Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität zu Köln, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 359-416).

Thesis (M.Ed. (Education)) - Rhodes University, 2007. / A half thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Environmental Education)

This thesis reviews the evolution of interim reporting in New Zealand. The attempts to regulate interim reporting by the stock Exchange Association of New Zealand and the lobbying behaviour of affected parties are documented. The regulation of interim reporting is interpreted as a series of self-interest actions by the affected parties. In 1973 semiannual reports were mandated for all firms listed on the New Zealand stock Exchange. However, the content of these reports, was not specified until 1976. The extent of voluntary reporting practice prior to 1973 is recorded. The major empirical analysis of the thesis examines the association between corporate characteristics and the voluntary disclosure of semiannual earnings during the period 1973 to 1976. The analysis shows that firms with high semiannual earnings disclosures have more shares issued, have paid an interim dividend, carry relatively less inventory, are in a more seasonal industry and have a greater earnings forecast error. Assets in place, political costs of disclosure and competitive costs of disclosure are not found to be associated with the level of semiannual earnings disclosure. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the significance of the explanatory variables depends on firm size and upon the threshold level of disclosure.

This is a study of earnings quality, examining whether components of earnings based on New Zealand (N.Z.) accounting classification systems have different information parameters. The N.Z. environment provides a unique opportunity to examine a period with no legislative backing of accounting standards and a flexible accounting standard. Combined, this gave mangers the ability to clearly identify earnings components they considered to be differentially informative. Informativeness is assessed by the ability of current period earnings to predict next period earnings and the contemporaneous relation between returns and earnings. The results indicate that disaggregated reported earnings are more informative than aggregated earnings in a non-trivial way. In one of the sample periods disaggregated earnings explained 29% of the variance in returns, more than twice the explanatory power of aggregated earnings. N.Z. accounting standard setters replaced SSAP7 with FRS7 in 1994 contending that the discretion available to mangers reduced the informativeness of earnings. Not only do the results not support that contention but earnings informativeness has fallen since FRS7 came into effect, suggesting that standard setters should revisit that decision. The results also have implications for the content and form of the N.Z. Stock Exchange (NZSE) preliminary announcement. "Unusual earnings" reported to the NZSE by companies are shown to be differentially informative to investors yet the NZSE does not always identify these components when the preliminary announcement is summarised and disseminated to market participants. To summarise, the effective codification of earnings brought about by FRS7 has reduced the informativeness of earnings – locking differences between components into total earnings. The N.Z. results beg the question as to whether similar economic events are locked into the COMPUSTAT summary earnings variables for U.S. data.

Titel: Kan etisk kultur och etisk medvetenhet förbättra revisorsobjektivitet? Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Jonas Glad och Madalina Ersson Handledare: Jan Svanberg Datum: 2015 – januari Syfte: Uppsatsen syftar till att klarlägga möjliga samband mellan etisk kultur, etisk medvetenhet samt objektivitet och har sin bakgrund i tidigare forskning inom respektive ämne. Vi undersöker om ´Etisk kultur´ påverkar ´Objektivitet´, om ´Etisk Kultur´ påverkar ´Etisk Medvetenhet´ samt om ´Etisk Medvetenhet´ påverkar ´Objektiviteten´. Metod: Arbetet bygger på en deduktiv kvantitativ metod där vi använt oss av en tvärsnittsdesign i form av en surveyundersökning med en onlineenkät som insamlingsmetod för primärdata i studien. Primärdata har analyserats med statistiska metoder i statistikprogrammet SPSS och resultatet redovisas i huvudsak i tabellform vilket sedan diskuteras mot tidigare forskning. Resultat och slutsats: Inget signifikant samband har erhållits för hypotesen att ´Objektivitet´ skulle bero på ´Etisk kultur´ eller ´Etisk medvetenhet´. Ett signifikant samband för hypotesen att ´Etisk medvetenhet´ påverkas av ´Etisk kultur´ visade sig i resultatet av vår studie. Hypotesen om att ´Objektivitet´ beror på ´Etisk medvetenhet´ förkastades av resultatet. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Detta arbete har begränsats av en snäv tidsram samt ekonomiska resurser vilket lett till att studien inte uppnått en så hög svarsfrekvens som önskat, vilket ger utslag på arbetets resultat. Det vore därför intressant att se en mer omfattande studie med högre svarsfrekvens och ytterligare mer fokus på objektivitets- och medvetenhetsmåtten ur ett svenskt perspektiv, vilka möjligen kan upplevas för inexakta för en sådan uppgift som att bekräfta våra hypoteser, även om det är erkända mått inom internationell forskning. Uppsatsens bidrag: Arbetet har bidragit till att visa att det inte är självklart att ´Etisk medvetenhet´ har en direkt inverkan på revisorers ´Objektivitet´. Detta kan resultera i en ökad förståelse för komplexiteten kring dessa aspekter hos både yrkesgruppen revisorer samt för andra intressenter som kunder, investerare, myndigheter och det övriga samhället. Studien har även validerat det mått av etisk kultur som använts från tidigare forskning, vilket visar att det går att applicera i en svensk miljö men att vissa aspekter skiljer sig åt mot den miljö där dessa mått är utvecklade. Detta är värdefullt både för fortsatta kumulativa studier inom ämnet, samt som kunskap för branschen i applicerandet av de bakomliggande teorierna i praktisk etiskt arbete. / Title: Does ethical culture and ethical awareness improve auditor objectivity? Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Jonas Glad and Madalina Ersson Supervisor: Jan Svanberg Date: 2015 – January Aim: This exam paper aims to identify (clarify) possible relationships between ´Ethical culture´, ´Ethical awareness´ and ´Objectivity´ amongst auditors and has its origins in previous research about these individual components. It examines if ´Ethical culture´ has an impact on ´Objectivity´, if ´Ethical culture´ has an impact on ´Ethical awareness´ and finally if ´Ethical awareness´ has an impact on ´Objectivity´. Method: This paper practices a quantitative method where we have used a cross-sectional study in form of a survey design with an online survey to collect primary data for this study. This primary data has been analyzed using statistical methods in SPSS and the result is primarily presented in table form which is then discussed against previous research. Result and conclusion: No significant relationship could be proved that ´Objectivity´ would be dependent of ´Ethical culture´ or ´Ethical awareness´ in this study. The hypothesis that ´Objectivity´ is dependent of ´Ethical awareness´ was rejected, which validates previous research in the area. There is however an indication that ´Ethical awareness´ is dependent of the ´Ethical culture´ and we find a significant dependency between them throughout this study. Suggestions for future research: This study has been limited by scarce amount of time and financial resources which has led to a lower response frequency than could be wished for. Also the measurements for objectivity and ethical awareness, although they are accepted and recognized in previous research, could be viewed as inexact and it would be interesting to apply more exact measurements of objectivity and ethical awareness formed out of Swedish conditions and view of objectivity. This suggest that a more thorough survey to ensure higher answer-ratio and even more focus on the objectivity and ethical awareness measurements could be fruitful.      Contribution of the thesis: This paper has contributed to showing that it’s not obvious that ethical awareness has a direct impact on auditor’s objectivity, which can strengthen the understanding for the complexity of these aspects among the professional auditors and other interest groups such as investors, regulators and society. The paper also validates the measurement of ethical culture from previous research, and shows that the model is valid in a Swedish context. This gives a value for further cumulative studies in this area and as knowledge for future application of the studied theories in practical ethical issues in organizational work.

Syfte: År 2010 avskaffades revisionsplikten för de minsta företagen i Sverige. Trots att det har gått fyra år sedan dess, så är Sverige ett av de länder som har de lägsta gränsvärdena för frivillig revision i Europa. År 2013 presenterade EU ett nytt direktiv gällande dessa gränsvärden. Det pågår sedan dess diskussioner kring revisionsplikten och regeringen har startat upp en utredning huruvida EU:s redovisningsdirektiv skall införas i Sverige eller inte. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka effekter en höjning av gränsvärdena för frivillig revision kan få på redovisningen. Syftet med studien är även att visa vilka fördelar och nackdelar som frivillig revision kan medföra. Metod: Studien har en induktiv ansats med en kvalitativ metod. Primärdata har samlats in via semistrukturerade intervjuer med auktoriserade revisorer, auktoriserade redovisningskonsulter samt anställda på Bolagsverket och Skatteverket. Detta empiriska material har vi sedan analyserat och återkopplat till tidigare studier för att kunna besvara vår frågeställning. Resultat & slutsats: Även om det är svårt att säga vilka exakta effekter en friare revisionsplikt kan få på den svenska redovisningen, visar resultatet av vår studie att höjda gränsvärden kan leda till en försämrad redovisningskvalitet och ett ökat skattefusk. Respondenterna uttrycker ingen särskild oro över att deras arbete kommer påverkas till följd av en friare revisionsplikt, förutom att gällande lagar kommer att behöva förändras om gränsvärdena för frivillig revision höjs. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Eftersom det i dagsläget har visat sig svårt att uppmäta tydliga effekter av frivillig revision skulle en liknande studie med fördel kunna genomföras några år efter att en höjning av gränsvärdena skett, för att få tydligare resultat. Då med ett större urval av respondenter för att få in fler synvinklar och därmed en bredare empiri. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien har bland annat identifierat fördelar som revision innebär för företag och dess intressenter samt visat vilka effekter en friare revisionsplikt kan få på företagens redovisning. Studien kan därför vara till hjälp för företag som överväger att välja bort revision. / Aim: In the year 2010 Sweden abolished mandatory audit for the smallest companies in the country. After four years Sweden still has the lowest thresholds for voluntary audit in Europe. In the year 2013 the European Union presented a new directive concerning these thresholds. Since this new directive there has been discussions about mandatory audit and the Swedish government has started an investigation, whether the directive from the European Union shall be implemented in Sweden or not. This study aims to examine the impact increased thresholds will have on accounting. The study also aims to show the advantages and disadvantages that voluntary audit may result in. Method: This study has an inductive approach with a qualitative research method. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews with authorized auditors, authorized accountants and employees at Bolagsverket and Skatteverket. This empirical data was then analyzed and compared with earlier studies to answer our research question. Result & Conclusions: This study shows that increased thresholds may impact the quality of accounting, making it less reliable and useful, and it will also increase tax evasions. Even though it is complicated to say that these impacts only occur because of increased thresholds. The respondents express no particular concern if the thresholds are to be raised, since this will have very little impact on their work situation, except that existing laws will need to be looked over.   Suggestions for future research: We have determined that since only a short time has passed, it is difficult to see any clear results of voluntary audit. A proposal for future research in this area is therefor to repeat this study a couple of years after the thresholds have been increased to establish more reliable results. Then, by using a larger sample of respondents, being able to present more opinions and thus a wider empirical point of view. Contribution of the thesis: This study has contributed to knowledge that can be of use for those companies that are considering whether or not they should implement voluntary audit. The study has among other things identified benefits of auditing and the impact increased thresholds may have on accounting.

Aim: Auditors objectivity is an obvious part of auditing, but there is doubts and hesitation in society today because of the corporate scandals that have occurred in recent years. Several researchers suggest that auditors actions and behaviors is connected to the ethical climate within the organization. A relationship that also affects auditors objectivity and independence. This thesis aims to investigate how the ethical climate influence auditors choice of relationship to their clients, by choosing a relational and close relationship or a transactional and distanced relationship. And if the client approach have an effect on the auditors objectivity. Method: A survey was conducted among 232 certified accountants in Sweden. The questionnaire consisted of measuring instruments that measured accounting firms ethical climate, client relationship and client identification. The result was analysed with well established statistical methods. Result and conclusions: The result of the thesis showed that a weak ethical climate is associated with a stronger relationship orientation of the client relationship. The result showed that a stronger relationship orientation to their clients have a negative impact on auditor objectivity. The conclusion of the thesis is that the ethical climate affects the auditors relationship to their clients, a relationship that also has an negative impact on their objectivity. Suggestions for future research: Considering that the thesis only examines the ethical climates impact it can be of interest to investigate other underlying factors that affects auditors relationship approach and objectivity. Contribution of the thesis: The present study leave unique contribution to two research fields. The first is the demonstration of a relationship between ethical climate in audit firms and auditors' objectivity. Prior to this study, there is no study that used systematic measurement instruments in investigating the connection between ethical climate and the auditors' objectivity. The second is the demonstration of a relationship between ethical climate and the auditors' choice of approach to his clients. / Syfte: Revisorernas objektivitet är en självklar del i revisionsyrket, men i dagens samhälle så råder det tvivel och tveksamheter om att detta verkligen uppfylls p.g.a. de många företagsskandaler som har uppdagats under senare år. Många forskare menar att revisorernas handlingar och beteenden har ett samband med det etiska klimatet som råder inom organisationen vilket i sin tur påverkar revisorernas objektivitet. Denna studie ska undersöka om det etiska klimatet inom revisionsbolaget påverkar revisorns val av förhållningssätt till klienten, genom att antigen välja ett relationsinriktat eller transaktionellt förhållningssätt. Vi vill även undersöka om valet av förhållningssätt till klienten påverkar revisorns objektivitet. Metod: Data insamlades med en enkät från 232 revisorer i Sverige. Enkäten innehöll mätinstrument för mätning av revisionsfirmors etiska klimat, klientrelation och klientidentifikation. Resultatet analyserades med väletablerade statistiska metoder. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet av studien visade att ett svagt etiskt klimat är förenat med en starkare relationsorientering av klientrelationen. Resultatet visade även att en starkare relationsorientering till sina klienter har en negativ påverkan på revisorernas objektivitet. Slutsatsen av studien är att det etiska klimatet påverkar valet av revisorns förhållningssätt till klienten, ett val som i sin tur kan ha en negativ påverkan på objektiviten. Förslag till fortsatt forskning:  Då denna studie endast tar upp det etiska klimatets påverkan så kan det vara intressant att undersöka andra bakomliggande faktorer som kan ha en påverkan på revisorernas val av förhållningssätt och deras objektivitet. Studiens bidrag: Föreliggande studie lämnar unika bidrag till två forskningsområden. Det första är påvisandet av en relation mellan etiskt klimat i revisionsfirmor och revisorers objektivitet. Före denna studie finns ingen undersökning som använt ett systematiskt mätinstrument vid undersökning av samband mellan etiskt klimat och revisorers objektivitet. Det andra är påvisandet av en relation mellan det etiska klimatet och revisorernas val av förhållningssätt till sina klienter.

Aim: Auditor objectivity in the auditing process is an important part of the IASB and FASB framework as well as in the SOX act. It is unclear whether auditor’s self-efficacy through selection of negotiation strategy affect the auditor’s objectivity. The purpose of the study is to improve the understanding of what impacts auditor objectivity and as a result show new strategies on how to increase it. Method: Deductive approach with a literature review as secondary data and a web-based questionnaire carried out among 3,264 Swedish auditors as primary data. Analysis was done with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and reported in the SmartPLS and SPSS software. Result & Conclusions: Prior negative negotiation experiences have a detrimental effect on both distributive and integrative negotiation self-efficacy. Distributive negotiation self-efficacy and auditing self-efficacy increase objectivity mainly through the mediation of contending strategy. No relationship between integrative negotiation self-efficacy and negotiation strategy or auditor objectivity was found, possibly due to weak theoretical constructs. No causal claims are posed on these relations. Bandura’s four main sources of influence on self-efficacy can be considered as guides on how to shield the auditor from the detrimental effect of failures and build up self-efficacy to perform better in negotiation. Suggestions for future research: Develop stronger constructs for PNE, ISE and expanding-the-agenda-of-issues strategy. Using multiple imputation instead of mean replacement for missing data is highly recommended. Gather at least 400 responses in order to gain stronger statistical power. Introduce a prior auditing experiences construct for ASE to raise awareness of potential differences in how prior experiences affect DSE, ISE and ASE. Contribution of the thesis: This paper uniquely contributes to the literature on factors influencing auditor objectivity. Its main use to auditors, accounting legislators, researchers etc. at the moment is to add to the discussion about objectivity.

Submitted by Elba Lopes (elba.lopes@fecap.br) on 2017-02-21T18:15:13Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Marta de Lourdes Ferreira.pdf: 817960 bytes, checksum: 5f8f3c6ec1cafbcfa437bc07bd284572 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-21T18:15:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Marta de Lourdes Ferreira.pdf: 817960 bytes, checksum: 5f8f3c6ec1cafbcfa437bc07bd284572 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-06 / The main objective of this research was to raise and present isomorphism’s evidences in Operational Risk Management (ORM) of Financial Institutions (FIs) operating in Brazil. As specific objectives, to identify convergences and evaluate why they occur. It was made a qualitative and descriptive study of the historical development of ORM in FIs, regulations and similar works. It was carried out content analysis of "Pillar 3" Reports from ten IFs (75% of total assets) that acted in Brazil between 2013 and 2015. It was used descriptive categorizations of situations/events based on the theoretical framework, classified as performance evidence. It was found the presence of 100% of categories from coercive mechanism, 78% from the normative and 70% from the mimetic, proving the simultaneous performance of the mechanisms. The main categories for mechanism and disclosure index were: a) Coercive: related to legal compliance (100%); other risk management beyond the mandatory (89%); Business Continuity Plan (78%), a model of the three defense lines (56%), and prioritization of risks (56%). b) normative: committee responsibilities, executive officers and alike (100%); training in operational risk (78%), and dissemination of the risk culture (67%). c) mimetic: the use of technology in ORM (100%) and in loss databases (78%); the standardization of procedures between headquarters and branches (78%), as well as the use of indicators (78%). As a convergence point, there is a search for improvement of the ORM, and the compliance with requested criteria for approval of internal models to calculate capital requirements. The homogenization of the ORM was due to the legal demands, and its beneficial effects positively change the environment. The public disclosure of principles, the best practices and "Pillar 3" Reports allow other companies to use the main information and implement their own ORM structures. As future researches, we suggest the evolution of operational losses and evidence of the ORM performance; the current development stage of internal models; the profile analysis of people hired in the area, from the perspective of normative isomorphism; the technologies used in the ORM to identify mimetic isomorphism; the categories update of each mechanism, including technology area characteristics and human resources; as well as the research replication for companies subject to specific regulations, such as SOX and capital markets. / O objetivo principal da pesquisa é levantar e apresentar evidências do isomorfismo na Gestão de Riscos Operacionais (GRO) de Instituições Financeiras (IFs) que operam no Brasil. O objetivo específico é identificar pontos de convergência e avaliar porque ocorrem. Realizada pesquisa qualitativa e descritiva da evolução histórica da GRO em IFs, regulamentações e trabalhos semelhantes. Efetuada análise de conteúdo do Relatório “Pilar 3” de dez IFs (75% do total de ativos) que atuaram no Brasil entre 2013 e 2015. Utilizadas categorizações descritivas de situações/eventos conforme referencial teórico, classificáveis como evidências de atuação. Constatou-se a presença de 100% das categorias do mecanismo coercitivo, 78% do normativo e 70% do mimético, comprovando a atuação simultânea dos mecanismos. Principais categorias por mecanismo e índices de evidenciação: a) coercitivo: relacionadas ao atendimento legal (100%); gestão de outros riscos além dos obrigatórios (89%); Plano de Continuidade de Negócios (78%), Modelo das Três Linhas de Defesa (56%) e priorização de riscos (56%). b) normativo: responsabilidades de comitês, diretores e assemelhados (100%); treinamento em risco operacional (78%) e disseminação da cultura de risco (67%). c) mimético: uso de tecnologias na GRO (100%) e em bancos de dados de perdas (78%); padronização de procedimentos entre matriz e filiais (78%) e o uso de indicadores (78%). Como ponto de convergência, vê-se a busca pelo aperfeiçoamento da GRO e o atendimento aos requisitos necessários para aprovação de modelos internos para cálculo de requerimentos de capital. A homogeneização da GRO ocorreu em função das demandas legais e seus efeitos benéficos alteram positivamente o ambiente. A divulgação pública de princípios, melhores práticas e relatórios “Pilar 3” permite que outras organizações usem as informações como base e implantem suas próprias estruturas de GRO. Sugestões de pesquisa: evolução de perdas operacionais e com evidências de atuação da GRO; estágio atual de desenvolvimento dos modelos internos; análise do perfil dos profissionais contratados na área, sob a ótica do isomorfismo normativo; tecnologias usadas na GRO buscando evidências do isomorfismo mimético; e replicação da pesquisa para organizações sujeitas a regulamentações específicas como SOX e mercado de capitais.