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The purpose of this paper is to garner a deeper understanding of the site of influence of aspects of risk management for tax practitioners.

The research design is twofold. Phase one consisted of a wide-scale international survey with 1,061 tax experts across 59 jurisdictions. In phase two, the authors followed up with 68 semi-structured interviews with tax practitioners working in 11 different countries.

The findings recognise the importance of the firm as a significant “site of influence” for tax practitioners in shaping their risk appetite in their tax work. The firm eclipses other influences of risk such as professional body oversight, public interest and demographic markers such as gender and career stage. The authors show that firm is significant, irrespective of size of firm.

This work has practical implications as the findings highlight the importance of oversight of professional service firms by both the professional accountancy bodies and revenue authorities. The findings may have impact on the ethical training and guidance for trainee accountants in terms of an increased awareness on the employing firm as a site of influence for tax practitioners.

This research is important as it adds to the significant body of work on firm socialisation and highlights the important role that the firm holds in moderating (or exacerbating) the risk appetite of tax practitioners, which has significant implications in terms of pushing the boundaries of tax aggressive behaviours. The work aims to recognise the important role that tax practitioners can have in moderating aggressive tax practice, and, thus, reducing tax inequalities and shaping a better world of “Reduced Inequalities” (SDG10).

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.

Managers must make numerous strategic decisions in order to initiate and implement a business model innovation (BMI). This paper examines how managers perceive the management team interacts when making BMI decisions. The paper also investigates how group biases and board members’ risk willingness affect this process.

Empirical data were collected through 26 in-depth interviews with German managing directors from 13 companies in four industries (mobility, manufacturing, healthcare and energy) to explore three research questions: (1) What group effects are prevalent in BMI group decision-making? (2) What are the key characteristics of BMI group decisions? And (3) what are the potential relationships between BMI group decision-making and managers' risk willingness? A thematic analysis based on Gioia's guidelines was conducted to identify themes in the comprehensive dataset.

First, the results show four typical group biases in BMI group decisions: Groupthink, social influence, hidden profile and group polarization. Findings show that the hidden profile paradigm and groupthink theory are essential in the context of BMI decisions. Second, we developed a BMI decision matrix, including the following key characteristics of BMI group decision-making managerial cohesion, conflict readiness and information- and emotion-based decision behavior. Third, in contrast to previous literature, we found that individual risk aversion can improve the quality of BMI decisions.

This paper provides managers with an opportunity to become aware of group biases that may impede their strategic BMI decisions. Specifically, it points out that managers should consider the key cognitive constraints due to their interactions when making BMI decisions. This work also highlights the importance of risk-averse decision-makers on boards.

This qualitative study contributes to the literature on decision-making by revealing key cognitive group biases in strategic decision-making. This study also enriches the behavioral science research stream of the BMI literature by attributing a critical influence on the quality of BMI decisions to managers' group interactions. In addition, this article provides new perspectives on managers' risk aversion in strategic decision-making.

Drawing insights from institutional theory, this paper aims to examine whether and to what extent banks have reconfigured their management control systems (MCSs) in response to growing institutional pressures towards sustainability, understood as environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

The authors conducted an exploratory study at the three largest Italian banking groups to shed light on changes made in MCSs to account for ESG issues. The analysis is based on 12 semi-structured interviews with managers from the sustainability and controls areas, as well as from other relevant operational areas particularly concerned with the integration process of ESG issues. Additionally, secondary data sources were used. The Malmi and Brown (2008) MCS framework, consisting of a package of five types of formal and informal control mechanisms, was used to structure and analyse the empirical data.

The examined banks widely implemented numerous changes to their MCSs as a response to the heightened sustainability pressures from regulatory bodies and stakeholders. In particular, with the exception of action planning, the results show an extensive integration of ESG issues into the five control mechanisms of Malmi and Brown’s framework, namely, long-term planning, cybernetic, reward/compensation, administrative and cultural controls.

By identifying the approaches banks followed in reconfiguring traditional MCSs, this research sheds light on how adequate MCSs can promote banks’ “sustainable behaviours”. The results can, thus, contribute to defining best practices on how MCSs can be redesigned to support the integration of ESG issues into the banks’ way of doing business.

Overall, the findings support the theoretical assertion that institutional pressures influence the design of banks’ MCSs, and that both formal and informal controls are necessary to ensure a real engagement towards sustainability. More specifically, this study reveals that MCSs, by encompassing both formal and informal controls, are central to enabling banks to appropriately understand, plan and control the transition towards business models fully oriented to the integration of ESG issues. Thereby, this allows banks to effectively respond to the increased stakeholder demands around ESG concerns.

We propose an alternative rationale for why some firms employ veterans, driven not solely by benevolence but also by the prospect of enhanced outcomes. Financially, hiring veterans could correlate with improved stock market performance for the hiring company while aligning with corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Our study centers on the stock market performance of companies hiring veterans. It aims to underscore a lesser-known facet of the veteran employment discourse and its connection to the hiring firm's financial performance.

This paper evaluates the stock market performance of three VETS portfolios (made of companies that hire veterans) compared to the benchmark SPDR S&P 500 ETF. Using a modular approach, we create three VETS passive indices: VETSEW (equal-weighted index), VETSPW (price-weighted index) and VETSVW (value-weighted index). The study analyzes the annual returns, portfolio allocations, risk-adjusted performance metrics and style analysis of the portfolios from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022.

The findings indicate that all three VETS portfolios outperformed the benchmark, with higher ending balances and superior risk-adjusted ratios such as the Sharpe and Sortino ratios. Notably, the portfolios demonstrated resilience during challenging periods, including the COVID-19 pandemic, subsequent recovery and an inflationary period.

Limitations include the paper's focus solely on stock returns, suggesting a need for broader financial and management ratios. Moreover, a deeper exploration into how veterans contribute during turbulent times is suggested for further investigation. Although the study touches upon the financial performance of veteran-focused companies during challenging economic times, it does not extensively delve into the specific ways in which veterans add value under such circumstances, presenting an opportunity for further exploration.

Firms that employ veterans amid the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrate favorable risk-adjusted returns, underscoring the potential of veterans as valuable crisis-time assets. Our research further underscores the correlation between veteran hiring and enhanced financial prowess. These insights carry significant policy implications, including CSR initiatives for hiring veterans, skill translation and training and collaboration with veteran organizations.

The paper's findings suggest significant implications: (1) Policymakers could incentivize firms to hire veterans through tax benefits or grants, leveraging their skills for organizational resilience. (2) Collaborative efforts between policymakers and firms can promote responsible hiring, boosting a company's reputation through diversity and inclusion, positively impacting society. (3) Support for skill translation from military to civilian jobs is crucial. Programs certifying skills and tailored education aid veterans' successful transition into the workforce. (4) Collaborations between policymakers, veteran organizations and private sector entities can create networks, job placements and support systems for veterans' employment.

Numerous prior studies within the domain of corporate social responsibility have predominantly neglected the contributions veterans offer to businesses and the underlying reasons behind firms' decisions to employ them. Our research uniquely concentrates on the stock market performance of companies that choose to hire veterans.

From the buying club’s perspective, the transfer of a player can be interpreted as an investment from which the club expects uncertain future benefits. This paper aims to develop a decision-oriented approach for the valuation of football players that could theoretically help clubs determine the subjective value of investing in a player to assess its potential economic advantage.

We build on a semi-investment-theoretical risk-value model and elaborate an approach that can be applied in imperfect markets under uncertainty. Furthermore, we illustrate the valuation process with a numerical example based on fictitious data. Due to this explicitly intended decision support, our approach differs fundamentally from a large part of the literature, which is empirically based and attempts to explain observable figures through various influencing factors.

We propose a semi-investment-theoretical valuation approach that is based on a two-step model, namely, a first valuation at the club level and a final calculation to determine the decision value for an individual player. In contrast to the previous literature, we do not rely on an econometric framework that attempts to explain observable past variables but rather present a general, forward-looking decision model that can support managers in their investment decisions.

This approach is the first to show managers how to make an economically rational investment decision by determining the maximum payable price. Nevertheless, there is no normative requirement for the decision-maker. The club will obviously have to supplement the calculus with nonfinancial objectives. Overall, our paper can constitute a first step toward decision-oriented player valuation and for theoretical comparison with practical investment decisions in football clubs, which obviously take into account other specific sports team decisions.

The purpose of this study is to determine the moderating effect of group affiliation (GA) while examining the relationship of corporate governance (CG) with firm performance (FP) and firm risk-taking (FRT).

The study employed a sample of 100 non-financial firms, selected randomly from the top 500 companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) based on their market capitalisation for 2013–2022. The random effects and fixed effect models are employed for the analysis. Furthermore, the generalised estimating equations (GEE) population-averaged model is used for added robustness.

The results reveal that while strong CG improves FP, GA modifies the effect of CG on FP. Both GA and CG have beneficial effects, but their synergy is insignificant. However, in the context of CG and FRT, the study unveils that a strong CG is associated with a reduction in FRT, and this relationship is more pronounced for standalone firms.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, the present study is a maiden attempt to investigate the moderating effect of GA while examining the relationship of CG with FP and FRT.

This chapter discusses the contributions and challenges involving regulatory technology (regtech) in financial services. It explores the salient areas where regtech can and should focus, observing existing and forthcoming industry, technology, and legal developments. This chapter outlines regtech use cases to clarify the shaping of that industry sector. It draws on developments in industry and academia, where significant research sets the tone and direction of technological solutions and regulatory drivers. A brief critical account of the benefits and challenges in regtech is offered. This chapter presents potential future directions, focusing on the salient areas of environmental, social, and governance (ESG), cryptocurrency, and decentralized compliance.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the progression from trade-based money laundering to service-based money laundering using the Regulatory Dialectic Theory with an explanation for the success of this progression arising from Agency Theory.

The authors provide a literature review regarding agency theory and the regulatory dialectic as the framework to examine service-based money laundering using three documented case studies. Using the caselet approach, this paper demonstrates that innovation in financial crime typologies is ongoing.

The short cases in this paper illustrate the factors related to the regulatory dialectic theory that have yielded innovation in service-based money laundering.

This paper examines only three recent SBML innovations.

Service-based money laundering represents an incremental advancement in money laundering beyond trade-based money laundering, in part supported by agency conflicts between financial intermediaries and stakeholders.

Managers and regulators should take into account that typologies will change as predicted by the regulatory dialectic and that the regulatory response can be burdensome to financial sector entities. This paper also provides recommendations for managers and regulators.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to uncover new innovations in SBML in a high-risk geographic region.

This study aims to examine the effects of payment methods used in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) conducted by UK companies spanning the period from 2007 to 2019.

The study used the estimated expected returns method to identify abnormal returns during the deal announcement period, applying event study analysis with both univariate and multivariate regression models to detect cumulative abnormal returns around the announcement timeframe.

The results show a short-term positive return increase for acquiring firms, controlling for deal-specific characteristics like target firm location and payment methods. The authors observed a preference for cash financing across domestic and cross-border transactions. Multivariate analysis revealed insignificance between payment methods and deal characteristics like cross-border acquisitions and diversification.

The study’s focus on publicly traded firms in the UK and the absence of a comparative analysis across different regions and markets limits the sample size and may impact the generalizability of findings.

The study proposes three practical implications. Firstly, firms should tailor payment methods to each transaction, aligning with strategic goals to optimize value and mitigate risks. Secondly, decision-makers must prioritize comprehensive due diligence and strategic alignment throughout M&A processes to enhance success and maximize synergies. Finally, analysing broader strategic contexts and regulatory landscapes when structuring transactions enables goal attainment, such as market expansion or value creation.

The study’s findings can promote transparency and accountability among corporate decision-makers in M&A transactions. Stakeholders can advocate for transparent decision-making processes, enhancing trust in corporate governance.

This study provides valuable insights into the impact of payment methods on shareholder value in M&A transactions involving UK companies, informing strategic decision-making and contributing to the understanding of corporate finance dynamics.