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The principle of prudence plays a critical role in the design of national and international public sector accounting. Whereas in private sector accounting there is a substantial body of literature with regard to conservatism, the academic debate on the prudence principle in public sector accounting has only started recently. The aim of this chapter is to analyse whether the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) address asymmetric prudence with respect to measurement. This chapter shows that the existence of requirements leading to asymmetric prudence with regard to the measurement of assets is widespread throughout the suite of IPSASs.

This chapter explores the concept of prudence in accounting from several different perspectives. In particular, we discuss the elimination of prudence from the conceptual framework of the International Accounting Standards Board in 2010 and its reinstatement in 2018. We also explore the tension between a cautious view of prudence and an asymmetric view of prudence. Finally, we discuss historical debates concerning the concept of prudence in philosophy, legal theory, and economics. In specific terms, we address whether prudence constitutes a moral virtue or whether it is merely a technique for deciding between alternative courses of action. The primary argument of the chapter is that prudence has been an important moral virtue and a component of commercial and accounting practice throughout history, even though accounting standards setters have now relegated it to secondary importance.

This introductory chapter elaborates on the tricky issue of measurement in public sector financial reporting, which arises due to the particular features of the public sector when compared to the private sector. It provides a summary of the book chapters, highlighting the theoretical/practical frameworks used, methodologies and conclusions. Three themes are identified in the book, namely, (a) frameworks and methodologies; (b) measuring and reporting the elements in financial statements; and (c) heritage. This chapter identifies important avenues for further research.

The basic family unit is an important institution whose scope and function has changed greatly over the past one hundred years. The contemporary form of the family is understood as “conjugal and nuclear.” This implies a greater emphasis than previously on individual roles and relationships within the private sphere of the contemporary family. Additionally, the family is understood to have lost many of its former functions, further separating itself from the external world. The separation has further stripped the family from many of the roles it once had, with traditional familial functions performed by other institutions.

To address Generation Z’s role in the emerging workforce, this paper aims to examine Chinese Generation Z’s subjective well-being (SWB) during their internship in the hospitality and tourism industry through the lens of Chinese cultural values. It explores the extent to which Gen Zs identify with Chinese cultural values and the influences of Chinese cultural values on intern students’ SWB which, in turn, predicts their future job intentions in this industry.

This paper proposes a normative model to contextualize the multi-dimensional interactions between Chinese cultural values, intern students’ SWB, and their future job intentions in the hospitality and tourism industry. A survey as the main data collection method was used with 400 respondents in Macau, China in testing hypotheses and analyzing the direct and indirect effects of these interactions.

The paper provides empirical insights into the way that Generation Z’s SWB is influenced by Chinese cultural values. Findings show that Chinese intern students’ average SWB in the workplace was above average. It also suggests that two cultural dimensions can be identified as playing a significant and salient role in shaping their SWB in the workplace as well as their future job intentions, namely, attitudes toward work and job-related face values. However, no significant relationships with the other three dimensions of CCVs were found to influence their SWB or future job intentions, namely, attitudes toward people, moral discipline and status and relationship.

This research results may lack generalizability because the respondents chosen in Macau cannot be fully representative of Chinese Generation Z. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to widen the respondent base. Furthermore, cultural influences are tempered by many macro-contextual factors. Although this study focuses on unpacking Generation Z’s mental status from the level of national culture, other factors such as organizational considerations warrant future academic attention.

This paper addresses a research gap by identifying the influences of cultural values on the SWB of intern students which, in turn, affects their future job intentions in the hospitality and tourism industry.

This study aims to explore the economic impact of the Great Recession on consumers' economic attitudes and behaviors.

Data were collected through a questionnaire completed by 2,120 subjects. Eight propositions involving six constructs (i.e. “recessionary impact on others”, “economic knowledge”, “economic concerns”, “recessionary resignation” (as antecedents) and “financial prudence” and “propensity to postpone major purchases” (as outcomes)) and five consumer (age and gender) cohorts were tested through structural equation modeling.

Ten relationships, each grounded in behavioral economics theory, were tested. Nine were statistically significant. But unexpectedly, two significant relationships were negative. Specifically, their perceptions of “recessionary impact on others” and “economic concern” influenced consumers' financial prudence and major purchase postponement. As predicted, consumers' “recessionary resignation” influenced them to postpone major purchases, but did not impact their financial prudence. “Economic concerns” negatively influenced financial prudence, but failed to influence postponement. Financial prudence influenced propensity to postpone major purchases. Age status significantly influenced financial prudence and postponement, but only among the youngest (less than 29 years) and oldest (45+) cohorts. Results revealed the more women knew about the economy, the more inclined they were to postpone major purchases. Older women, in particular, were prone to recessionary resignation. Interestingly, the condition encouraged older women to be less financially prudent. Theoretical explanations for unexpected relationships are offered.

Managerial recommendations for promoting and positioning products during or in the immediate aftermath of recessionary situations are developed.

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on asset redeployability. Capitalizing on a novel measure of asset redeployability, the authors explore the effect of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on redeployable assets using a unique text-based measure of EPU. Asset redeployability is an important aspect of sustainability that has been largely overlooked. More redeployable assets can be repurposed for a variety of uses, lessening the necessity for new products and thus conserving natural resources.

In addition to the standard regression analysis, the authors execute a variety of robustness checks, i.e. propensity score matching, entropy balancing, instrumental-variable analysis, GMM dynamic panel data analysis and use Oster’s (2019) approach for testing coefficient stability. Importantly, the authors incorporate firm fixed effects in the analysis, which helps mitigate endogeneity due to unobservable firm characteristics.

Based on an immense sample of over 200,000 observations over three decades, the results reveal that greater uncertainty raises asset redeployability significantly. The findings corroborate the managerial prudence hypothesis. The future deployment of assets is less predictable in times of increased uncertainty. Consequently, during uncertain times, it is more prudent to have assets that can be redeployed for multiple purposes.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the impact of EPU on asset redeployability, which is a critical aspect of sustainability that has rarely been investigated in the literature. The authors fill this important void in the literature. The authors extend the literature in EPU, asset redeployability as well as sustainability.