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1 – 10 of over 49000Fatma Ben Slama and Maissa Jandoubi
This study aims to provide insights into the possible impact of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) on public governance and perceived levels of corruption in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide insights into the possible impact of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) on public governance and perceived levels of corruption in developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a multivariate analysis on panel data applied to 36 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and sub-Saharan Africa over the period 2010–2020, the authors test the impact of IPSAS adoption on transparency, accountability and perceptions of less corruption. The authors examine the moderating role of transparency and accountability in the strength of the relationship between IPSAS and perceived corruption.
Findings
The main results show that IPSAS adoption promotes an increase in transparency and accountability and leads to the perception of less corruption. Additional tests show that transparency and accountability strengthen the effect of IPSAS adoption and experience on perceived corruption.
Research limitations/implications
The first limitation may be the use of the Transparency International CPI to measure the level of perceived corruption. Probably, the CPI does not reflect the actual levels of corruption in countries while the literature argues that these two measures are related. Also, the lack of data on the status and level of adoption of IPSAS by governments may be one limitation of the sample.
Practical implications
The study may help public authorities in their decision to adopt IPSAS. In light of the findings, standard-setting bodies could be encouraged to strengthen the disclosure requirements of IPSAS that make governments more transparent and accountable to limit perceptions of corruption.
Social implications
This study may also help citizens understand the benefits of such reforms in protecting public assets and how such standards may help improve social welfare.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the few studies that examines the impact of IPSAS on good governance by combining the dimensions of transparency, accountability and perceptions of corruption in DCs. It also provides insights into the moderating role of public governance pillars. Finally, it includes the IPSAS experience of the country, which has been little tested previously.
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Jonathan Tweedie and Matteo Ronzani
To advance understanding of transparency by problematising the motivations and strategies of a so far underexplored group: its users.
Abstract
Purpose
To advance understanding of transparency by problematising the motivations and strategies of a so far underexplored group: its users.
Design/methodology/approach
We explore the relationship between blindness, visibility, and transparency by drawing on our analysis of Max Frisch’s experimental novel Gantenbein (1964), in which the protagonist lives a life of feigned blindness.
Findings
The accounting scholarly debate on transparency has neglected the users of transparency. We address this through a novel theorisation of transparency as a game, highlighting some of its distinctive features and paradoxes.
Originality/value
By theorising the transparency game we move beyond concerns with what transparency reveals or conceals and conceptualise the motivations and strategies of the players engaged in this game. We show how different players have something to gain from the transparency game and warn of its emancipatory limits.
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This study investigates the influence of corporate culture on financial reporting transparency within Iranian firms.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the influence of corporate culture on financial reporting transparency within Iranian firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Leveraging a dataset of 1,480 firm-year observations from the Tehran Stock Exchange spanning from 2013 to 2022, the study employs text mining to quantify linguistic features of corporate culture and transparency, specifically readability and tone, within annual financial statements and Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) reports.
Findings
Our results confirm a positive and significant relationship between corporate culture and financial reporting transparency. The distinct dimensions of corporate culture — Creativity, Competition, Control, and Collaboration — each uniquely enhance financial transparency. Robustness tests including firm fixed-effects, entropy balancing, Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) validate the profound influence of corporate culture on transparency. Additionally, our analysis shows that corporate culture significantly affects the disclosure of business, operational, and financial risks, with varying impacts across risk categories. Cross-sectional analysis further reveals how the impact of corporate culture on transparency varies significantly across different industries and firm sizes.
Research limitations/implications
The study’s scope, while focused on Iran, opens avenues for comparative research in different cultural and regulatory environments. Its reliance on text mining could be complemented by qualitative methods to capture more nuanced linguistic subtleties.
Practical implications
Findings underscore the strategic importance of cultivating a transparent corporate culture for enhancing financial reporting practices and stakeholder trust, particularly in emerging economies with similar dynamics to Iran.
Originality/value
This research is pioneering in its quantitative analysis of the textual features of corporate culture and its impact on transparency within Iranian corporate reports, integrating foundational theoretical perspectives with empirical evidence.
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Kacy Kim, Yuhosua Ryoo, Srdan Zdravkovic and Sukki Yoon
In the digital era, price transparency—the practice of disclosing cost breakdowns in product manufacturing—has become present on digital platforms. Although its benefits are…
Abstract
Purpose
In the digital era, price transparency—the practice of disclosing cost breakdowns in product manufacturing—has become present on digital platforms. Although its benefits are well-documented and consumers should theoretically desire costless and relevant information for informed decision-making, this paper proposes that consumers may resist overly transparent pricing, particularly when it pertains to premium-priced (vs regular-priced) products from countries with high equity.
Design/methodology/approach
Our research comprises three experimental studies utilizing both student and representative online Prolific samples, covering various products and countries with different equity levels. Initially, a pilot study identifies an interpersonal should-want conflict induced by price transparency when purchasing premium-priced products, leading to information avoidance. Subsequent studies further explore this phenomenon by examining the moderating role of country equity and the mediating role of price unfairness perceptions.
Findings
Price transparency can backfire when purchasing premium-priced products due to the want-should conflict among consumers—the desire to receive disclosure of cost breakdowns versus the inclination not to view it. This conflict results in increased resistance to receiving transparent price information and decreased brand attitudes and purchase intentions, especially for products originating from high-equity countries. Heightened perceptions of price unfairness explain these dynamics.
Research limitations/implications
The study primarily relies on experimental designs with limited sample sizes. To enhance the generalizability of the findings, incorporating large-scale real market data across diverse domains and countries would be beneficial.
Originality/value
Grounded in the should-want conflict and information avoidance theories, this paper uniquely explores the adverse effects of price transparency on digital platforms. We extend this by demonstrating that this conflict is influenced by country equity, where the perceived value added by the association of a product with a given country name affects whether consumers experience the conflict. Our investigation of perceived price unfairness further deepens our understanding of the nuanced effects of price transparency.
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The flagship traceability technology is increasing transparency, social benefit and economic value particularly after the pandemic. There has not been much research on how…
Abstract
Purpose
The flagship traceability technology is increasing transparency, social benefit and economic value particularly after the pandemic. There has not been much research on how information quality in transparency affects information usefulness and trust. The research model is built on the framework of transparency requirements and incorporates the usefulness of traceability information and trust.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaire survey was used for data collection. To evaluate the research model, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed. Measurement invariance analysis was used to investigate variations in trust between groups.
Findings
The results show that transparency requirements including information relevancy, ease of manipulation and value-added information affect information usefulness. The usefulness of traceability information positively affects trust in producers. Information receivers who believe in the credibility of traceability information have a higher level of trust than those who do not.
Originality/value
The results have important theoretical and practical implications for academia and industry to devise strategies and policies on data-centric traceability systems.
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Mehrdad Leylabi, Sara Malekan and Mehdi Majidpour
The aim of this paper is to explain that what main characteristics financial technologies should have so that lead to improve the transparency of institutions and whether the…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to explain that what main characteristics financial technologies should have so that lead to improve the transparency of institutions and whether the integrated monetary banking system deployed in free-interest institutions has affected the transparency of these institutions in terms of those characteristics or not? In this study, the integrated monetary banking system will be studied subject to implementation of the Shafagh project.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the literature review and the experts' opinions, the principles of the research questions were explained. Then, according to the dimensions of the research conceptual model, questions related to research questions were considered as the item for analysis in the modeling of structural equations. In the next step, 278 employees and managers of interest-free institutions were selected, by simple random sampling method, to answer the questionnaire. Data collected is analyzed by using structural equations method.
Findings
The results of the analysis indicates that the impact of the dimensions of strategic, technical, organizational and cultural factors – identified as the main characteristics of a financial system in this study – on the transparency of the transactions of the interest-free institutions is significant.
Research limitations/implications
The results were obtained by focusing on the qualitative factors and also on the culture on free-interest institutions.
Practical implications
By investigating the issues and factors that the developers, consultants and institutions’ managers need to address and also giving a conceptual model, this study assists managers and generally financial institutions in developing an integrated banking system in a way that will be more likely to improve transparency in those organizations.
Originality/value
This study pioneers a comprehensive conceptual model, surpassing prior research that focused on isolated criteria. This novel approach enriches understanding of core banking systems' impact on financial transparency. This groundbreaking study uniquely focuses on free-interest institutions, traditionally presumed to be transparent but never before studied.
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Marijn Janssen, Ricardo Matheus, Justin Longo and Vishanth Weerakkody
Many governments are working toward a vision of government-wide transformation that strives to achieve an open, transparent and accountable government while providing responsive…
Abstract
Purpose
Many governments are working toward a vision of government-wide transformation that strives to achieve an open, transparent and accountable government while providing responsive services. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of transparency-by-design to advance open government.
Design/methodology/approach
The opening of data, the deployment of tools and instruments to engage the public, collaboration among public organizations and between governments and the public are important drivers for open government. The authors review transparency-by-design concepts.
Findings
To successfully achieve open government, fundamental changes in practice and new research on governments as open systems are needed. In particular, the creation of “transparency-by-design” is a key aspect in which transparency is a key system development requirement, and the systems ensure that data are disclosed to the public for creating transparency.
Research limitations/implications
Although transparency-by-design is an intuitive concept, more research is needed in what constitutes information and communication technology-mediated transparency and how it can be realized.
Practical implications
Governments should embrace transparency-by-design to open more data sets and come closer to achieving open government.
Originality/value
Transparency-by-design is a new concept that has not given any attention yet in the literature.
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– The purpose of this study is to understand “Why Should Companies Embrace Cost Transparency”.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand “Why Should Companies Embrace Cost Transparency”.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a thought piece in response to the paper by Simintiras et al. (2015), “Should Consumer’s Request Cost Transparency?”
Findings
Arguments based on past research and company practices show that companies practicing cost transparency can increase their customer following, brand loyalty, differentiation and ultimately the profits.
Practical implications
The paper showcases examples of how companies have implemented cost transparency to differentiate their customer offerings. The paper also shows that conscious consumers are now demanding more cost transparency, and companies have already started to heed this call.
Originality/value
The paper specifically outlines arguments and recent examples to show why companies should embrace cost transparency.
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Naihao Li, Zijie Li, Banruo Zhang and Yan Wang
Information transparency is an important factor in enhancing trust and promoting interfirm cooperation. By combining transaction cost theory and institutional theory, this study…
Abstract
Purpose
Information transparency is an important factor in enhancing trust and promoting interfirm cooperation. By combining transaction cost theory and institutional theory, this study aims to examines whether host-country firms’ information transparency prompt multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) to choose the joint venture entry mode for outward foreign direct investment (OFDI).
Design/methodology/approach
Using Heckman two-stage estimation method, this study examines Chinese listed manufacturing firms for the period 2014–2019.
Findings
The findings indicate that the higher the information transparency of host-country firms, the higher the possibility of MNEs choosing the joint venture entry mode for OFDI. This study further finds that the positive relationship between host country firms’ information transparency and the possibility of choosing the joint venture entry mode is enhanced by institutional distance, but weakened by MNEs’ host-country experience.
Originality/value
How to choose the appropriate entry mode of OFDI in the internationalization strategy is an important issue for MNEs to consider. As the postpandemic world is characterized by increased global risks, decoupling of economies, disruption of global value chains and the retreat of globalization (Contractor and Cantwell, 2022), how to further strengthen cooperation, reduce the cost and risk of MNEs and truly realize common construction and sharing is one of the hot issues in both practice and research.
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Pavel Král and Andrew Schnackenberg
Despite considerable evidence of the benefits of organizational transparency, policies to enhance transparency often fail or are met with resistance and unexpected results. In…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite considerable evidence of the benefits of organizational transparency, policies to enhance transparency often fail or are met with resistance and unexpected results. In part, this is due to a lack of knowledge about the drivers of organizational transparency and their interrelationships. This study examines the interplay among the forces that influence organizational transparency, and thus answers numerous calls for developing a deeper theoretical understanding of the determinants of organizational transparency. We propose three forces that influence organizational transparency and theorize how they combine in nonlinear ways to form five archetypical transparency regimes that organizations operate within. We then discuss contingencies to organizational transparency within each regime.
Design/methodology/approach
We employ configurational theorizing to capture the complexity of transparency and the nonlinear relationships among the forces of transparency.
Findings
We propose three forces that influence organizational transparency: institutional, societal, and leadership. We identify configurations of the three forces that yield five archetypical transparency regimes. We then discuss contingencies for cultivating organizational transparency within each regime. Vanguard transparency and pioneering transparency represent the desired regimes for fostering organizational transparency. In contrast, hollow transparency and deceptive transparency reveal a combination of determinants that cultivate less desirable forms of organizational transparency. Paradoxical transparency represents a regime in which socially desirable outcomes are associated with undesirable consequences for an organization.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is among the first to theorize the drivers of organizational transparency and to discuss the limits and boundaries of organizational responses to transparency determinants.
Practical implications
Despite the many benefits of transparency, we explain why efforts to enhance organizational transparency often fail or are met with mixed results. By considering the three forces, managers and policymakers can avoid unexpected and undesired organizational responses to transparency regimes.
Social implications
We propose five transparency regimes that place a spotlight on social contingencies to enhance transparency.
Originality/value
This study offers an integrative theory of organizational responses to transparency determinants and develops its theoretical foundations. The model integrates the fragmented empirical findings from previous studies on the determinants of transparency and draws attention to overlooked institutional, societal, and leadership forces that influence organizational transparency.
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