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COVID-19 restrictions have severely impacted access to the traditional data and data sources used by qualitative researchers. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the corresponding challenges and opportunities of conducting qualitative research in accounting.

This study highlights the opportunities opened up by the way the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting qualitative accounting research, discussing the most common qualitative accounting research methods, practices and techniques used during the different phases of research.

The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping some of the traditional research methods, practices and techniques in qualitative accounting research. Particularly, academic researchers who are reluctant to use the new technologies need to adapt their research approach, deal with the new challenges and exploit the opportunities to conduct research in a COVID-19 environment. Some changes in research methods, practices and techniques will affect accounting research in the long term.

This paper could be a valuable resource for qualitative accounting researchers.

This paper is one of the first to focus on the changes, challenges and opportunities for conducting qualitative accounting research in a COVID-19 setting. As such, this paper could be a valuable resource for different types of qualitative accounting researchers, specifically the discussion of ways to deal with the changes and challenges, as well as the opportunities, as summarised in the table.

Social participation (SP) has been shown to have a favorable impact on health status, particularly among elders in developed countries. However, empirical study is scarce for China. This study explores the relation between social participation (SP) and health status among middle-aged adults and elders in China when controlled socioeconomic characteristics of individuals.

This paper employs an empirical study based on the data from a three-wave national longitudinal survey: the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) from 2011, 2013 to 2015. It collects data from 28,895 individuals aged 45–84. It uses lagged variable method (LV) to address the reverse causality problem, and the random-effects model or fixed-effect model to address the heterogeneity problem.

The paper finds the social participation positively affect self-reported health statistically. The influence of social participation on self-reported health flows through two channels: the improved mental health effect (SP-MH-SRH channel) and the increased income effect (SP-income-SRH channel). In comparison with the SAP-income-SRH channel, the influence of the SP-MH-SRH channel l is greater.

First, the absence of other measures of volunteering, such as hours of social participation that are not available in the employed dataset. Second, even though the LV model and FE model are used in the paper, there may remain the endogeneity problem in the results. Third, the influences of formal and informal social participation should be distinguished in the future research.

Social participation may improve the self-reported health status. The influence of SP on health may be due to the improved mental health effect (SP-MH-SRH channel). In order to improve the mental and physical health status of middle-aged adults and elders the government should consider even more promotion of social participation.

First, this paper focuses on the correlation between social participation and well-being (self-reported health) of middle-aged adults and elderly in China, the previous studies on the issue for China are scarce. Second, this paper uses the lagged variable method (LV) to address the reverse causal relation problem, and the fixed-effects model or the random-effects model to address the heterogeneity problem. Third, the two channels (the improved mental health effect and the increased income effect) are firstly investigated in this study.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the causality between social security policies and farmland reallocation in rural China.

It quantitatively analyzes the impact of each ongoing social security policy on farmland reallocation based on a data set from the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2011).

The study finds that the inclination of a village farmers’ collective to reallocate farmland due to changes in the village population increased if social security policies do not effectively cover the village because farmers rely primarily on income from farmland to cover their basic living expenses. However, if social security policies provide adequate coverage, then farmers do not rely entirely on on-farm income and the likelihood of farmland reallocation decreases. Furthermore, the effectiveness of social security policies includes not only coverage but also the sufficiency of the security policies provided.

First, the authors use only cross-sectional data in this study, which may result in biased estimation and also limit temporal examination of the impact of social security systems, farmland reallocation and related policy variables. This limitation may be especially important in China because the country is undergoing a rapid socioeconomic transition. However, the research is constrained by the available data. Furthermore, there could be endogeneity problems that are difficult to address, given the current data set. These problems could involve the impacts of village-level economic, natural and social variables, the implementation of related public policies (land development and consolidation, land expropriation, etc.) and other economic variables.

These findings may provide implications for related policy reform in the near future.

These findings may facilitate a recognition and understanding of the causality between social security policies and farmland reallocation in rural China.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how communication strategies and the use of numbers can ensure the buy-in and cooperation of stakeholders.

Drawing on legitimacy theory, this study analysis documents regarding the communication strategies of New Zealand (NZ)'s Prime Minster, Jacinda Ardern, during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to extract lessons for organizations. The authors contrast Ardern's communications with those of Donald Trump, the President of the United States (US), as evidence that leaders do not necessarily follow these strategies.

The findings show that clear, consistent and credible communications, backed up by open access to the numerical data that underlie the decisions, ensure that these decisions are seen as legitimate, ensure that citizens/stakeholders feel leaders are accountable and believe in the necessity of measures taken and that they conform to the guidelines and rules. By contrast, the strategy of attempting to withhold information, blaming others, refusing to acknowledge that there are problems and refusing to address problems lead to non-conformance by citizens/stakeholders. Business leaders could apply these lessons to the management of crises in their organizations to ensure buy-in from employees and other stakeholders. Leaders and organizations that follow these communication strategies can emerge in a stronger position than before the crisis.

This paper develops a theoretical framework of strategies aimed at maintaining and disrupting legitimacy among key audiences, which can be used in future research.

This paper highlighting how organizations and organizational leaders can best communicate with stakeholders using accounting, thus coming across as being accountable during crisis times.

The legitimacy maintenance strategies outlined in this paper ensures that stakeholders feel leaders and the organizations they represent hold themselves accountable.

This paper outlines the lessons that an organization can learn from communication strategies adopted by governments during the COVID-19 crisis. The paper extends legitimacy theory by explicitly acknowledging the ability to disrupt the legitimacy of others and including this in the authors’ theoretical framework.

This study explores whether and how Internet usage improves the subjective health of middle-aged and older adults by analyzing the mediating role of social engagement and heterogeneity of different living arrangements.

Based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, the ordinary least squares (OLS) method is adopted to explore the relationship between Internet usage and the subjective health of middle-aged and older adults. Propensity score matching method (PSM) is used to alleviate self-selection bias in the samples. The bootstrap method is adopted to test the mediating role of social engagement, and generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM) is employed to resolve endogeneity. A permutation test is adopted to examine the heterogeneous effects of Internet usage on different living arrangements.

Internet access can help relieve depression among middle-aged and older adults and enhance their self-rated health, leading to perceived changes in health status. However, Internet usage is not directly associated with health satisfaction among middle-aged and older adults. Nevertheless, Internet usage can enhance middle-aged and older adults' subjective health by facilitating social engagement and significantly influences middle-aged and older adults living with their children.

This study reveals the underlying role of Internet usage among older adults and provides insights for governments and families to help middle-aged and older adults actively adapt to a digital society and improve their health.

This study aims to examine the relationship between objective and subjective aspects of financial well-being, the role of family financial support and depression symptoms of Chinese older adults.

This study used two waves (2015 and 2018) of the Harmonized China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Two financial ratios: the expenditure-to-income ratio and the financial assets ratio, were used to measure the objective aspect of financial well-being. Perceived money management difficulty was employed to measure the subjective aspect of financial well-being. Depression symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) score. Three analytical models, including an ordinary least squares (OLS) model, an OLS model controlling for lagged depression and a random effects model using panel data, were used to examine the relationships between the objective and subject aspects of financial well-being and depression.

The results from the three models showed consistent relationships: the expenditure-to-income ratio was a positive contributor, while the financial assets ratio was a negative contributor to depression of older adults in China. The robustness check using binary-coded financial ratio thresholds showed that reaching the suggested thresholds was negatively associated with depression. Perceived money management difficulty contributed positively to depression. The robustness check using the fixed effects model showed no significance of the two ratios, while perceived money management difficulty was positively associated with depression. The insignificance might be due to data limitation (limited waves or rare changes across waves).

The findings indicate that both objective and subjective financial well-being matters in relation to depression symptoms and, therefore, to the overall mental health of the Chinese elderly. Developments in public policies are needed to promote accessible financial services, assistance programs, mental health services and facilities for the older population in China.

This paper critically analyses the future of Integrated Reporting (IR) given recent and likely future developments in corporate reporting and sustainability disclosure standard setting.

This paper uses Alvesson and Deetz’s (2000) critical framework to consider the research question through insight (a review of the history of IR and the formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board [ISSB]), critique (considering power structures, momentum and global trends) and transformative redefinition (proposing reasons for how and why IR might survive or perish).

IR’s future as a reporting initiative is uncertain. Pressure from investors may lead to detailed sustainability disclosures being favoured over IR’s more holistic story-telling approach. This may result in IR joining the long list of abandoned corporate reporting initiatives. Yet IR is not incompatible with recent developments in non-financial reporting and may continue to thrive. IR aligns well with developments in management accounting practices and other voluntary forms of sustainability reporting. IR’s associated “Integrated Thinking” seeks to develop organisational decision-making that leads to sustainable value creation. Whether it lasts as an external reporting format or not, IR is likely to leave a legacy related to changes in reporting characteristics.

This study explores the future of IR at a critical juncture in corporate reporting history, considering the entry of the ISSB, which is fundamentally changing the landscape of sustainability disclosure standard setting.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the substitute between social old-age insurance and adult children in providing old-age support, and estimate the effects of China’s old rural pension program (ORPP) on sex ratio.

Using data from China’s 2005 inter-census population survey and China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this paper estimates the effects of children on rural parents’ take-up of pension program and the effects of having access to pension on old parents’ choice of resource for future old-age support. The effects of China’s ORPP on sex ratio are estimated using difference-in-differences identification strategy.

Peasants having sons are less likely to participate in pension program and each additional son and daughter significantly decreases their likelihood of participation. Moreover, the effect of sons is much larger than that of daughters. Peasants having access to pension are less likely to rely on their children for old-age support. The implementation of the ORPP moderately decreased sex ratio.

Implementing pension program in China’s rural area will probably affect rural people’s fertility behavior and thus be helpful in correcting sex ratio bias.

This paper first estimates the effects of having access to pension on old parents’ choices of providers of old-age support, and estimates the causal effect of rural pension on sex ratio using standard DID strategy.

This paper aims to develop a conceptual model for examining the development of integrated reporting, relate the articles in this Meditari Accountancy Research special issue on integrated reporting to the model and identify areas for future research.

The paper uses a narrative/discursive style to summarise key findings from the articles in the special issue and develop a normative research agenda.

The findings of the prior literature, as well as the articles in this special issue, support the conceptual model developed in this paper. This new conceptual model can be used in multiple ways.

The special issue draws on some of the latest developments in integrated reporting from multiple jurisdictions. Different theoretical frameworks and methodologies, coupled with primary evidence on integrated reporting, construct a pluralistic assessment of integrated reporting, which can be used as a basis for future research. The new conceptual model developed in this paper can be used as an organising framework; a way of understanding and thinking about the various influences; a way of identifying additional factors to control for in a study; and/or a way of identifying new, interesting and underexplored research questions.

The purpose of this paper is to study the evolution of monetary policy uncertainty and its impact on the South African economy.

The authors use a sign restricted SVAR with an endogenous feedback of stochastic volatility to evaluate the sign and size of uncertainty shocks. The authors use a nonlinear DSGE model to gain deeper insights about the transmission mechanism of monetary policy uncertainty.

The authors show that monetary policy volatility is high and constant. Both inflation and interest rates decline in response to uncertainty. Output rebounds quickly after a contemporaneous decrease. The DSGE model shows that the size of the uncertainty shock matters – high uncertainty can lead to a severe contraction in output, inflation and interest rates.

The authors model only a few variables in the SVAR – thus missing perhaps other possible channels of shock transmission.

There is a lesson for monetary policy: monetary policy uncertainty, in isolation from general macroeconomic uncertainty, often creates unintended adverse consequences and can perpetuate a weak economic environment. The tasks of central bankers are incredibly difficult. Their models project output and inflation with relatively large uncertainty based on many shocks emanating from various sources. It matters how central bankers react to these expectations and how they communicate the underlying risks associated with setting interest rates.

This is the first study that looks into monetary policy uncertainty into South Africa using a stochastic volatility model and a nonlinear DSGE model. The results should be very useful for the Central Bank as it highlights how uncertainty, that they create, can have adverse economic consequences.