Inaug.-diss.--Rostock. / Lebenslauf.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1936. / "First edition." "Bibliography of previous publications by the author": p. 204.

Thèse--Neuchâtel. / "Literaturverzeichnis": p. [206]-210.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1983. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-121).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Syracuse University, 2005. / "Publication number AAT 3207091."

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-97).

The audit risk model is central to audit planning and the allocation of resources during audits. The auditing standards (AICPA 1994) and the practices of large accounting firms indicate this. However, practical application of the model is very complex. Two recent papers deal with a particular aspect of this complexity as it relates to the risk of misstatements in assertions and the assessment of this risk. Kinney (1992) proposes the existence of dependence in the risk of misstatement between groups of two or more financial statement components (e.g., assertions) and Waller (1993) presents data consistent with that proposition. In addition, Waller (1993) presents data which displays a substantial degree of dependence in risk assessments over assertions within an account. The current study develops and empirically tests three potential explanations for this latter finding. Despite the importance of risk assessment to audit planning and auditing in general, limited research of an experimental nature exists (Colbert 1988; Daniel 1988; Jiambalvo and Waller 1984; Libby, Artman, and Willingham 1985; Strawser 1991). None of these studies deal with risk assessments made at the assertion level. Given a policy of assessing risk at the assertion level, increased understanding about assertion-level inherent risk assessments is important. Specifically, given dependence in assertion-level risk assessments, identifying sources of this dependence is important to a better understanding of auditors' risk assessments. The first explanation involves the extent to which pairs (or larger groups) of assertions are audited using similar procedures. The second explanation involves the extent to which auditors focus on a single assertion as most important (i.e., the use of a "Most Important Assertion Heuristic"). It was hypothesized that a relationship exists between the extent to which a single assertion is considered most important and the dependence in inherent risk assessments over assertions. The third explanation hypothesized that dependence in inherent risk over assertions is related to the extent to which auditors focus on "general" as opposed to "assertion-specific" risk factors. Neither of the first two explanations received empirical support. The third explanation received very limited empirical support.

Already for some time there have been discussions about the relevance of scientific research in the fields of operations management and management accounting. Due to the applied nature of these fields, the research should produce theories that meet the requirements of scientific bodies and are valuable for practitioners too. Constructive research approach is a research approach where these objectives are built-in characteristics and thus it is an optimal remedy for reducing the gap between science and practice. However, this or any kind of research must be able to meet the standards of science in order to penetrate the scientific publishing arenas and to be accepted into the scientific body of knowledge. Although constructive research can be categorized as a fairly established research approach already, the writings on it have concentrated more on the practical issues of the research inquiry instead of contemplating on the philosophical premises of the approach. In order to confirm its status as a credible scientific research approach, the latter task is seen at least as important as the former. This thesis seizes upon this challenge and concentrates on the validity issues of constructive research. The objective of this thesis is to figure out how the validation of constructive research ought to be conducted. To achieve this aim, the composition of constructive research approach is delved into to form a ground for the suggestions about its validation. An important part of the research process is exploring the concept of validity in order to define what it means in general. Only after that it is possible to suggest what it should mean in constructive research and, thus, figure out how a researcher could find out about the validity i.e. validate his research accordingly. Results of this thesis suggest that validity of constructive research is a property of the means by which the research results were produced. Thus it is not the property of the developed construction that determines the validity of the research as previous studies suggest. In constructive studies where some kind of functionality test is conducted, the validation falls upon the testing procedure. In studies where a proper test cannot be conducted, validity of the research depends on validity of the means by which the construction was constructed. This thesis is conducted as a philosophical inquiry that rests upon the wide use of literature and the author’s own reasoning.

As Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure is becoming more common practise amongst companies, it is valuable to understand the underlying factors involved. The Goal of this thesis is to examine if the factors suggested by previous studies seem to have significance in a Finnish sample composed of 31 listed companies. As an ancillary research question linkage between Corporate Governance recommendation deviations and CSR ratings were examined. The research was executed by utilizing raw data from Thomson ONE Banker financial database, public information available in the 2012 annual reports, corporate governance statements and company web sites. This data was used to construct 10 independent variables. The CSRHub overall rating was applied to form the dependent variable. The raw data was then processed using linear regression. The results were limited as in many variables’ case no significance was found. Age and profitability factors alone had an anticipated affect on CSR disclosure ratings, but other variables fell short when trying to demonstrate positive or negative significant linkages. Average age of board members showed negative significant relationship with CSR ratings at a 1 % level, profitability at a 5 % level. The relative homogenous nature of Finnish listed companies can be argued to hinder the results. It is unlikely that the variables used in this thesis have such insignificant affect on CSR disclosure in all situations. It can be argued that the Finnish cultural environment is most likely the cause of the variables’ indifference. Finland is seen as a “model student” of the European Union and this cultural atmosphere might be the single most powerful determinant. More important than any specific company characteristic. It would be highly interesting to see more studies thriving to examine this perspective.

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on muodostaa selkeä kuva yritysjärjestelyjen verokohtelusta ja siihen liittyvistä kriteereistä. Toisena tavoitteena on selvittää mahdolliset yritysjärjestelyihin liittyvät veroansat, epäjohdonmukaisuudet ja toisaalta verosuunnittelumahdollisuudet. Kolmantena tavoitteena on eri yritysjärjestelytoimenpiteiden keskinäisten verotuksellisten erojen selvittäminen. Tutkimusmetodina tässä tutkimuksessa on deskriptiivinen tutkimus. Deskriptiivistä tutkimusta kutsutaan myös kuvailevaksi tai toteavaksi tutkimukseksi. Deskriptiivinen lähestymistapa pyrkii kokoamaan tietoa tutkimusaiheesta kuvailemalla ja selittämällä sitä muuttamatta sisältöä. Vaikka tarkoituksena on koota faktaa, deskriptiivinen tutkimus sisältää myös jonkin verran analyysia. Osakeyhtiöiden yritysjärjestelyt tulee suorittaa OYL:n mukaisesti. Lisäksi yritysjärjestelyt halutaan lähes aina toteuttaa EVL 52a–f §:n mukaisesti, jolloin hankintameno ja -aika siirtyvät vastikeosakkeille ja välittömältä luovutus- tai myyntivoiton verotukselta vältytään. Yritysjärjestelyn toteuttaminen EVL:n mukaisesti ei yleensä tuota vaikeuksia. EVL ei ole kuitenkaan täysin tyhjentävä ja oikeuskäytännön puuttumisesta johtuen useat keskeiset kysymykset ovat edelleen epäselviä. EVL 52a–f §:n mukaisen verokohtelun kannalta keskeisiä ongelmia aiheuttavat liiketoimintakokonaisuuden määrittely ja vaatimus toiminnan jatkamisesta osittaisjakautumisen ja liiketoimintasiirron yhteydessä. 10 %:n rahavastikkeen enimmäismäärän määrittely koskee liiketoimintasiirtoa lukuun ottamatta kaikkia järjestelyjä. Myös osakkaiden vanhojen omistussuhteiden tulisi säilyä järjestelyn jälkeen ennallaan, jolloin erilajisten osakkeiden erilainen vaihtosuhde voi aiheuttaa riskin. Vähentämättömät tappiot menetetään omistajanvaihdoksissa myös yritysjärjestelyjen yhteydessä. Eri yritysjärjestelytoimissa tappiot voivat käyttäytyä eri tavoin. Kombinaatiosulautuminen näyttäisi olevan erityisen käyttökelpoinen tapa yhdistää käyttämättömiä tappioita omaavia yhtiötä. Varainsiirtoverotukseen sisältyy suoranaisia veroansoja. Vastaanottavan yhtiön tulisi antaa vastikkeena vain uusia emittoituja osakkeita, sillä lain sanamuodon mukaan vanhat osakkeet ovat varainsiirtoveronalaisia. Liiketoimintasiirrossa varainsiirtoverovelvollisuus syntyy, jos siirto tehdään toimivaan yhtiöön, vaikka uuteen yhtiöön tehty siirto on varainsiirtoverosta vapaa. Oikeuskirjallisuus ei näe näille säännöksille mitään perustetta.