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Article
Publication date: 26 December 2023

Mona Nikidehaghani

This paper aims to explore how accounting is fostering neoliberal citizenship through the participants of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). More…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how accounting is fostering neoliberal citizenship through the participants of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). More specifically, this paper aims to understand how accounting discourse and the management accounting technique of budgeting, when intertwined with automated administrative processes of the NDIS, are giving rise to a pastoral form of power that directs people’s behaviour toward certain ends.

Design/methodology/approach

Publicly available data has been crafted into an autoethnographic case study of one fictitious person’s experiences with the NDIS – Mina. Mina is an amalgam created from material submitted to the Joint Parliamentary Standing Committee on the NDIS. Mina’s experiences are then analysed through the lens of Foucault’s concept of pastoral power to explore how accounting has contributed to marketising and digitising public disability services.

Findings

Accounting rhetoric appears to be a central part of rationalising the decision to shift to individualised disability funding. Those receiving payments are treated as self-governable, financially responsible subjects and are therefore expected to have knowledge of management accounting techniques and budgeting. However, NDIS’s strong reliance on the accounting concepts of funds, budgets, cost and price is limiting people’s autonomy and subjecting them to intervention and control.

Originality/value

This paper addresses calls to explore the interplay between accounting and current disability policies. The analysis shows that incorporating accounting into the NDIS’s algorithms serves to conceal the underlying ideology of the programs, subtly driving behaviours towards neoliberal objectives. Further, this research extends the Foucauldian accounting literature by revealing the contribution of accounting to reinforcing the authority of digital pastors in contemporary times.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 January 2024

Andrea Lučić and Marija Uzelac

This study aims to explore possible behavioural change venues, beyond the traditional approach to financial education, using the capability-opportunity-motivation behaviour…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore possible behavioural change venues, beyond the traditional approach to financial education, using the capability-opportunity-motivation behaviour theoretical framework of behavioural change.

Design/methodology/approach

The study included 45, semi-structured, in-depth interviews of young adults to explore which elements of financial behaviour formation should interventions target to be effective.

Findings

To strengthen capability, the study recommends behavioural education and training for boosting financial knowledge and skills, enablement of financial independence and modelling for empowering self-control and reducing impulsiveness. To boost motivation, gamification of modelling is advised for boosting responsible financial behaviour as part of the identity and inducing consideration of future consequences. Persuasion is advised for inducing positive emotions while incentivization and coercion are advised for empowering self-conscious intentions. To rise opportunity, the study proposes incentivization and coercion imposed by parents, and governmental efforts regarding restriction, enablement and environmental restructuring.

Practical implications

The study brings recommendations for developing efficient interventions for strengthening responsible financial behaviour that may help design type-specific education programmes to promote responsible financial behaviour.

Originality/value

The present study attempts to explore new venues in intervention design that break away from the traditional approach of financial education focused on knowledge and skills that is proven to be ineffective

Details

Young Consumers, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 February 2024

Ach Maulidi

This study aims to observe people’s decisions to commit fraud. This study is important in the current time because it provides insights into the development of fraudulent…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to observe people’s decisions to commit fraud. This study is important in the current time because it provides insights into the development of fraudulent intentions within individuals.

Design/methodology/approach

The information used in this study is derived from semi-structured interviews, conducted with 16 high-ranking officials who are employed in Indonesian local government positions.

Findings

The study does not have strong evidence to support prior studies assuming that situational factors or social enablers have direct effects on fraud intentions. As suggested, individual factors which are related to moral reasoning (moral judgment and rationalisation) emerge as a consequence of social enablers. The significant role of that moral reasoning is to rationalise any fraud attempt as permissible conduct. As such, when an individual is capable of legitimising his/her fraud attempt into appropriate self-judgement, s/he is more likely to engage in fraudulent behaviours.

Practical implications

This study offers practical prescriptions in guiding the management to develop strategies to curb fraudulent behaviours. The study suggests that moral cognitive reasoning is found to be a parameter of whether fraud is an acceptable option or not. So, an understanding of observers’ moral reasoning is helpful in predicting the likelihood of fraud within an organisation or in detecting it.

Originality/value

This study provides a different perspective on the psychological pathway to fraud. It becomes a complement work for the fraud triangle to explain fraudulent behaviours. Specifically, it provides crucial insights into the underlying motivations that lead individuals to accept invitations to engage in fraudulent activities.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 March 2024

Wael Abdallah, Fatima Tfaily and Arrezou Harraf

This study aims to examine the nexus between digital financial literacy and customers’ perceived financial behavior within the Kuwaiti context. Moreover, it will further explore…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the nexus between digital financial literacy and customers’ perceived financial behavior within the Kuwaiti context. Moreover, it will further explore how digital financial literacy relates to financial behavior dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

Data collection was facilitated by creating a questionnaire derived from multiple literature sources. This study used a cross-sectional, time-based dimension. Data was analyzed using the partial least square (PLS) structural equation modeling approach, using the Smart-PLS 4 software for computation.

Findings

Findings demonstrated a significant relationship between digital financial literacy and financial behavior, with a path coefficient of 0.542, a p-value of 0.000 and an R2 value of 0.581. The explorative model revealed substantial relationships between many dimensions of digital financial literacy and various dimensions of financial behavior. More precisely, financial knowledge, awareness and decision-making were the factors that had the most significant impact on financial behavior.

Practical implications

Kuwaiti policymakers should consider including digital financial literacy programs in comprehensive financial education programs to improve public understanding of digital financial instruments and their consequences.

Originality/value

As the authors know, this is the initial endeavor to evaluate the relationship between digital financial literacy, financial behavior and their respective dimensions.

Details

Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1059-5422

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 August 2023

Jiyea Park

This study draws on the author's experiences building rapport through online chat for data collection for the author's doctoral dissertation. The author contacted ten Korean women…

Abstract

Purpose

This study draws on the author's experiences building rapport through online chat for data collection for the author's doctoral dissertation. The author contacted ten Korean women via online chat to recruit and faced the most challenging situation; building rapport. As the Millennial generation is known as being tech-savvy or digital natives, the author actively used emoticons (pictorial representations of facial expressions using characters) with potential interviewees and completed ten interviews. Therefore, this paper offers a new qualitative interviewing method in feminist research.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper briefly reviews the works of literature on interviewing women on sensitive topics and building rapport before the interview. Then, the author introduced using emoticons to create rapport during the data collection process and how a non-traditional approach positively impacts the interviewer and interviewee before, during and even after the interview.

Findings

Women participants' responses and behaviors differed after building a rapport through an online chat. They were willing to share their personal stories and memories with the interviewer even though the interviewer did not ask.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides a stepping stone for developing an account of the new qualitative methodological approach, specifically feminist qualitative research.

Originality/value

Few studies have described how qualitative researchers create a rapport in virtual space, specifically using emoticons. Also, this study suggests a new methodological approach since nonverbal communication in online chat is inevitable when interviewing people in qualitative research.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 July 2023

Eley Suzana Kasim, Noor Rohin Awalludin, Nurazilah Zainal, Allezawati Ismail and Nurul Huda Ahmad Shukri

This study aims to investigate the effects of financial literacy, financial behaviour and financial stress on awareness of investment scams among retirees.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the effects of financial literacy, financial behaviour and financial stress on awareness of investment scams among retirees.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a questionnaire survey, data was distributed to 200 retirees. A total of 53 responses were obtained. The data was subsequently analysed using PLS-SEM version 3 software.

Findings

Findings indicated that while financial literacy has a significant influence on awareness, there is no conclusive evidence to support the relationship between financial behaviour and financial stress on awareness. These results highlighted the critical need to strengthen financial literacy among retirees as a prevention mechanism for them to avoid from being scammed.

Research limitations/implications

The finding from this study is relevant to regulators and law enforcement agencies to aid potential and actual retirees by educating them on the danger of investment scams.

Originality/value

As there are relatively few studies conducted on investment scams specifically among retirees, this study extends the investment scam literature by examining the underlying factors that affect their awareness towards the fraudulent activities.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Trang Minh Thai Phung

This study examines the relationship between financial literacy and risk-taking behavior in the stock market for both graduates and undergraduates.

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the relationship between financial literacy and risk-taking behavior in the stock market for both graduates and undergraduates.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted two surveys on two groups: graduates and undergraduates. The questionnaires were sent to the two groups via “Google Form”. The surveys were undertaken from March to October 2021, with final data on 500 undergraduates and 400 graduates. The three techniques used are multiple linear regression (MLR), structural equation model (SEM) and ordinal logit regression (OLR) to examine the causal relationships.

Findings

Based on survey data on 400 graduate and 500 undergraduate students, our results show that financial literacy is positively associated with risk-taking behavior (i.e. use of debt and willingness to use debt) after controlling for demographics. Graduates with higher levels of financial literacy are more likely to use debt. Undergraduates with higher levels of financial literacy are more willing to use debt. In addition, parental education has a significant moderating effect on the association between financial literacy and debt use among undergraduate students. The results are robust compared to the alternatives.

Research limitations/implications

Although this study finds a positive association between financial literacy and risk-taking behavior among graduates and undergraduates, and these results are robust to the alternatives, the scope of this study is limited and only focuses on Vietnam. Hence, it needs to be expanded overseas. Next, graduates may make investment decisions based on stock prices or valuations, and as a result, the link between financial literacy and stock valuations should be investigated in subsequent research. Last but not least, further studies should also examine the digital financial literacy level of the younger generation, as it plays an important role in the digital age.

Practical implications

First, this study finds that higher financial literacy tends to use more debt, implying that financially literate people know how to use debt smartly to earn more profits. Second, students with higher-educated parents are less likely to use debt for stock investment, meaning that parents help students avoid possible risks while in the university. Finally, female graduates and college students all perform lower in financial literacy than their male counterparts. This can create a larger gender gap in financial literacy between women and men, particularly, in a society in which men often play the leading role in the family. As a result, it calls for policymakers, educators and parents to pay more attention to improving financial literacy among girls and women in general.

Originality/value

This study has three contributions. First, this is the first study to examine the impact of financial literacy on risk-taking behavior between two groups of graduates and undergraduates. The results show that individuals with a higher level of financial literacy are more likely to engage in risk-taking behavior (i.e. debt use) in terms of the stock market. Recent research, for example, Phung et al. (2022), examines investors’ informal debt (from families and friends), while this study investigates graduates’ debt use (from brokerage firms). Second, parental education is a significant mediator between college students’ financial literacy and debt use. The literature on parental socialization mainly documents parents’ direct influence on children’s financial knowledge and performance (Shim et al., 2010; Phung, 2023). Unlike previous research, this study finds that parental education plays a moderating role between college students’ financial literacy and their risk-taking behavior. Finally, three methods and multiple models are used to test causal relationships. The results are robust compared to the alternatives.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 August 2023

Fabiano Siqueira de Oliveira, Octávio Ribeiro de Mendonça Neto, Jose Carlos Tiomatsu Oyadomari and Claudio de Araújo Wanderley

This study aims to explore how management accounting practices act as drivers of organizational change in situations of institutional complexity.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how management accounting practices act as drivers of organizational change in situations of institutional complexity.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study was carried out in a small company with a strongly rooted social culture, which was acquired by a large conglomerate and underwent a process of strategic change as part of a new control logic. Based on this, the study analyzes the evolution of this change, with a particular focus on the efforts to construct the meaning of the performance through the inscription of objects from the cultural system to which it is attached and the “situated rationality” of the managers who are involved in its production.

Findings

The authors show how managers link their own concepts of performance to accounting practices. At the same time, the authors show how accounting practices unfold through representational gaps that their production generates.

Research limitations/implications

This study acknowledges that bias may arise from reliance on retrospective views of past processes and events, gathered primarily through interviews, documentation and observations.

Practical implications

This study highlights that the way in which the performance concept is presented by accounting practices can have a constructive effect on the organization through the aspirations that its representations entail, thus having the potential to stimulate change in organizations.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the organizational literature by clarifying that accounting practices drive change by providing spaces for debates and questions that affect the way organizations understand and report their performance.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 January 2024

Ioanna Malkogianni

This study examines specific budget execution items (as proxies of vulnerability and sustainability) along with political factors to identify earnings management (EM) practices in…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines specific budget execution items (as proxies of vulnerability and sustainability) along with political factors to identify earnings management (EM) practices in Greek municipalities.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs a sample of 1,831 financial and budget execution statements for the period 2011–2019. EM is proxied by unsigned discretionary accruals that are assessed through the performance-matched modified-Jones model and the modified-Jones model.

Findings

The findings provide evidence that the municipality’s dependence on subsidies (or its self-sufficiency) affects EM, especially during the pre-election year. Municipalities that maintain their financial autonomy engage less in EM in pre-election years. Lastly, it is proven that electoral cycles, weak opposition and other variables exert an effect on the size of EM. Sensitivity analysis confirms the results.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature on EM by analyzing for the first time budget execution items (as proxies of vulnerability and sustainability) and their impact on the size of unsigned discretionary accruals.

Details

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1096-3367

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 March 2024

Morten Jakobsen

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into how management accountants can become relevant business partners out of respect for existing locally developed accounts of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into how management accountants can become relevant business partners out of respect for existing locally developed accounts of economic performance for decision-making.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with local business actors, in this case, families from seven financially successful Danish dairy farms. The casework and the analysis have been informed by pragmatic constructivism.

Findings

The local business actors do not use the official accounting system for ongoing cost-management-related decision-making. Instead, they use several epistemic methods that include locally developed decision models, experiences, rules of thumb and intuition. The farmers use these vernacular accountings to compensate for the cost management illusion that the formal accounting system tends to create. What the study suggests is that when management accountants engage as business partners, they are likely to enter a space where accounting is already present.

Originality/value

This paper argues that local business actors practice epistemic methods where they develop and use vernacular accountings to support their managerial practice, also in the absence of a professional management accountant. These vernacular accountings may lead the local actors into an illusion because the vernacular accountings do not necessarily have an inherent economic logic and theoretical reliability. The role of the management accountant in such a setting is hence to understand, support and advance local epistemic methods. Becoming a business partner requires a combination of management accounting analytical skills and a sense of empathy and sensitivity regarding what is already at play and how this can become an object of discussion without violating the values of the other.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

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