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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 December 2023

Simon Lundh, Karin Seger, Magnus Frostenson and Sven Helin

The purpose of this study is to identify the norms that underlie and condition the decisions made by preparers of financial reports.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify the norms that underlie and condition the decisions made by preparers of financial reports.

Design/methodology/approach

This interview-based study illustrates how financial report preparers engage in behaviors linked to the perception of recognition and measurement of internally generated intangible assets by important stakeholders. All of the companies included in the study adhere to International Financial Reporting Standards when creating their consolidated financial statements. The participants selected for the study are involved in accounting decisions related to research and development in accordance with International Accounting Standard (IAS) 38.

Findings

The authors identify the normative assumptions underlying the recognition and measurement of internally generated intangibles, which are based on concerns of consistency, credibility and reasonableness. The authors find that the normative basis for legitimacy in financial accounting is primarily related to cognitive legitimacy and is not of a moral or pragmatic nature.

Originality/value

The study reveals that recognition and measurement of internally generated intangibles in financial accounting relate to legitimacy. The authors identify specific norms that form the basis of this legitimacy, namely, consistency, credibility and reasonableness. These identified norms serve as constraints, mitigating the risk of judgment misuse within the IAS 38 framework for earnings management.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 21 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 March 2024

Zhen Xu, Ruohong Hao, Xuanxuan Lyu and Jiang Jiang

Knowledge sharing in online health communities (OHCs) disrupts consumers' health information-seeking behavior patterns such as seeking health information and consulting. Based on…

Abstract

Purpose

Knowledge sharing in online health communities (OHCs) disrupts consumers' health information-seeking behavior patterns such as seeking health information and consulting. Based on social exchange theory, this study explores how the two dimensions of experts' free knowledge sharing (general and specific) affect customer transactional and nontransactional engagement behavior and how the quality of experts' free knowledge sharing moderates the above relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

We adopted negative binomial regression models using homepage data of 2,982 experts crawled from Haodf.com using Python.

Findings

The results show that experts' free general knowledge sharing and free specific knowledge sharing positively facilitate both transactional and nontransactional engagement of consumers. The results also demonstrate that experts' efforts in knowledge-sharing quality weaken the positive effect of their knowledge-sharing quantity on customer engagement.

Originality/value

This study provides new insights into the importance of experts' free knowledge sharing in OHCs. This study also revealed a “trade-off” between experts' knowledge-sharing quality and quantity. These findings could help OHCs managers optimize knowledge-sharing recommendation mechanisms to encourage experts to share more health knowledge voluntarily and improve the efficiency of healthcare information dissemination to promote customer engagement.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 January 2023

Susanne Arvidsson

This paper aims to examine how CEO talk of sustainability in CEO letters evolves in a period of increased expectations from society for companies to increase their transition…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how CEO talk of sustainability in CEO letters evolves in a period of increased expectations from society for companies to increase their transition towards becoming more sustainable and to better account for progress and performance within the sustainability areas.

Design/methodology/approach

By adopting an interpretive textual approach, the paper provides a careful analysis of how CEO talk of sustainability in CEO letters of large listed Swedish companies developed during 2008–2017.

Findings

The talk of sustainability is successively becoming more elaborated, proactive and multidimensional. CEOs frame their talk by adopting different perspectives: the distinct environmental, the performance and meso, the product-market-oriented and the sustainability embeddedness and value creation. The shift towards an embeddedness and value-creation perspective in the later letters implies that the alleged capitalistic and short-sighted focus on shareholder value maximisation might be changing towards a greater focus on sustainability embeddedness as an important goal for succeeding with the transition towards a sustainable business.

Practical implications

The findings are relevant for policymakers and government bodies when developing policies and regulations aimed at improving the positive impact of companies on global sustainable development. Findings are also useful for management teams when structuring their sustainability talk as a response to external pressure.

Social implications

The findings provide relevant input on how social norms, values and expectations are shaping the corporate discourse on sustainability.

Originality/value

The findings of this study contribute to an increased understanding of the rhetorical response in influential CEO letters to the surrounding sustainability context, including new national and international policies as well as sociopolitical events and discourses related to sustainability. This offers a unique frame of reference for further interpretational work on how CEOs frame, engage in and shape the sustainability discourse.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 14 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2023

Oscar Valdemar De la Torre-Torres, María Isabel Martínez Torre-Enciso, María de la Cruz Del Río-Rama and José Álvarez-García

In this paper, the authors tested if promoting the workforce's happiness (through high performance work policies or HPWP) and well-being in European Public companies relates to…

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper, the authors tested if promoting the workforce's happiness (through high performance work policies or HPWP) and well-being in European Public companies relates to their profitability (return on equity, ROE), market risk (beta) and stock price return. Also, the authors tested if investors have a performance benefit if they buy a portfolio screened with companies with HPWP.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors proxied the quality of the HPWP efforts in the first method with the Refinitiv workforce score. They used this data in an unbalanced panel of eastern, western, northern and southern Europe companies from 2011 to 2022. The panel data also included the ROE, the market risk (beta) and the stock price return of these companies. The authors estimated the corresponding regressions with the panel data and tested the relationship between the workforce score and these three variables. In a second method, they simulated the weekly performance of a portfolio that invested only in European companies with high standards in their HPWP and compared its performance against a conventional market portfolio (with no HPWP screening).

Findings

In the first method, the authors found no significant relationship between the workforce score and the ROE, beta, or stock price return in the panel regression, controlling for random effects. In the second one, they found no over or underperformance in the HPWP portfolio against the European market one in the second method.

Practical implications

The results suggest that there is no risk or cost for European Public companies and investors alike if they promote, with better HPWP, the happiness and well-being of their workforce. The findings suggest that if European companies promote HPWP, there will be no adverse impact on their profits, market risk, or stock price performance. Also, investors will not lose performance (against a conventional market portfolio) if they screen their portfolios with this type of workforce-friendly companies.

Originality/value

Increase the scarce literature on the test of the workforce score with company profitability (ROE), stock market price variation and stock market risk level.

Article
Publication date: 2 December 2022

Bing Li, Zhihui Shi and Wei Guo

As foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an important role in economic globalization. This paper examines the structural features of the global FDI network based on FDI flows data…

Abstract

Purpose

As foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an important role in economic globalization. This paper examines the structural features of the global FDI network based on FDI flows data and changes in the position of countries within the network.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to study the structural characteristics of the global FDI network and the status and changes of countries in the global FDI network, the authors build the investment network and apply the QAP (Quadratic Assignment Procedure) analysis to examine the evolutionary characteristics of the network and its influencing factors.

Findings

The global FDI network becomes more interconnected and has a clear “core-periphery” structure. The network connections and volumes have increased dramatically and most countries spread their assets across multiple countries, while only a handful of countries have concentrated investments. The topological structure of the global FDI network has changed noticeably, although this process has been slow and stable and countries in the core position have remained largely intact. The authors find that trade relations between countries, geographic distance and differences in economic size, income levels and institutional environments all have a significant impact on the global FDI network.

Research limitations/implications

Although we find some valuable results, some aspects need further investigation. For example, how a country uses the investment network to boost its economy and how the different industries in the investment network change over time. It is important to get the industry-level details to understand the impact of the global investment network from a government's perspective.

Practical implications

FDI affects the distribution of international capital and contributes to the development of the global economy. Therefore, it is important to study the characteristics of the global FDI network and its development patterns. With more understanding about the network as well as its evolutionary pattern, the government can possibly carry out some policies to promote direct investments as well as economic development.

Social implications

All countries should actively engage in international direct investments and strengthen their economic ties. At the same time, they can put more emphasis on inward or outward FDI based on their own level of economic development to better establish the circulation channel for domestic and international capital.

Originality/value

This paper examines foreign direct investments through the lens of a global network. In contrast to traditional bilateral studies, this paper focuses on the network structure and evolution, reflecting the dynamics of the entire direct investment system as well as the changing positions of participating countries.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 53 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

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