Narrow Results

We use firm-level data from ASEAN5 to examine the significance of tax-motivated profit shifting by multinational enterprises and to analyze how anti-avoidance measures mitigate the profit shifting. We show that (1) tax-motivated profit shifting is statistically and economically significant, especially for manufacturing firms, (2) auditing and transfer-pricing scrutiny is more effective in reducing profit shifting than documentation requirement alone and (3) tax-motivated profit shifting is prominent for large firms, while anti-tax avoidance measures result in the absence of profit shifting detected from small manufacturing firms. The findings have important implications for developing countries with weak governance but dependent on MNEs.

The paper on mandatory nonfinancial risk disclosures and the effect of auditor characteristics examines a topical issue and finds unexpected results. It finds that there is no overall Big 4 effect, but that some of the Big 4 audit firms are associated with a higher quality of risk disclosure. Audit partners with wider experience, and female auditors, are associated with better risk disclosure. I review the paper, applying a predictive validity model. I suggest areas where research on this issue could be further developed.

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is taking place in diverse forms, and SEA requirements vary considerably from one nation to the next. While the true measure of effectiveness of SEA is its influence on decision output and policy, plan and program (PPP) outcomes, an effective SEA requires a quality assessment process. This paper suggests that there is no generic set of audit criteria that is appropriate for evaluating the quality of all SEA applications. Auditing SEA quality performance requires criteria that reflect the guidelines and procedural requirements of the institutional arrangements within which SEA is practised. Based on a proposed set of SEA quality performance criteria for Canada, this paper presents the findings of an audit of five national-level Canadian SEA applications.

A major challenge for many countries is the implementation of environmental regulations developed to reduce or eliminate air, water, and other pollutants. Recent efforts to ensure value for money in environmental protection, examine how to improve regulatory design, compliance promoting, and regulatory enforcement to deter and prevent regulatory violation. Work in accountability mechanisms such as performance audits have helped identify regulatory implementation issues. Opportunity exits to supplement traditional compliance promotion with new environmental data sources, including from citizen science.

Building on the work we have done in Alles and Gray (2019a, 2019b), in this chapter we try to provide a more balanced perspective on blockchain, explaining to an accounting audience why this technology has both much to contribute and what its caveats are. We will cover the basics of the technology underlying blockchain, explain its relation to bitcoin, and do so with a particular reference to what we feel accountants need to know about these technologies. For most accountants, technology such as blockchain is a means toward an end and not an end in themselves. What the technology is used for is far more important than what the technology is and, hence, what accountants need to understand is the business context of blockchain.

With the trend of integrating the world and regional economy, financial markets have expanded strongly, especially capital markets. Moreover, the International Accounting Standards (IAS/IFRS) have become a global language in the preparing and presenting of financial statements. The objective of this chapter is to examine the macro factors affecting the adoption of IAS/IFR in Vietnam. The authors use mixed methods based on logarithm models with secondary data of 147 countries to examine the following factors: culture, economic growth, capital markets, education, foreign operation, law, and politics. The authors propose implications of promoting the process of IAS/IFRS adoption in the country.