Charles P. Cullinan

Unionization and accounting policy choices: An empirical examination

Abstract Empirical research examining the potential influence of collective bargaining considerations on accounting choices is quite limited. This may be the result of the unavailability of unionization data at an individual firm level. Becker and Olson (1989, pp. 250–252) developed a means of measuring this unionization. Using their method, an examination was made of whether accounting policy choices in the areas of inventory and depreciation are related to the extent of unionization in a firm. No relationship was found to exist in a broad-based sample. However, in certain industries a significant association was seen between unionization and inventory policy choice.

Is Compensating Audit Committee Members with Stock Options Associated with the Likelihood of Internal Control Weaknesses

We examine whether firms with a stock option plan for their audit committee members are more likely to have internal control weaknesses. Using a sample of 486 US firms, we find that firms with a stock option plan for their audit committee members are significantly more likely to report an internal control weakness than firms without such a stock option compensation plan. Our results support a UK government report which indicates that compensating outside directors with stock options may diminish the effectiveness of these directors. Our findings suggest that stock option compensation plans may adversely affect the functioning of a firms audit committee.

Audit Pricing in the Pension Plan Audit Market

Abstract The economic determinants of audit fees have been examined extensively among public companies, both in the US (e.g. Simunic, 1980; Gist, 1992) and internationally (e.g. Anderson and Zhegal, 1994). These studies have been based on audits of publicly-traded firms, which were surveyed to determine the audit fees. In the US pension plan audit market, audit fees are publicly disclosed, eliminating the potential for response bias present in most other audit fee studies. Additionally, unlike the public company audit market, the pension plan audit market is not dominated by the Big Six accounting firms, and audit fees in the pension plan audit market are smaller than in the public company audit market. This study examines the generalisability of the audit fee model by applying the model in the pension plan audit context. In accord with other audit fee studies, results indicate that client characteristics, including client size and risk, are associated with pension plan audit fees. In contrast with other ...

International Trade and Accounting Policy Choice: Theory and Canadian Evidence

The accounting policy choice literature has identified many factors which have been shown to be useful in explaining cross-sectional variation in the accounting methods used by public companies. One relationship which has been relatively unexplored in this literature is the potential effect of international trade on accounting choice. This study proposes that international trading activities may create incentives for firms to choose income increasing accounting policies. This proposition was tested by examining the depreciation choices of a sample of Canadian firms. Results suggest that importers were more likely to choose income increasing accounting methods than non-importers, while exporting was not found to be related to this accounting choice. These diverging results may be caused by the declining value of the Canadian dollar (relative to the US dollar), which tends to benefit exporters, but is of detriment to importers.

The Effects of Labour on Accounting Choice in Canada

This study examines the effects of labour considerations on accounting choice in Canada. Two potential labour-related incentives are considered: ability to pay and employee attraction and retention. Measures of these incentives are developed based on Canadian data: unionization for ability-to-pay incentives, and labour intensity and the percentage of white-collar employees for the attract and retain incentives. Our results indicate that ability-to-pay incentives, measured by unionization, are not associated with depreciation policies in Canada. In contrast, the findings provide mixed support for the attract-and-retain perspective, because labour intensity was significantly correlated with these choices, while the percentage of white-collar employees was marginally significant.

Corporate social responsibility and shareholder support for corporate governance changes

Purpose - This paper examines whether shareholders consider corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance when voting on corporate governance change proposals submitted by dissident shareholders. These proposals recommend changes to the corporate governance status quo and are made by dissident shareholders who are dissatisfied with the company’s existing governance practices. Design/methodology/approach - Using 195 governance change proposals voted on during 2013, the paper examines the relationship between CSR performance (obtained from the MSCI database) and the level of voting support for these proposals. Findings - This study finds that shareholder support for corporate governance change proposals submitted by dissident shareholders is Research limitations/implications - The findings suggest that shareholders may be concerned with the potentially adverse effects of weak CSR performance, especially poor environmental performance, and may support changes to corporate governance structures when a company’s CSR and environmental performance is weaker. Originality/value - As the first research to examine the relationship between CSR and proposed changes to corporate governance, this study provides unique insights into shareholder perceptions of the value of CSR based on shareholders’ support (or lack thereof) for governance changes proposed by dissident shareholders.

Technology monoculture: ERP systems, “techno-process diversity” and the threat to the information technology ecosystem

During the past decade, enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementations have exponentially grown within first large and then small- and medium-sized enterprises. Contemporary implementations, often through application service providers (ASPs), increase already existing pressures to adopt the embedded “best practices” that have been incorporated into the ERP software. The result is the rapid spread of generic business processes enabled through one of only a handful of leading ERP packages. This chapter focuses on the extant research on biodiversity and its focus on the negative effects of monoculture strategies – that is, the focus on a single crop (system) versus a diversity of crops (systems). The biodiversity research establishes a clear pattern of deleterious effects resulting from the vulnerabilities of monoculture strategies. These patterns are mirrored in the ERP environment as vulnerabilities loom from the diminution of diverse business processes, limited adaptability to business environment changes given technology-driven/enabled processes, and increased susceptibility to widespread parasite damage through cyber-attacks. The implications of the study raise questions as to the sustainability of accounting systems, the business environment, and society as a whole from the rapid implementation of sterilized business processes and uniformly vulnerable enterprise software.

Loan guarantees and the cost of debt: evidence from China

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the potential influence of loan guarantees and the nature of ownership on a company’s cost of debt. Using data on Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2014, we find that guaranteeing another entity’s debt significantly increases the guarantor’s cost of its own debt. Regarding the nature of ownership, our results indicate that the cost of debt for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is lower than that for non-SOEs. Among SOEs, firms controlled by the central government have lower cost of debt than firms controlled by local governments. We also find some evidence that local government ownership mitigates the effects of loan guarantees on the cost of a guarantor’s own debt.

Modified audit opinions and debt contracting: evidence from China

ABSTRACT We examine whether the type of audit opinion a company receives is associated with the debt characteristics of Chinese companies. Our analyses indicate that companies receiving modified audit opinions pay higher interest rates and have more short-term debt. When the auditor mentions going concern in the audit opinion, companies pay higher interest rates and have a lower percentage of long-term debt, but this result is weaker for state-owned enterprises. We also find that companies receiving qualified or adverse opinion pay higher interest rates and have a lower level of long-term debt as a percentage of total debt.

Analyst following and pay-performance sensitivity: evidence from China

ABSTRACT We examine whether analyst following is associated with pay-performance sensitivity in China. Based on our analyses of 17,020 Chinese firm-years from 2007 to 2015, we find that pay-performance sensitivity is higher when companies are followed by financial analysts. We also find that the analyst following/pay-performance sensitivity relationship is stronger for non-state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than for SOEs. Overall, our results indicate that companies followed by financial analysts exhibit more pay-performance-sensitivity, which is consistent the notion that financial analysts can serve an external monitoring role.