Accounting and The Public Interest 

About: Accounting and The Public Interest is an academic journal published by American Accounting Association. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Audit & Public interest. It has an ISSN identifier of 1530-9320. Over the lifetime, 139 publications have been published receiving 1774 citations. The journal is also known as: API.

Impression Management in Sustainability Reports: An Empirical Investigation of the Use of Graphs

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether firms use graphs in their sustainability reports in order to present a more favorable view of their social and environmental performance. Further, because prior research indicates that companies use social and environmental disclosure as a tool to reduce their exposure to social and political pressures (the legitimacy argument), we also examine whether differences in the extent of impression management are associated with differences in social and environmental performance. Based on an analysis of graphs in sustainability reports for a sample of 77 U.S. companies for 2006, we find considerable evidence of favorable selectivity bias in the choice of items graphed, and moderate evidence that where distortion in graphing occurs, it also has a favorable bias. Our results regarding the relation between impression management and performance are mixed. Whereas we find that graphs of social items in sustainability reports for companies with worse socia...

Whistleblowing in Public Accounting: Influence of Identity Disclosure, Situational Context, and Personal Characteristics

Abstract: Public accounting firms rely on effective reporting of unethical behavior (whistleblowing) as a form of corporate governance. This study presents results from a survey of 122 in‐charge level auditors, who indicated their likelihood of internal whistleblowing under three forms of identity disclosure for three independent scenarios. Reporting likelihood was significantly lower under a disclosed identity format, while there was no significant difference in likelihood between anonymous and protected identity formats. Contrasts reveal a significantly higher likelihood of reporting audit standards violations than a professional code violation. Likelihood was also positively related to measures of trust that the firm would investigate and act on the reported incident. Personal characteristics (i.e., locus of control and ethical style) were significant antecedents to whistleblowing intentions. Findings should aid public accounting firms and organizational governance researchers in their understanding of...

Intellectual Capital: Who Counts, Controls?

Abstract: Intellectual capital and related topics including intangibles, innovation, and knowledge have rapidly climbed the management research agenda. Their significance lies in the contribution these assets make to sustained value creation, a central mantra within contemporary business strategy. A premium has been placed on the successful management of such assets, and within this program, the accountancy profession has found itself challenged to devise effective means of counting and controlling them. Driven by a distinctly managerial agenda, the majority of developments within intellectual capital accounting to date have exhibited the negative characteristics that critical accounting researchers associate with the extension of the prevailing accounting calculus into new fields. Nevertheless, in some recent contributions there are indications of how an alternative, more progressive approach, that of intellectual capital self‐accounts, might be fashioned. As a consequence, the emergence of intellectual capital ma...

Responding to “Discrediting” Events: Annual Report Disclosure Responses to Environmental Fines

Abstract: In this study we consider how a discrediting event such as an environmental fine influences the quality of environmental disclosures in subsequent annual reports. Starting from prior work in the areas of impression management along with environmental and social responsibility disclosures, we propose that environmental disclosures provide organizations with a method of “managing” such discrediting events. Using a matched‐pair sample of publicly traded Canadian companies that have been subject to environmental fines and those that have not; we analyze changes in pre‐fine and post‐fine environmental disclosure quality. After controlling for firm‐specific characteristics, the provided results are consistent with this explanation.

Modeling Accountant Whistleblowing Intentions: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Fraud Triangle

Abstract: Accounting fraud represents a severe threat to the public interest, and whistleblowing remains the most effective fraud discovery mechanism. In this research, we integrate the theory of planned behavior with the fraud triangle to organize prior whistleblowing literature and model the intention of professional accountants to blow the whistle on a material accounting fraud. The results, based on responses from 284 professional organizational accountants, support our theory development and indicate that attitudes and perceptions of control over whistleblowing are positively related to whistleblowing intention. In supplemental analyses, we also find that gender and management level are significantly associated with whistleblowing intent. Our results provide evidence for using our integrated theoretical model to explain and predict the reporting intention of corporate accountants. Findings should aid organizations and regulators seeking to improve corporate ethical culture and aid governance research...