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This study examines how the presence of labor unions affects a firm’s pay disparity between executives and employees and its financial statement comparability.

It uses firm-level labor union data in Korea and applies regression analyses to a sample of 1,776 firm-year observations from 2004 to 2008.

The authors find that unionized firms have a smaller pay disparity between executives and employees than non-unionized firms, suggesting that labor unions place pressure on the pay structure. Unionization also lowers financial statement comparability, which helps managers of unionized firms maintain information asymmetry. Further, this negative relationship between unionization and financial statement comparability is stronger in non-chaebol firms, implying that they are more motivated than chaebol firms to reduce their financial statement comparability in response to the presence of labor unions. In addition, the negative relationship between unionization and financial statement comparability is pronounced in profit-making firms, firms with less analyst following, firms with fewer foreign investors and firms in more competitive product markets.

The finding that firms adjust comparability in response to labor unions interests regulators and policymakers, who emphasize the role of comparability in providing usefulness to information users.

The findings add to the existing literature on the effect of labor unions on firms' pay structures and accounting choices.

This paper examines the relationship between tax avoidance and accounting comparability. The authors argue that aggressive tax behavior impairs the comparability of financial statements by altering the accounting function, which maps economic events into accounting data.

The empirical analysis is based on a large sample of United States (US) firms. The authors use raw and industry-adjusted effective tax rates (ETRs) to proxy tax avoidance. The authors use the measure of accounting comparability developed by De Franco et al. (2011), which aims to capture the similarity of the accounting function.

The authors find that firms with more aggressive tax avoidance strategies have substantially lower accounting comparability. The evidence also shows that the negative effect of tax avoidance on accounting comparability is driven by firms with aggressive tax planning strategies beyond the industry norm. Furthermore, using an alternative measure of accounting comparability as a function of pre-tax income, the authors continue to find evidence of the negative effect of tax avoidance behavior. Importantly, this provides evidence that the effect of aggressive tax planning is not limited to the reported tax expense, but affects the comparability of the overall financial reporting system.

The authors identify a new potential cost of tax aggressive activities, being the loss of accounting comparability as driven by tax aggressive activities. The results contribute to the literature on the costs of tax avoidance and on the determinants of accounting comparability.

This study aims to investigate the effect of the dynamics and potential of the board of directors on investment efficiency and the comparability of financial information in companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange.

The number of observations for this study includes 1,218 observations from companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2014–2020. The authors used econometric statistical methods such as multiple linear regression, the Chow and Hausman test and the Kendall correlation coefficient using Eviews software to conduct the research. To measure the board’s effectiveness, two variables are used, including board dynamics and potential.

The results showed a positive and significant relationship between dynamics, board potential and investment efficiency. Also, no significant relationship was observed between the board dynamics and the comparability of financial information. Finally, a positive and significant relationship exists between the board’s potential and the comparability of financial information.

The importance of this research is the use of board proxies, including the dynamics and potential of the board. In addition, other variables of board characteristics, such as size, independence, ownership and gender, and the relationship between these variables with investment efficiency and comparability of financial information, have been examined in this study.

Inaction inertia occurs when people are less likely to act on a similar but inferior option after missing a superior opportunity, compared to if they had not missed out. This study aims to explore how promotional formats and their sequence affect the inaction inertia effect in online shopping, under the assumption of economic equivalence.

The authors performed two online experiments and analyzed the data by analysis of variance.

The findings indicate that, under the premise of economic equivalence: Monetary promotions exhibit a higher inaction inertia effect on consumers than nonmonetary promotions. When consumers miss a more favorable promotion and subsequently encounter a relatively less attractive one presented in a different promotional format, the inaction inertia effect is lower than when reencountering the same promotion format. When consumers miss a better monetary promotion and presently encounter a relatively less attractive nonmonetary promotion, the inaction inertia effect is lower than when they miss a superior nonmonetary promotion and currently encounter a relatively less attractive monetary promotion.

This study reveals the sequence effects of promotional formats, indicating that nonmonetary promotions following monetary ones effectively reduce inaction inertia. A strategically sequenced set of formats enhances consumer recommendations, mitigating inaction inertia. These findings open new research paths, providing insights into the impact of promotional format sequences on the inaction inertia effect. Consequently, this knowledge helps e-retailers in implementing effective promotional strategies and driving online purchases.

This study examines how bilateral international trade among mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopter countries moderates the relation between IFRS adoption and firms’ financial reporting quality.

The authors use data from 2007 to 2015 and focus on publicly listed firms from non-European Union countries that adopted IFRS on a mandatory basis.

The authors find that the interaction between mandatory IFRS adoption and a country’s bilateral trade with other countries using IFRS is negatively and significantly related to accruals-based earnings management, which is an inverse measure of financial reporting quality. This result is driven by firms in less developed countries. The improvement in accounting quality is for firms located in countries that both fully and partially adopt IFRS. The authors also find a significant and negative coefficient for the relation between real earnings management and the interaction between mandatory IFRS adoption and a country’s bilateral trade with other IFRS countries in the post-global financial crisis period.

Overall, the authors’ results are consistent with the notion that the mandatory adoption of IFRS creates a positive externality where firms improve their accounting quality because increased financial statement comparability means that foreign customers and suppliers can monitor the quality of earnings more easily.

This paper aims to devise a case-controlled method combined with Bradford Hill criteria for causal inference of contractual disputes in construction projects. It is a genuine attempt in a systematic method from research design to execution for causal issues where only observational data is available.

The authors located insufficient top management support as the putative pathogen of construction disputes based on a literature review, an interview and Delphi surveys. A questionnaire survey was then conducted to collect case-controlled data to ensure comparability, in which for each disputed project put in the experimental group, the authors sought for a dispute-free project of similar characteristics. The incidence rates of insufficient top management support in the experimental and control groups were then examined by Bradford Hill criteria as an alternative to the test of intervention effect.

The association of insufficient top management support and construction disputes was tested to conform with the Bradford Hill criteria with case-controlled data where applicable and logical deduction where statistical tests were not applicable. With a clear, positive, reasonable and statistically significant association, while excluding methodological biases, confounding and chance, the authors reached a causal verdict of insufficient top management support causing contractual disputes.

This paper supports the validity of applying a case-controlled method combined with Bradford Hill criteria in investigating causal issues in project management, especially the verdict of causal inference based on empirical data. In addition, the located root cause of contractual disputes could inform project management personnel with reasoned strategies for dispute avoidance.

The purpose of this study is to examine both the responses of auditees to corporate governance audit (CGA) regulation and the practices of CGA auditors.

The study used a mixed method. Content analysis of 200 annual and CGA reports was carried out for 13 years, from 2008 to 2021, split into voluntary disclosure and mandatory disclosure periods. Quantitative analysis was also conducted using Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn's tests. Data gathered were interpreted through the lens of isomorphism and Oliver's (1991) strategic responses to institutional processes.

The study revealed that in the voluntary disclosure period, auditees responded mainly with acquiescence, motivated by mimetic isomorphic pressure. In the mandatory disclosure period, auditee responses ranged from acquiescence to dismissal of corporate governance regulation (i.e. coercive isomorphic pressure). Auditor reporting of CGA findings was found to be heterogeneous, suggesting that normative and mimetic isomorphism did not homogenize auditor practices.

The absence of uniform auditee responses to CGA regulation during the mandatory disclosure period suggests that the purpose of mandating the regulation has not yet been achieved and may signal inadequate coercive isomorphic pressure from the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN). Similarly, heterogeneous reporting of CGA findings by corporate governance auditors inhibits the comparability of audit findings, limiting their value for information users.

This study examines corporate governance auditor practices and auditee responses to corporate governance audit regulation.

This research endeavors to assess the influence of financial shared service centers (FSSCs) on the quality of accounting information within China’s A-share listed companies. Using a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model, the study aims to empirically examine the correlation between the adoption of FSSCs and the quality of accounting information.

The study uses a robust methodology to evaluate the relationship between FSSCs and accounting information quality (AIQ). Leveraging the established FSSCs within China’s A-share listed companies as the treatment group, this research adopts a multi-period DID model. This approach enables a rigorous empirical examination of the influence exerted by FSSCs on the overall quality of accounting information.

The present study delves into the impact of FSSCs on AIQ and conducts empirical analysis using data from Chinese A-share listed companies between 2004 and 2021. The findings substantiate that: FSSCs significantly bolster the quality of accounting information, a conclusion retained even after robustness tests. Specifically, FSSCs exhibit a positive correlation with the comparability, timeliness and disclosure quality of accounting information while demonstrating no significant influence on relevance, robustness and reliability factors.

First, the analysis primarily rests upon data from Chinese A-share listed companies between 2004 and 2021, potentially constraining the generalizability of findings across diverse contexts. Second, despite controlling for various factors, unobserved variables or external factors not encompassed in the model might influence the relationship between FSSCs and AIQ. Additionally, the study’s reliance solely on quantitative data confines exploration into qualitative aspects that might offer a more comprehensive understanding of FSSCs’ impact on AIQ.

This paper establishes a nuanced connection between FSSC operations and AIQ, furnishing direct empirical evidence for their economic implications and propounding a novel avenue for augmenting AIQ. And, it furnishes guidance for forthcoming FSSC development, accentuating the necessity of harnessing information technology to enhance the relevance, reliability and robustness of accounting information.

Majority of prior empirical studies assessing AIQ have focused on singular indicators, lacking a comprehensive depiction of its overall level. To address this gap, this paper pioneers the construction of a comprehensive index for AIQ, providing a holistic representation of its level. Furthermore, this study stands as the inaugural investigation into the relationship between China’s A-share listed firms’ FSSCs and the quality of accounting information.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors have become increasingly important in investment decisions, leading to a surge in ESG investing and the rise of sustainable investment assets. Nevertheless, challenges in ESG disclosure, such as quantifying unstructured data, lack of guidelines and comparability, rampantly exist. ESG rating agencies play a crucial role in assessing corporate ESG performance, but concerns over their credibility and reliability persist. To address these issues, researchers are increasingly utilizing machine learning (ML) tools to enhance ESG reporting and evaluation. By leveraging ML, accounting practitioners and researchers gain deeper insights into the relationship between ESG practices and financial performance, offering a more data-driven understanding of ESG impacts on business communities.

The authors review the current research on ESG disclosure and ESG performance disagreement, followed by the review of current ESG research with ML tools in three areas: connecting ML with ESG disclosures, integrating ML with ESG rating disagreement and employing ML with ESG in other settings. By comparing different research's ML applications in ESG research, the authors conclude the positive and negative sides of those research studies.

The practice of ESG reporting and assurance is on the rise, but still in its technical infancy. ML methods offer advantages over traditional approaches in accounting, efficiently handling large, unstructured data and capturing complex patterns, contributing to their superiority. ML methods excel in prediction accuracy, making them ideal for tasks like fraud detection and financial forecasting. Their adaptability and feature interaction capabilities make them well-suited for addressing diverse and evolving accounting problems, surpassing traditional methods in accuracy and insight.

The authors broadly review the accounting research with the ML method in ESG-related issues. By emphasizing the advantages of ML compared to traditional methods, the authors offer suggestions for future research in ML applications in ESG-related fields.

The study explores the barriers to ESG adoption and develops a hierarchical relationship between identified barriers to determine the driving and dependence power.

Through literature and unstructured interviews nine barriers affecting the adoption of ESG reporting were identified and examined using the modified Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (m-TISM) approach. Further, MICMAC analysis is used to analyse the driver-dependence power amongst the barriers.

In this analysis, the variable lying at the lowest level of hierarchy are considered to be the critical factor and lack of clarity around regulatory and reporting standards is found to be very critical for ESG adoption. To address impediments to ESG adoption, the government should make ESG disclosure mandatory and clearly explain the rules, regulations and advantages associated with ESG implementation.

The current study is very few among examining the barriers to ESG adoption and steppingstone towards the mandatory implementation of ESG disclosures in current scenario.