Apostolos Ballas

Exploring Diversity in Accounting through Faculty Journal Perceptions

The accounting research community has frequently been described as being both diverse and focused on local issues. At the same time, increasing pressure is being placed on researchers to publish in internationally highly regarded journals. Since faculty evaluations depend on journal rankings, such rankings need to take into account the diversity of the research community. Therefore, this study examines how contextual factors such as a researchers location and research orientation may influence journal quality perceptions and readership patterns based on an international sample of 1,230 accounting academics. The perceived quality of journals is measured across a number of dimensions, including journal familiarity, average rank position, percent of respondents who classify a journal as top tier, and readership. The results support that a significant variation in journal quality perceptions exists based on a researchers geographic origin, research orientation, and affiliation with a journal.

The relevance of IFRS to an emerging market: evidence from Greece

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the relevance of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in emerging markets, with special reference to the case of Greece.Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts a mixed methodology relying primarily on secondary sources such as the relevant legislation, published annual reports and reports on the effects of the application of IFRS by Greek firms as well as the results of a postal survey addressed to the finance managers of the top 100 Greek firms. For the postal survey, a modified version of the questionnaire used by Tyrall et al. was adopted.Findings – Although the Greek environment was not appropriate for IFRS application, participants in the survey believe that their adoption improved the quality of financial reporting. The introduction of IFRS increased the reliability, transparency and comparability of the financial statements.Practical implications – This study provides insights regarding the extent to which the introduction of IFRS influence...

Measuring Nothing: The Case of the Greek National Health System

Several critical studies in accounting have approached the introduction of accounting systems in the public sector in terms of enforcing and sustaining competition-based resource allocation mechanisms. In this study, we reverse the question and ask: why has accounting not been used in certain public bureaucracies as much as it might? We investigate the extent to which accounting systems have been used in the management of the Greek National Health System (ESY) and find that accounting has played a marginal role in its development. Attempting to explain this puzzling feature we first note and then contrast the main underlying features of accounting systems with those of the Greek political system in general, and ESY in particular. Briefly, our explanation is that the historically high politicization that has characterized the Greek political system has tended to over-shadow the economic-cum-managerial dimension of running public bureaucracies, favouring overtly political evaluation criteria of organizational and individual performance. In such an institutional environment, accounting has low symbolic significance and its use does not contribute to enhancing organizational legitimacy - hence its marginal role.

The State of Accounting and the State of the State

The purpose of this paper is to present a study of the evolution of accounting regulation within one country in the context of that countrys historical development, the origins and motivations of the legal system and the state, and the subsequent outcomes in terms of accounting rules and regulations. The case in point is Greece. However, the paper neither describes specific regulatory practices in a systematic manner nor rules that exist for the preparation of the financial statements. It is concerned instead with the relationship between the state and corporate accountability.In the context of accounting regulation, Greece has recently attracted attention in the research literature. Papas (1993) and Ballas (1994) were among the first to describe to an international academic audience various institutional aspects of corporate accounting in Greece while Neal (1997) has attempted to describe the social and economic forces that have shaped its development. However, this study offers new insights into the institutional framework of accounting and in particular the relationship of the state to accounting regulation.

An empirical investigation of Greek firms' compliance to IFRS disclosure requirements

This study investigates the compliance of Greek firms to IFRS disclosure requirements. Using a checklist based on the disclosure requirements contained on the proposed standard for SMEs, a compliance score was calculated for a sample of 32 listed and non-listed Greek firms. Subsequently, univariate tests and a multivariate regression model were run to investigate what firm characteristics (listing status, sector, size, profitability) may be related to the extent of compliance. On average, firms comply with about two-thirds of the disclosure requirements. Compliance is positively and significantly influenced by listing status, while the univariate analysis indicated that the larger firms exhibit higher compliance rates. Results are of particular interest to accounting regulators who set disclosure requirements and capital market participants. However, the small size of the sample limits the power of the statistical analysis. The paper empirically investigates the compliance with IFRS requirements and ultimately on the quality of financial statements.

Management control systems and performance: evidence from the Greek shipping industry

This study explores how Management Control Systems (MCS) enhance the performance of shipping companies. Based on data collected from semi-structured interviews, MCS are distinguished in three categories according to the purposes they fulfill: “Basic MCS” are implemented in order to set standards and support basic operations of the business, “Cost MCS” collect information about cost minimization while “External Information MCS” focus on compliance with the requirement of the cargo owners. Furthermore, evidence collected through a survey instrument addressed to shipping companies located in Greece suggests that the choice of MCS is contingent upon the strategy pursued by the shipping companies. Moreover, this paper tests whether shipping companies with an optimal fit between their strategies and their MCS experience superior business performance and a higher perceived usefulness of MCS. Results reinforce the notion that the performance of the shipping companies is contingent on the use of those control systems which are consistent with their strategies and a number of control variables such as experience of the person implemented the MCS, the size, and age of company.

Tax Incentives as Determinants of Accounting for and Spending on R&D: An International Analysis

This article is an investigation of the conundrum of firms whose tax-minimising incentives should result in lower reported income by expensing R&D, while their financial reporting ones should result in higher reported income by capitalising R&D. Tax incentives for R&D help align those goals when accounting regulation permits the capitalisation of R&D. We use firms listed in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands reporting under IFRS, and find that R&D-related tax benefits at the country level induce firms to at least partly capitalize, rather than expense R&D. Our results also indicate that country-specific R&D tax benefits provide significant incentives for increasing R&D expenditures, especially among high R&D spenders. Our findings are indicative of the influence of R&D tax incentives on accounting policies, well and above the amount of investments they are meant to induce.

The impact of accounting of securities valuation on stock returns: the case of Greece

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the market reaction to the accounting treatment of the marking‐to‐market of equity investments of Greek firms during the period 2002‐2004.Design/methodology/approach – Using data for firms listed in the ASE, a treatment effects model of returns on control variables, the valuation adjustment and a dummy for the accounting treatment which is modeled as conditional to profitability, size and leverage.Findings – It is found that firms chose to take valuation losses through equity but the market considered this treatment as a negative signal. The paper concludes that although market behavior is consistent with the efficient markets hypothesis, managerial behavior is more consistent with the mechanistic hypothesis.Originality/value – This study contributes to understanding the factors that influence the accounting policy decisions of firms listed in the Athens Stock Exchange. In addition, this study contributes to evaluating the IASBs decision to give issue...

The role of organisational politics in foreign direct investment

This paper aims to show that FDI decisions are largely political decisions made by organisational members and affected by contextual factors and the nature of the organisation’s power relationships. Furthermore, the study explores the uses of management accounting information in the FDI process. The current paper is a case study of the decision making process of a Greek manufacturing company which invested in the Balkans during the 1990s. The organisational control mix initially focused to explicit references to the company’s ideology but developed to one using formal, financially quantifiable information. The analysis illustrates that conflict and political behaviour emerge during strategic decision-making tasks in response to changing environmental conditions. The paper concludes that the change of the business affected by the FDI increased the influence of both the formal management control systems and those who controlled them.

Aligning strategy and performance measurement systems in the service sector companies: The greek example

This study explores whether the implementation of Management Control Systems (MCS) by the Greek shipping companies influences the adoption of their performance measurement systems and the implication of this choice on organizational performance. The study uses data collected from semi-structured interviews and a survey instrument addressed to shipping companies located in Greece. The paper finds evidence that MCS are defined in terms of the informational purposes these MCS fulfill. Analysis of responses to the questionnaire results that the choice of MCS is contingent upon the strategy pursued by the shipping companies. In addition, evidence suggests that shipping companies with an optimal fit between their strategy and their MCS experience superior performance and higher perceived usefulness of MCS. Moreover, it is concluded that Greek shipping companies adopt subjective performance measures irrespective of the MCS they implement and that this choice leads to enhanced perceived performance.