Search results

We examine how superstition shapes corporate tax avoidance and do so by taking a risk perspective and focusing on the zodiac-year belief prevalent in China.

We adopt a difference-in-differences research design to compare the degree of corporate tax avoidance in the CEOs’ zodiac year with that in the adjacent years. We do propensity-score matching to form a sample of Chinese listed firms for the regression analysis.

We find causal evidence that firms exhibit a greater magnitude of tax avoidance in the CEOs’ zodiac years, a result attributable to relatively weak tax enforcement in the Chinese context. We also find that the zodiac-year effect on corporate tax avoidance is more pronounced for firms with tight financial constraints, firms with high business risk, firms headquartered in regions with a high degree of superstition and non-state-owned firms.

This study is the first to show that superstition is a determinant factor of tax avoidance and contributes to the tax literature by shedding light on the behavioral risk factors that shape corporate tax avoidance. We take the perspective of CEOs’ risk appetite to analyze how tax avoidance is influenced by the CEOs’ trade-off between the costs and benefits of avoiding taxes. Our results suggest that, when CEOs are more risk-averse, they attach more importance to financial risk than the risk of reputational losses and litigation associated with corporate tax avoidance. The findings imply that tax avoidance can be curbed by increasing (or decreasing) the tax (financial) risk confronting the CEOs.

In this chapter, the authors critically examine the application of unmeasured latent method factors (ULMFs) in human resource and organizational behavior (HROB) research, focusing on addressing common method variance (CMV). The authors explore the development and usage of ULMF to mitigate CMV and highlight key debates concerning measurement error in the HROB literature. The authors also discuss the implications of biased effect sizes and how such bias can lead HR professionals to oversell interventions. The authors provide evidence supporting the effectiveness of ULMF when a specific assumption is held: a single latent method factor contributes to the data. However, the authors dispute this assumption, noting that CMV is likely multidimensional; that is, it is complex and difficult to fix with statistical methods alone. Importantly, the authors highlight the significance of maintaining a multidimensional view of CMV, challenging the simplification of a CMV as a single source. The authors close by offering recommendations for using ULMFs in practice as well as more research into more complex forms of CMV.

The ineffectiveness of flood control in climate-impacted majority-world cities like Jakarta highlights the need for policies that integrate local knowledge and embrace water harmony rather than resistance. This study explores flood adaptation in North Jakarta's kampungs (urban informal settlements), aiming to enhance the efficacy of current flood disaster management. The outcomes of the participatory planning mechanism simulation that we propose are expected to provide valuable insights for the urban planning approach in that city.

We employed focus groups and design charrettes with a bottom-up approach to explore how local knowledge can enhance spatial flood management and urban planning policies. In total, 17 diverse participants, covering various ages and professions, engaged in these activities. Our methods aimed to be culturally sensitive and inclusive, embracing indigenous values like musyawarah and gotong royong. The research methodically examined flood implications and adaptations in informal settlements, progressing through preliminary understanding, data triangulation, and a reflective synthesis of the findings.

Amid worsening global changes like sea level rise, community-focussed, collaborative planning can help create tailored flood-resilience solutions. The research reveals that partnerships between communities and organisations promote city-wide, flood-adapted environments, aligning policy with the needs and goals of those most affected by flooding. This collaboration enhances flood disaster management and planning policies.

This research focusses on Jakarta's flood adaptation and urban planning, reflecting on historical situations relevant to urbanising majority-world countries. Whilst specific to Jakarta, it offers perspectives on managing global environmental challenges such as sea level rise. Subsequent research should prudently consider each locale's distinct geographic and social milieu and the trust in planning systems in applying these findings, methodologies and approaches.

This study clarifies the relationship between disaster management, policy and flood adaptation, focussing on local knowledge in North Jakarta, pertinent to urbanising majority-world nations. Jakarta's historical and modern dynamics, including globalisation, reveal specific prospects and obstacles to applying vernacular knowledge to planning and disaster response. It highlights crucial points for policymakers in the majority of the world to address growing flood risks and create strategies that integrate local and traditional wisdom.

The paper studies how the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) positioned itself in the process through which capacity building in developing countries was interpreted and enacted within the global development aid agenda from 1999 to 2016.

The paper is an in-depth case study drawing on a comprehensive analysis of publications, reports and archival materials.

The paper unveils how IFAC shaped the interpretation of capacity building and its associated practices in a manner aligned with its expansionary aims thereby transforming itself into a prominent actor within, what we term, the capacity building issue-based field. It unpacks the strategies pursued by IFAC as it mobilised economic, social and cultural resources in support of its global capacity building ambitions for the accountancy profession. It reveals how key interactions between actors in the international development exchange field and the professional exchange field of accounting underpinned IFAC’s infiltration of, and impact on the evolution of, the capacity building issue-based field. We show how IFAC increased its influence in this field despite initially operating on the periphery of the global development aid agenda.

The paper reveals how the global accountancy profession’s engagement with the capacity building activities of international development agencies became central to its commitment to serving the public interest. Our analysis suggests that deeper explorations of capacity building by the global accountancy profession in specific developing countries are required in order to determine whether these efforts have effectively catered to the needs of the citizens of those countries.

The work of professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) operating at the global level in the area of capacity building has been addressed in a fragmented fashion in prior research. This paper presents a unique analysis of developing alliances between the global accountancy profession and international aid agencies aimed at supporting the globalising efforts of IFAC within the realm of capacity building in international development aid. Theoretically, the paper advances prior work exploring the evolution of issue-based fields, in particular the role of inter-field relations in interstitial spaces within these processes.

Intellectual property (IP) theft is an increasing threat that can lead to large financial losses and reputational harm. These attacks are typically noticed only after the IP is stolen, which is usually too late. This paper aims to investigate the psychological profile and the socio-technical events that statistically predict the likelihood of an IP threat.

This paper analyses 86 IP theft cases found in court documents. Two novel analyses are conducted. The research uses LLMs to analyse the personality of these insiders, which is followed by an investigation of the pathways to the attack using behaviour sequence analysis (BSA).

These IP theft insiders scored significantly higher on measures of Machiavellianism compared to the normal population. Socio-technical variables, including IP theft via photographs, travelling overseas, approaching multiple organisations and delivering presentations, were identified. Contrary to previous assumptions that there is a single pathway to an attack, the authors found that multiple, complex pathways lead to an attack (sometimes multiple attacks). This work, therefore, provides a new framework for considering critical pathways to insider attacks.

These findings reveal that IP theft insiders may come across as charming, star employees rather than the stereotype of disgruntled employees. Moreover, organisations’ policies may need to consider that IP theft occurs via non-linear and multiple pathways. This means that sequences of events need to be considered in detecting these attacks instead of anomalies outright. The authors also argue that there may be a case for “continuous evaluation” to detect insider activity.

This paper offers a new framework for understanding and studying insider threats. Instead of a single critical pathway, this work demonstrates the need to consider multiple interconnected pathways. It elucidates the importance of a multidisciplinary approach and provides opportunities to reconsider current practices in detection and prevention.

This study aims to explore how bundling knowledge resources (i.e. knowledge integration mechanisms [KIMs]) and digital resources (i.e. big data-powered artificial intelligence [BDAI]) can enhance supply chain visibility (SCV) capabilities for implementing just-in-case (JIC) practices.

Analysis of survey data from Chinese manufacturers was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses.

The results reveal a significant positive effect of KIMs on BDAI, as well as positive effects of both BDAI and KIMs on SCV. Furthermore, the results suggest that SCV partially mediates the KIMs–JIC relationship and fully mediates the BDAI–JIC relationship.

This study advances the digital SC and inventory management literature by proposing and empirically testing a digital JIC model that explores how to bundle knowledge and digital resources into SC capabilities for managing JIC inventory in uncertain and digital times.

This paper explores sustainability within supply chain management and its link towards resilience through the lens of ethics. The wicked problem of sustainability impacts supply chains and society at large, and the ability of supply chains to remain viable in the future is based on the sustainability of business practices. The paper argues that a substantive proportion of sustainability mechanisms (such as the Triple Bottom Line approach and codes of conducts) can be viewed within the ethical paradigm of deontology, whereby the morality of an action is based on adherence to rules. However, there are numerous critiques of such approaches and their success in creating more sustainable practices. Therefore, the paper proposes there is a need for systems thinking approaches to be incorporated into the exploration of the link between ethics, sustainability and supply chain resilience. Using two examples of social sustainability issues in Australia – modern slavery legislation and horticultural ¹ worker exploitation – the paper demonstrates the utility of various systems thinking methodologies to explore the complexity of these issues. The paper sets out a conceptual call to arms for researchers and practitioners to apply a holistic lens towards how the morality of actions is shaped and influences supply chain sustainability practices.

The goal is to illuminate the requisites for the implementation of performance management reforms in a public bureaucracy.

The paper employs a configurational approach, qualitative comparative analysis, that identifies combinations of political and organizational conditions necessary and/or sufficient for success. The analysis applies the success factor identified in the literature in analyzing the experience of departments involved in a city-wide reform in Los Angeles. The analysis utilizes two rounds of survey data combined with case observations to evaluate the presence of these conditions. Cross-case comparisons employ Boolean logic to identify configurations associated with successful system implementation.

The analysis identifies several distinct configurations of conditions that appear in departments that implemented the reform. One emphasizes mayoral support, while others emphasize leadership in combination with other organizational capacities.

The analysis yields several insights for managers. First, no silver bullet such as strong leadership assures reform implementation. Second, there are multiple avenues to reform. An organization that lacks some prerequisites – such as leadership or metrics – may succeed in the presence of other features such as an innovative culture or external political support. Finally, the study provides a bracing council that even under favorable conditions, performance management reforms may fail to take root, for reasons that can be difficult to predict.

The paper highlights the importance of considering configurations of conditions rather than focusing on conditions independently. Also, it highlights the importance of equifinality, the notion that observed outcomes can have multiple causes, a perspective typically missing in correlational analyses.

Entrepreneurship policy is a vital component of any entrepreneurial ecosystem. However, the specific policy initiatives that have a greater impact on women's entrepreneurship remain unclear in many developing economies. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of entrepreneurship policies targeted at women’s entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this paper utilises and analyses secondary data collected by the World Bank's Women, Business, and the Law (WBL) from 1970 to 2020, encompassing 48 countries within SSA.

Through our analysis, we identified two configurations that sufficiently support women's entrepreneurship. First, a combination of gender-based policies focussing on enabling “access to credit” and “signing of contracts”; and second, a blend of policies supporting “signing of contracts”, “business registration”, and “opening a bank account”, represent significant antecedents to supporting women's entrepreneurship. These distinct pathways are crucial to fostering women’s entrepreneurship in the SSA region.

The study's findings indicate that the impact and effectiveness of entrepreneurship policies targeted at women entrepreneurs in developing economies depend on the effectiveness of other policies that are in place.

This study offers new insights into the intricate interrelationship between entrepreneurship policies and women’s entrepreneurship in developing countries by considering the interdependence and combinative value of gender-based policies that effectively support women’s entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa.