analyses show that firms …

Using Education To Protect The Elderly Against Fraud, Erik Charles

Honors College Theses

This study’s goal is to provide a guide to anyone looking to educate the elderly on fraud. Advice is provided for those who want to help an elderly person in their life and for people who wish to create fraud educations programs of their own. My own experience creating and giving a fraud lecture at a senior living facility is used as evidence for my advice, as well as research into various elderly and fraud related topics.

Strategies For Maintaining The Financial Viability Of Behavioral Health Programs, Antonia Alford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Biases Within Internal Managerial Reports: The Trickle-Down Effect, Elizabeth Marses

Honors Projects in Accounting

Internal managerial reports are constantly utilized by managers within an organization to make decisions on behalf of the company. When biases become present within these reports, a trickle-down effect also becomes present being that biases have the power to impact one’s decisions and alter the future of a company. This thesis project presents literature that supports this idea and presents one of the more common causes of biases within internal managerial reports, subjective performance evaluations. This project empirically tests whether biased reports alter decision making by presenting an investment type scenario to respondents in both a neutral and biased tone. …

Reduced Audit Quality Acts: A Review And Organizational Model, Troy A. Hyatt, Douglas F. Prawitt, Kyle M. Stubbs

Accountancy Faculty Publications and Presentations

With increasing regulatory focus on improving audit quality, research on drivers of audit quality remains important to academics, professionals and regulators. One compelling branch of this research focuses on auditors' intentional actions that reduce audit quality, often referred to in the literature as reduced audit quality acts (RAQAs). This paper provides a review and synthesis of the RAQA literature, including a unifying definition for RAQAs and a model for organizing past and future RAQA research. With the model, we explore antecedents to RAQAs as well as the discovery of, responses to and subsequent consequences of RAQAs. We also discuss potential …

Informed Trading In Peers Of M&A Firms: Evidence From M&A Advisor Banks, Xuanbo Li

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

M&A advisor banks are privy to valuable and sensitive information through their service. I examine whether M&A advisor banks exploit such private information to trade in peers of M&A firms. I provide evidence that M&A advisor banks gain higher profits through their trading in peers of M&A firms, compared with non-advisor banks. Such informed trading is more intensive for M&A deals with larger impacts on peer firms (i.e., when the deal value is more significant for peer firms; when the M&A firms have larger market share in the industry; and when the stock price reactions of peer firms are stronger). …

Research On The Impact Of Tech Founders On Enterprise Innovation And Market Performance, Zhihao Xu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In recent years, increased entrepreneurial projects have been spearheaded by scientists and technical experts. The likelihood of success for such entrepreneurship has garnered considerable attention.

Leveraging theories including upper echelons theory and attention-based view, this study develops an analytical framework, research hypotheses, and measurement models to examine the correlation between entrepreneurs’ technical backgrounds and enterprise performance. Use first-hand and second-hand data together constitute the core data sources. Utilizing a fixed effect regression analysis model, the study elucidates the correlation between the technical backgrounds of entrepreneurs and enterprise performance. Building upon empirical research, this study also selects entrepreneur cases of typical …

Proving Their Mettle: Managerial Ability And Firm Performance In Trying Times, Barry Hettler, James Cordeiro, Arno Forst

School of Accountancy Faculty Publications

This study investigates the impact of trying economic times, i.e., periods of economic decline and uncertainty, on managerial ability. We find that trying economic times positively moderate the association between managerial ability and firm profitability. Consistent with these primary findings, we also find that the positive moderating role of economic decline and uncertainty on the ability-performance relationship is most salient in procyclical industries. Our results are robust across multiple measures of economically trying times and managerial ability. Further analyses indicate that in trying times more capable managers generate stronger performance through both improved asset turnover and profit margins.

How Does The Degree Of Remote Work Impact Perceptions And Productivity For Undergrad Accounting Workers?, Jonah Hauf

ALL - Honors Theses

A recent development in the field of accounting is the concept of working remotely and being able to be part of a company without ever setting foot inside its doors. This concept has been accelerated by the recent pandemic that prevented companies from surviving financially if they did not adapt to allow employees to work remotely. As companies have recently been opening their doors back up to employees working in person, there is increasing dialogue about whether or not remote work should be embraced as a tool for success or rejected as a potential distraction.

This study will explore literature …

Understanding The Ey Split: A Qualitative Approach, Joseph Long

Honors Projects

This research project takes a qualitative approach at analyzing the proposed split between the audit and consulting operations of the accounting firm known as Ernst & Young (EY). The two specific research questions this project attempts to answer are: 1. What specific reasons led to the downfall of EY’s proposed split? 2. Could a similar project be more successful in the future for EY or another firm? In order to answer these questions, a variety of articles in reputable business publications pertaining to the EY split were analyzed to get their take on the proposed split. In addition, an assortment …

The Fallacy Of Auditor Independence And A Possible Solution, Harrison Hall

Senior Honors Theses

The goal of this paper is to analyze present research for the importance of independence to the auditing profession, determine the greatest threats to auditor independence today, the problems these threats have caused and to explore a possible solution to these problems. For many years, audit professionals have been considered the gatekeepers of the public market. Since the passing of the Securities Acts in the 1930’s, the structure of the privatized audit industry has made it incredibly difficult for auditors to remain independent from their clients. Client fees, the rise of non-audit services and the complexity of audit-client relationships pose …

Beneficial Owner Reporting: Our Role As Trusted Advisor, Shelby Follis, Michelle Freeman

ETSU Faculty Works

Article Excerpt: The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, enacted on Jan. 1, 2021, contained the first-ever federal requirement for certain legal entities to identify and report their beneficial owners, also known as the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The CTA was designed to “prevent wrongdoers from exploiting United States corporations and limited liability companies for criminal gain, to assist law enforcement in detecting, preventing, and punishing terrorism, money laundering, and other misconduct.” As trusted advisors, CPAs should consider informing clients of the new reporting requirements and advise them on the best option to pursue, even if they do not file the …

Accounting For The Gift: Theology And Ethics In Accounting, Daniel Sebastian

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Accounting is often assumed to be a neutral presentation of the facts of economic activities and actions. Its double-entry system means that it is always in balance and comports to the rigor of mathematical formulas, and it is taken to be a matter of empirical counting that lends it certainty as well. The dissertation argues that this description of accounting is inadequate. Accounting is better seen as a political tool and technology for producing trust that can help resolve social conflicts. As such, accounting is not value-neutral but carries within it a particular sociality that has moral implications. These moral …

Intrafirm Knowledge Sharing In The Investment Research Industry, Artur Hugon, An-Ping Lin, Stanimir Markov

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We study interdepartment knowledge sharing in an investment research setting where the benefits are potentially significant for the brokerage and the capital market, but so are the frictions impeding it. Using hand-collected data on equity analyst access to in-house debt research expertise, we find significant benefits to equity analysts in the form of improved ability to forecast cash flows and to anticipate credit rating downgrades. Moreover, we find evidence that access to management and research expertise underlie in-house debt analysts' capacity to generate information beneficial to equity analysts. Finally, these benefits exist only in the presence of a collaborative brokerage …

Research On Futures, Profit Hedging, And Enterprise Price Risk Management In The Bulk Commodity Industry Chain — A Case Study Of Hot-Rolled Coil Industry Chain, Shengxi Liu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Traditional hedging strategies usually center around a single product, commonly involving companies hedging against the price of their endproducts or essential production materials. At present, traditional hedgingstrategies are no longer sufficient to address the production and management requirements of physical enterprises. There is a need to develop hedgingstrategies aligning with the significant changes in both domestic andinternational markets.

The thesis presents a new profit hedging model based on product manufacturing processes within the industry chain. This method involves hedging production profits by buying (selling) end products and selling(buying) raw materials according to the proportional relationships in the production process on …

When I Know Your Taste: Retail Customers’ Environmental Preferences And Firm Pollution, Mengjie Yang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

I examine whether and how firms incorporate retail customers’ environmental preferences into their pollution decisions. Leveraging the staggered revelations of firms’ environmental negative news and the granularity of household grocery shopping records, I quantify local customers’ heterogeneous environmental preferences based on the extent of product sales declines following the news events. In line with the conjecture that firms factor in rewards and penalties from customers and strategically reduce their pollution, I find a significant improvement in air quality near event firms’ facilities located in markets where local customers reveal the strongest environmental preferences. This effect is more pronounced when news …

Do Eastern Religious Traditions Stifle Or Encourage Corporate Innovation? Evidence From China, Lihong Liang, Siyi Liu, Chunqiu Zhang

Accounting - All Scholarship

Although the relationship between Western religiosity and innovation is widely investigated, the effect of Eastern religious traditions on corporate innovation remains unexplored. Using a sample of firms listed in Chinese A-share stock exchanges, we find that firms registered in areas with stronger Eastern religious traditions (Buddhism and Taoism) are generally more innovative than firms registered in areas with weaker Eastern religious traditions. This result suggests that Eastern religiosity promotes rather than stifles corporate innovation. We find additional evidence suggesting that Eastern religiosity promotes corporate innovation mainly through the following three channels: (1) fostering nonexclusivity and openness to science and innovation, …

Money Laundering In The United States: A Review Of Current Regulations And Threats, Grace Hutchinson

Senior Honors Theses

Money laundering is the act of hiding illegally obtained money in the financial system. There are three stages of money laundering: placing, layering, and integration. In the United States, the Bank Secrecy Act, monitored by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), requires companies to establish an anti-money laundering (AML) compliance program and to exercise customer due diligence as preventative measures. The US government can detect money laundering through Suspicious Activity Reports, Currency Transaction Reports, and whistleblower tips. However, AML threats and vulnerabilities such as Professional Money Launderers, cryptocurrency, and the global art market allow criminals to continue to launder money …

Research On The Influence Mechanism Of Digitalization Degree On Manufacturing Enterprise Performance, Dandan Wang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The application of digital technologies has changed the operation model of traditional industries, and promoted the development of emerging industries. More and more manufacturing enterprises have started or completed digital transformation, and tried new ways of development.

With the advancement of digitalization, the influence of the degree of digitalization on high-quality economic development has attracted great attention from scholars at home and abroad. Although significant resources are put into digital transformation, which is deemed as a strategic core, the specific influence paths of the degree of digitalization on enterprise performance have not yet been fully explored. In the digital era, …