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We examine why Cash ETRs of US domestic firms have decreased over time. Using samples from two periods – an early period (1994–1998) and a late period (2011–2015) – we regress Cash ETRs in each period on a set of explanatory variables, and allow coefficients to differ across time periods. We find that, when coefficients are allowed to differ, there is no longer a decline in the unexplained portion of Cash ETR across the two periods, and that the previously observed decline is associated with a change in the relation between firm size and Cash ETR between the two periods. Further analysis suggests that the coefficient on firm size has been declining over the past 20 years, and that controlling for this time trend alone is sufficient to explain the declining trend in Cash ETRs for domestic firms.

This study examines whether US effective tax rates on foreign income of US multinationals (MNCs) vary according to the favorability of US macroeconomic conditions relative to those of non-US countries. We use the pre-Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 regime as our setting and present evidence that US effective tax rates on foreign earnings are higher (lower) in periods when macroeconomic conditions in the US are favorable (unfavorable) relative to those elsewhere in the world. These results imply that firms seek to maximize after-tax returns when making asset allocation decisions, even when faced with US repatriation tax costs. We provide further evidence indicating that our primary results vary predictably according to certain firm characteristics, namely the ability to acquire funds for investment through less expensive means than repatriation of foreign profits, high intangible asset intensity, and tax aggressiveness. Finally, we show that economic uncertainty in the US counters the positive effects of favorable US macroeconomic conditions on US effective tax rates on foreign earnings. Our findings have implications for the policy debate around the US taxation of foreign earnings and provide a (partial) explanation for the observed lower-than-expected levels of repatriation activity following the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

To effectively integrate sustainability education into accounting, the needs of stakeholders such as educators, practitioners, regulators, students, and politicians must be considered. While existing literature reflects their separate perceptions, this study considers their influence on the integration process. Sustainability accounting can play a key role in supporting sustainability practices, which businesses need to be accountable for. This study focuses on how sustainability accounting education can improve corporate sustainability practices. However, most existing studies only consider one stakeholder group, and there is a gap in literature on sustainability accounting education in developing countries, particularly in the Middle East. This study informs future researchers about various research gaps in sustainability education.

This study explores the relationship between firm value and conforming tax avoidance (tax avoidance that does not create a book-tax difference). Tax avoidance provides firms with more cash and creates value. However, conforming tax avoidance has costs, such as lower book income, and these costs potentially lower firm value. As such, it is unclear whether conforming tax avoidance is positively or negatively correlated with firm value. We use a measure of conforming tax avoidance that was recently introduced in the literature, and bifurcate tax avoidance into conforming and nonconforming portions using a large sample. We present evidence that investors place a negative value on conforming tax avoidance for the average firm. We also examine the top quartile based on the measure of conforming tax avoidance and find a positive correlation between firm value and conforming tax avoidance for this subsample.

A quick search of the headlines of major newspapers reveals a treasure trove of technology procurement gone wrong. While the private sector seems to adopt and implement new technology seamlessly and quickly to deliver for customers, the government struggles to accomplish technology purchases and integrations with the same ease. As governments in the United States are looking to retain their current workforce and attract the next generation of workers, the technological capabilities and ethos of governments will be paramount. With nearly every industry being transformed by technology and Generation T being the first generation to have an ingrained “technology first” mindset, the ability of governments to attract these workers depends, in large part, on the ability to transform their government technology culture, policies, and practices.

In this chapter, the authors examine the administrative branch and observe two key components at the root of most technology failures: poor organizational structure in the bureaucracy and the lack of an empowered Chief Information/Technology Officer. Building upon case studies from Massachusetts and California, this chapter looks at the factors related to failure or success to understand the technology procurement culture. The chapter concludes by presenting four key “best practice” principles of public policy and administration that can be implemented by almost any governmental entity to improve their acquisition and implementation of technology.

This chapter proposes that tax education, proxied by Master of Science in Taxation (MST) degree, has substantial influence on chief financial officers’ (CFOs) knowledge, skill sets, values, and cognitive preferences and further influences their decisions in tax reporting. By empirically examining the relation between CFOs with MST degree and their companies' tax compliance based on US data between 2004 and 2016, we find that CFOs with MST degree are associated with improved tax compliance, suggesting that US MST education, beyond general accounting education, cultivates graduates with higher levels of professionalism and ethics in the field of taxation. Moreover, we find that CFOs' tenure, age, and compensation influence the relation between tax education and tax compliance, suggesting company's compensation and employee policies influence executives' tax decisions. Finally, we find that pressures from financial reporting and CEOs with accounting educational background could alleviate the role of CFOs with accounting educational background in tax reporting, while institutional owners could strengthen the role of CFOs. This chapter provides evidence regarding the social implication of MST program and has important managerial implication to tax compliance, executive recruitment, and corporate governance.

Widespread support exists for the view that teaching is a complex task (Schulman, 2004), that learning is a complex, dynamic phenomenon and that classrooms are ‘complex systems’ (Hardman, 2010). Systems behaving in complex, emergent ways cannot be successfully ‘managed’ by rigid, scripted practices but demand flexibility, responsiveness and in situ judgement. However, these dispositions appear only fleetingly, if at all, on professional standards rubrics and statutory descriptors of effective teaching. Discretionary judgement is implied but rarely emphasised. Drawing on the first author's doctoral study of ‘emergent learning’ in a primary school classroom, we demonstrate the importance of pre- and in-service teachers developing expert in-the-moment professional judgement to navigate the emergent and complex nature of classroom learning and argue that professional judgement should enjoy a more prominent, less tacit, position in pre-service initial teacher education (ITE) and in-service Continuing Professional Development (CPD). This chapter briefly describes and presents findings from the doctoral research which focused on how learning emerges bottom-up through classroom interactions, discusses the implications of this for teachers and concludes by setting an agenda for future research into teachers' experiences of agency and autonomy.