计量经济分析 = Econometric analysis

Purpose




This paper aims to review studies dealing with gender issues in accounting literature over the period of 1994-2016.




Design/methodology/approach




This study combines electronic and manual searches to identify relevant studies using keywords such as “gender” or “female” and “earnings quality” or “social and environmental disclosure” or “auditing” or “tax aggressiveness”. In total, 64 published studies were identified.




Findings




Three main streams of gender accounting literature related to financial reporting (earnings quality, accounting conservatism, voluntary disclosure), auditing (audit fees, audit opinion, audit report lag) and other miscellaneous topics were identified. Gender accounting literature uses empirical analysis, experimental approaches and interviews. Reviewed studies deal with top management gender (CEO, CFO), board of directors, audit committee and auditor gender. A synthesis of empirical findings shows that female representation on the board, audit committee, CFO or CEO leads to more conservative reporting, higher level of social and environmental disclosure, less tax aggressiveness and higher audit fees. Furthermore, auditor gender influences audit quality through lower abnormal accruals and shorter audit report lag, higher likelihood of issuing an adverse audit opinion and higher audit fees. Qualitative studies dealing with miscellaneous topics in gender accounting literature generally focus on the status of women in accounting and auditing professions, gender issues in accounting academic setting and disclosure about women in annual reports.




Practical implications




This review informs policymakers about the effect of female representation on accounting and auditing practices given the political debate largely shaped by anti-discriminatory arguments concerning the under-representation of women in management and audit professions.




Originality/value




This study goes beyond a classic narrative review by presenting criticisms to gender accounting literature and suggesting future research avenues.

Gender in accounting research: a review

It has been argued that seemingly benevolent and complementary gender stereotypes serve to maintain or increase support for the system of gender inequality, especially among women. In prior work, support for this hypothesis has been indirectly inferred from the existence of stereotypes themselves or on the basis of purely correlational findings. We conducted three experimental studies (N = 484) in which male and female research participants were exposed to different types of gender-related beliefs and subsequently asked to complete measures of either gender-specific or diffuse system justification. Results were highly consistent across studies and demonstrated that, compared to control conditions, activating (a) communal or complementary (communal + agentic) gender stereotypes, or (b) benevolent or complementary (benevolent + hostile) items from Glick and Fiske's (1996) Ambivalent Sexism Inventory increases both specific and diffuse support for the status quo among women.

Exposure to Benevolent Sexism and Complementary Gender Stereotypes: Consequences for Specific and Diffuse Forms of System Justification

Previous research has found age-related deficits in a variety of cognitive processes. However, some studies have demonstrated age-related sparing on tasks where individuals have substantial experience, often attained over many decades. Here, the authors examined whether decades of experience in a fast-paced demanding profession, air traffic control (ATC), would enable older controllers to perform at high levels of proficiency. The authors also investigated whether older controllers would show diminished age-related decrements on domain-relevant cognitive abilities. Both young and old controllers and non-controllers performed a battery of cognitive and ATC tasks. Results indicate that although high levels of experience can reduce the magnitude of age-related decline on the component processes that underlie complex task performance, this sparing is limited in scope. More important, however, the authors observed experience-based sparing on simulated ATC tasks, with the sparing being most evident on the more complex air traffic control tasks. These results suggest that given substantial experience, older adults may be quite capable of performing at high levels of proficiency on fast-paced demanding real-world tasks. The implications of these findings for global skilled labor shortages are discussed.

"Experience-based mitigation of age-related performance declines: Evidence from air traffic control": Correction to Nunes and Kramer

Research background: The paper investigates the earnings management phenomenon in the context of Central European countries, attempting to identify the factors and incentives that can influence earnings management behavior on a sample of 8,156 enterprises from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.
Purpose of the article: The main purpose of the manuscript is to prove that there are significant differences in earnings management practices (measured by discretionary accruals) across the countries and to find the firm-specific features that influence the way enterprises manage their earnings.
Methods: The modified Jones model was used to calculate the discretionary accruals, which are further analyzed across the countries. The statistically significant differences were confirmed across the countries. Thus, the impact of the economic sector, firm size, firm age, legal form, and ownership structure on earnings management behavior is studied by the Kruskal-Wallis test. The Dunn-Bonferroni post hoc tests then revealed the significant differences across the categories of the investigated earnings management determinants. To find the association between the particular earnings management practice (income-increasing or income-decreasing manipulation), correspondence analysis was used to visualize the mutual relations.
Findings & value added: The results of the realized investigation revealed that the economic sector is one of the most important earnings management determinants, as its statistical significance was confirmed in each analyzed country. The correspondence analysis determined specific sectors, where income-increasing manipulation with earnings is practiced (NACE codes F, J, K, M, N), and vice versa, income-decreasing earnings management is characteristic for enterprises in sectors A, C, D, G or L. In specific economic conditions, firm size is also a relevant indicator (Hungary), or firm age and legal form and ownership structure (Poland). The recognition of crucial earnings management incentives may be helpful for authorities, policymakers, analysts and auditors when identifying various techniques and practices of earnings manipulation which could vary across the sectors and taking necessary measures to mitigate potential financial risks.

/pdf/quo-vadis-earnings-management-analysis-of-manipulation-4h3vgoqrys.pdf

Quo Vadis, earnings management? Analysis of manipulation determinants in Central European environment

Using a sample of Portuguese audit firms and their client companies, this study examines the association between gender composition of the partnership structure of audit firms and audit quality. Audit quality is measured through the earnings quality of audit clients. We find that gender diversity in the partnership structure of audit firms, per se, has no association with audit quality. In turn, we find significant evidence that a predominant presence of female CPAs in partner positions in audit firms is associated with higher audit quality. In particular, the results indicate that audit firms with female dominated partnership structures are negatively related with aggressive accounting practices in audit clients.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2584931_code2376299.pdf?abstractid=2584931&mirid=4

Audit Quality: Does Gender Composition of Audit Firms Matter?

Using a sample of Portuguese firms, I examine the association between religiosity and financial reporting quality The results suggest that firms headquartered in areas with strong religious adherence, higher levels of (aggregate) religiosity, and in the core area of the Portuguese religious cult (the district where the Fatima Sanctuary is located) generally experience lower incidence of earnings management The evidence on religious adherence holds separately for Catholic affiliation, and the results are not driven by firms headquartered in rural areas I also conclude that religiosity, together with other forms of external monitoring, represents a mechanism for reducing aggressive accounting practices I confirm that the evidence on the positive association between religiosity and financial reporting quality previously gathered from a primarily Protestant country (US) and from a Buddhist and Taoist country (China), holds in the Latin Europe, which is dominated by the Catholic denomination and ha

/pdf/religiosity-and-corporate-financial-reporting-evidence-from-lpva6wrczv.pdf

Religiosity and corporate financial reporting: evidence from a European country

Using a sample of Portuguese audit firms and their client companies, this study examines the association between gender composition of the partnership structure of audit firms and audit quality. Audit quality is measured through the earnings quality of audit clients. We find that gender diversity in the partnership structure of audit firms, per se, has no association with audit quality. In turn, we find significant evidence that a predominant presence of female Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in partner positions in audit firms is associated with higher audit quality. In particular, the results indicate that audit firms with female-dominated partnership structures are negatively related with aggressive accounting practices in audit clients.

Audit quality: does gender composition of audit firms matter?

This study uses a sample of 25 OECD countries to examine the association between CSR, national governance and tax evasion at the country level. The interaction between country-level governance and CSR relative to tax avoidance is also explored. The findings suggest that neither the ESG dimensions nor the overall CSR measure are significant determinants of tax evasion at the country level. In contrast, national governance quality is significantly and negatively related to tax evasion. Significant support is also found for the mediating effect of national governance on the association between CSR and tax evasion: in countries with weak national governance, CSR and country-level governance are substitutes; in countries with strong national governance, CSR reporting (in particular, environmental disclosures) seems to be used as a cosmetic and compensatory tool for firms to mitigate the reputational risk and public concern arising from tax evasion activities. The findings are theoretically and practically relevant as they underscore not only the importance of national governance in mitigating tax evasion but also the relevance of the mediating effect of national governance on the relationship between CSR and tax evasion. The evidence highlights the need for policymakers in countries with strong national governance to design new/strong anti-tax avoidance regulations.

Tax Evasion, Corporate Social Responsibility and National Governance: A Country-Level Study

We revisit religiosity, gender, age, ethics education and experience as drivers of ethicality, while expanding prior research from Anglo-Saxon and Asiatic/Euro-Asiatic countries to a Latin European country, Portugal. We apply the Merchant (1989) instrument of attitudes towards earnings management, in a sample of Portuguese accounting students and alumni. We find no significant evidence of a positive association between religiosity and accountants’ judgments on earnings management. However, gender, age, education (and accounting ethics education) and experience are significant predictors of accountants’ judgments. The results are unchanged when we control for the intent (selfish benefit) of earnings management. Females, older individuals and alumni judge accounting earnings management more harshly than males, younger individuals, and students (who have not yet completed an accounting ethics course). A higher level of accounting work experience induces accountants to judge accounting earnings management as a less ethically questionable practice. This finding is theoretically relevant because it underscores the necessity of taking people’s constraints in the workplace into consideration when studying ethical behavior in business contexts. The results are also practically relevant, as they highlight the importance of a systematic ethics education throughout the accountant’s life.

Tânia Menezes Montenegro

Papers

Audit Quality: Does Gender Composition of Audit Firms Matter?

Religiosity and corporate financial reporting: evidence from a European country

Audit quality: does gender composition of audit firms matter?

Tax Evasion, Corporate Social Responsibility and National Governance: A Country-Level Study

Determinants of the Attitudes of Portuguese Accounting Students and Professionals Towards Earnings Management