Catherine Gowthorpe

Asymmetrical dialogue? Corporate financial reporting via the Internet

This paper reports the results of a recent research study into the use of the Internet for communicating corporate financial information to stakeholders. Senior officers in a sample of smaller listed companies in the UK were interviewed about their use of the Internet for reporting corporate financial information, and about the ways in which they identify corporate stakeholders and their needs. It was found that assessment of stakeholder requirements is haphazard, but is informed in many cases by an intention to correct long‐standing inequities in the provision of corporate information. Because the assessment of needs is largely intuitive, it is difficult to judge the effectiveness of the Internet as a mechanism for communication of corporate financial information. However, it is clear that the additional medium of communication offered by the Internet has not so far radically changed the essential nature of the dialogue between company and stakeholder, which remains asymmetrical.

Corporate reporting on the Internet: Developing opportunities for research

So far, there has been little research on the extent or implications of corporate reporting on the Internet. This paper identifies the type of work which has been done to date in this new field, and proceeds to outline some possible areas and questions for future research work. The discussion falls into the five following principal areas: Corporate governance, and the nature of the stakeholder/company relationship; The company’s viewpoint: incentives and disincentives for expanded financial reporting; Verification: the changing role of audit; Information/communication issues; Ethical, behavioural and philosophical aspects.

The relationship between tax and accounting rules ‐ the Swedish case

Traces the history of the imposition of a comprehensive tax‐accounting link in Sweden, identifying ways in which professional accountants have sought to circumvent the impact of the link and considering the effect of the link on the three bodies in Sweden involved in formulating accounting regulations and recommendations. Analyses the range of arguments put forward in the literature in Sweden for and against the binding link. Reports on interviews with leading Swedish accounting practitioners on their experience and views of the link.

Testing the bases of ethical decision-making: A study of the new zealand auditing profession

This paper reports on a survey of auditors in New Zealand which investigates the nature of the moral judgements they make on a series of problems with ethical dimensions. The framework adopted for this purpose is developed from earlier work which identifies a range of ethical principles which may be involved in business ethical decision-making. Auditors responded to a questionnaire which posed, firstly, several questions about the context of their ethical decision-making, and secondly, a series of vignettes elaborating problematical dilemmas which required the selection of one of four possible responses. Data was analysed to determine whether or not it confirmed previous findings in suggesting a predominant ethical orientation for auditors. The results were correlated with demographic variables in order to determine whether or not age, gender, position in firm and size of employee firm were significantly correlated to ethical response. The survey results, on the whole, confirmed the ethical orientation suggested by previous findings, but there were some unexpected results in three out of the ten vignettes examined. Although some correlations were found between the demographic variables and subject responses, the evidence of this survey does not strongly suggest a consistent significant correlation.

Implementing the EU accounting directives in Sweden -- practitioners' views

Abstract Sweden legislated in 1995 to implement the European Union (EU) directives relating to harmonization of accounting. This article reports the results of an empirical study, based upon interviews and a questionnaire survey, on the attitudes of Swedish practitioners to the harmonizing legislation and to the current state of Swedish accounting. The research finds that the Germanic influence on Swedish accounting is lessening in importance, with a likely weakening of the close link between taxation and accounting and a perception amongst practitioners of the increasing importance of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) and US influences.

A Commentary on ‘The Order of Teaching Accounting Topics-Why Do Most Textbooks End with the Beginning?’

I was very pleased to be invited to respond to Wouters (2008) as it deals with a topic that has been much on my mind recently. Structuring a book involves a series of quite difficult decisions, which can be persistent in that they are not necessarily resolved by the publication of the first or any subsequent edition. In order to help me plan the next edition of my textbook (Gowthorpe, 2005) my publishers have commissioned reports and undertaken surveys amongst the population of accounting educators in the UK. Although chapter ordering is not the primary concern, it is of significant importance and the survey work has helped to convince me that some changes are needed in this respect. I do not regard my initial decisions on this point as in any way fixed, and so I am receptive to any suggestions for improvement. Wouters asks whether there are pressures on writers to make textbooks homogeneous. The answer to that, in my own experience, is broadly ‘yes’. I can think of three potential sources of pressure: publishers, students and teachers. What has been my experience of pressure from such sources? The publishers, with whom I have maintained a positive and, I hope, mutually rewarding relationship for some years now, have been relaxed about content, coverage and topic-ordering decisions. They have given me opinions and occasionally advice on content, chapter ordering and so on, but the provision of advice has been low key, polite and helpful. Where they have made suggestions on structure, it has generally been with the backing of survey evidence. Students have little opportunity to comment, unless their opinions are channelled through their teachers; I cannot recall a single instance of any feedback from a student reaching me, except occasionally via personal contacts. No, it is really the teachers responsible for making the decision on adoption of books on courses whose opinions are likely to create pressure on an author to change his or her existing ideas. If publishers’ surveys indicate a strong feeling on the part of teachers Accounting Education: an international journal Vol. 17, No. 1, 27–29, March 2008

Manipulation of Earnings Reports in Spain - Some Evidence

Accounting regulation is a highly topical issue for listed companies in Europe. From 1 January 2005 all companies listed in the EU member states are required to produce financial reports compliant with international accounting standards. Financial reports will be comparable with each other only if full compliance with the international standards can be ensured. Historically, however, an enduring weakness of the international standard-setting regime has been its inability to enforce compliance with its standards. There is a danger that implementation and compliance will be variable across the adopting countries, and that deeply ingrained national reporting practices will persist. The purpose of this paper is to examine some distinctive elements of Spanish financial reporting practices. Spanish financial reporting by major companies demonstrates a tendency towards quite overt manipulation of the earnings figures. The research reported in the paper firstly identifies four common earnings manipulation practices, and then proceeds to examine their incidence in the financial statements of the IBEX-35 companies over a three year period.

Management of accounting: The case for an active role

Regulations imposed upon both the external and internal accounting reports of enterprises may evoke a variety of responses from managers ranging from the active to the passive. This paper explores the active, participatory role which managers may choose to adopt in influencing the direction of accounting regulations. Reference is made to a large number of cases arising in Europe and elsewhere which illustrate how managers have provided benefits to their businesses by actively lobbying for constructive changes in the accounting environment.