Brett R. Wilkinson

Board Composition and Regulatory Change: Evidence from the Enactment of New Companies Legislation in New Zealand

We examine whether New Zealand firms changed the composition of their boards of directors due to the 1994 enactment of the new Companies Act. We explore two possible effects. First, outside directors may have been more attractive, and firms may have used more outside directors after the new Companies Act. Alternatively, the new duties and associated penalties could have made outside directorships less attractive and harder to fill, and firms may have used less outside directors. Our results show that the proportion of outside directors increased by about 5% after the new Companies Act. This supports the view that the value of outside directors increased after the Act and suggests that the political process can change corporate governance mechanisms.

A Tobit analysis of accounting faculty publishing productivity in Australian and New Zealand universities

This study examines the research behavior of Australian and New Zealand accounting faculty to determine the characteristics that influence research productivity. University reputations are integrally linked with research performance and determining the qualities that predict research behavior may be of particular value in the selection and recruitment process. The study finds that two key factors significantly impact performance: holding a Ph.D. and having an academe-oriented rather than profession-oriented background. These results may be interpreted as affirming the U.S. model of developing specialist academic researchers through doctoral education programs rather than employing faculty with strong professional experience.

Professionalizing the Tax Accounting Profession: Fulfilling Public-Interest Reporting Responsibilities

Recent events in the tax accounting profession such as the marketing and use of aggressive tax shelters illustrate that the tax accounting profession has lost its focus on public interest responsibilities which anchors the profession. This chapter first establishes the importance of a professional public interest foundation by outlining how such a professional foundation ideally provides a necessary anchor for the tax accounting profession. We next move from the ideal to the actual and use the fraud triangle to examine how the current tax accounting profession has strayed from a professional foundation focused on public interest responsibilities. We use the Barley and Tolbert (Org Stud 18:93–117, 1997) sociology model to understand structural change and propose suggestions for facilitating professional, public-interest focused changes in the tax accounting profession.

The Effect of Economic Patriotism on Tax Morale and Attitudes Toward Tax Compliance

In the past decade several high-profile public figures have equated patriotic duty with paying taxes. We examine how patriotism influences taxpayer attitudes toward taxation. Using taxpayer subjects who participated in a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, we find that patriotic individuals are significantly more positive about paying taxes to support their country and are more likely to believe in the progressivity of the tax system than nonpatriotic individuals. We find no evidence that patriotic taxpayers find paying more tax overall to be patriotic. However we find strong evidence that patriotic taxpayers perceive tax evasion (tax cheating) to be unpatriotic.

The Academic Accounting Profession and the Pathways Commission: Two Helpful Analogs from the National Football League

Abstract The accounting academy is facing two critical challenges: an increasing disconnect between academia and practice and a growing shortage of faculty. Recently, the Pathways Commission proposed that accounting programs more fully embrace professionally oriented faculty. This proposal is attractive because it would increase faculty numbers and bring a stronger practice orientation to the academy. Although there may be benefits associated with this proposal, there may also be significant unintended consequences. In this paper, we use two analogs from the NFL to highlight the risks in relying on practice-oriented faculty to solve our problems. We offer a series of reflection questions to promote further conversations on the Pathways Commission’s proposal.

Accounting Research Homogeneity and the Possibilities of Structural Change

Concerns about the homogenization of accounting research have been expressed over an extended period of time, especially in the U.S. context. Numerous researchers have documented the homogeneity problem and examined the factors that have contributed to research homogeneity. One weakness in the current literature is that limited attention has been paid to understanding the process by which change might be effected. Although researchers have suggested specific changes in accounting academe that are warranted, there is no widely accepted theoretical framework within which proposals for reform can be analyzed. This may explain in part why there has been so little success in reversing the well documented homogeneity trend. In this paper, we apply the theoretical framework developed by Dillard, Rigsby and Goodman (2004) in the managerial accounting context to understand the current research homogeneity problem and to demonstrate the changes that are necessary for lasting reform to occur. At the heart of the model is Giddens’ (1976, 1979, 1981, 1984) notion of duality of structure. This duality of structure implies that the underlying rules that govern social behavior not only create resources but are themselves directly sustained by those same resources. Ultimately then, we suggest that if reform is to be successful, it will almost certainly necessitate a resource shift. In order to effect reform, the policy makers that control the resources by which the current structures shaping accounting research are sustained must act intentionally. There is evidence that such a resource shift precipitated the development of the current structure and it is unlikely that significant structural change can be achieved without a similar resource realignment.