Elaine Evans

Collaborative teaching in a linguistically and culturally diverse higher education setting: a case study of a postgraduate accounting program

The Language for Professional Communication in Accounting project has changed teaching practice in a linguistically and culturally diverse postgraduate accounting program at Macquarie University in Australia. This paper reflects on the project’s interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to diversity in the classroom by tracing its growth and development and describing the way in which it is supporting the integration of professional communication skills and discipline‐specific content within the Master of Accounting program. In particular, the paper demonstrates that discipline specialists working in a continuous and collaborative relationship with English language specialists, to integrate and assess communication skills and enrich the curriculum, leads to better outcomes for students and staff. The paper contributes to a growing literature on approaches that integrate particular graduate attributes into programs with diverse student populations, rather than bolt‐on interventions by language specialists that have limited outcomes.

Australian accounting academics: challenges and possibilities

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to provide a thought-provoking, attention-directing diegesis about the quality of the experience for those working as academic accounting scholars. Design/methodology/approach - – Using storytelling by the authors as narrators and a literature review, this paper examines challenges to, and possibilities for, accounting academics. Findings - – The study reveals a number of possibilities for the sustainability of the accounting academy in Australia, all of which rely on the symbiotic relations between the three elements of the profession – practitioners, policymakers and academics – to prepare accounting and business professionals for the future. Research limitations/implications - – The study is limited to the Australian context of academic accountants and, therefore, the identified possibilities for accounting academics in other contexts may differ. Practical implications - – This paper identifies the challenges for contemporary accounting academics in Australia and presents opportunities for sustainability of the Australian accounting academy. Originality/value - – This paper uses a story to explore its overarching theme of the quality of the academic experience for accounting academics in Australia. The story is developed from the authors’ combined experiences of > 80 years as accounting academics who are also actively engaged with the profession.

The Australian Society of Accountants' Attempt to Introduce a Qualifying Examination in the Early 1970s: a Case of Form Over Substance

ABSTRACT This paper adds to an historical understanding of the relation between professional practice and higher education by tracing the Australian Society of Accountants (ASA) struggle to establish a qualifying examination as part of a new programme of professional accounting education in Australia. In 1970, when the ASA introduced a qualifying examination, which it had developed for candidates commencing their accounting courses in 1967, the higher education institutions protested against this action because it required graduates to sit for an examination which they claimed re-ran material already examined in their curricula. They argued that the ASAs proposal imposed on candidates an examination which was grounded neither in accounting practice nor in a common core of accounting knowledge which related to that practice: the form of the examination had taken many years to devise but it lacked substance. Then, in 1976, another type of qualifying examination was introduced. This programme of study emphasised practical applications of accounting and minimised formal academic procedures. It suffered the same fate as its predecessor. The resistance of the higher education institutions to the former and graduates to the latter assured the failure of the ASAs proposals because, at this point, the ASA lacked any strategies to ensure their cooperation.

An historical review of quality in financial reporting in Australia

Purpose – Australias early adoption of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in 2005 was influenced by the argument that the quality of financial reporting would be improved as a result. The purpose of this paper is to provide an historical review of quality in relation to financial reporting in Australia by investigating how the qualitative characteristics of relevance, reliability, comparability and understandability developed in Australia between 1961 and 2004.Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews the relevant academic and professional literature during the period as well as reporting on a survey of academics and others who contributed to debates about the characteristics of accounting.Findings – In Australia the notion of “quality” can be captured by relevance, reliability, comparability and understandability although the names and descriptions of these elements have been debated over a 40‐year period. The paper contends that the exact meanings of those elements in relation to...

What makes a board independent? Australian evidence

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to determine what aspects of board independence, in terms of board structure and characteristics of non-executive directors (NEDs), are associated with effective monitoring of management, as evidenced through lower levels of earnings management. Design/methodology/approach - This paper examines the effectiveness of board independence requirements under the 2003 Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Findings - The results of the paper indicate a positive relation between earnings management and share ownership of NEDs, particularly that of grey directors. There is a negative relation between NED compensation and the level of earnings management, particularly the fixed compensation component for independent directors. Practical implications - This paper is important to shareholders, academics and policy makers because it shows the type of remuneration and ownership levels for NEDs that are consistent with good corporate governance. NEDs are more effective monitors when independent directors are compensated more as a fixed amount that is not related to the firms performance. The compensation of grey directors is not associated with the level of earnings management. On the other hand, NEDs are less effective monitors as share ownership by grey directors increases. The share ownership of independent directors is not associated with the level of earnings management. To ensure the independence of the board and enhance its ability and incentives to effectively monitor management, the paper recommends that remuneration of NEDs should be a fixed amount, and the share ownership of NEDs should be limited. Originality/value - The findings provide guidance as to the meaning of board independence, in terms of the payments and returns that NEDs receive from a company. The results provide support for recommendation 2.1 in the ASXs

Researching ethnicity in the Pacific region

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the construct of ethnicity can best be determined for empirical analysis in accounting research, particularly in the Pacific region. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews relevant sociological and accounting literature. In addition, it presents the results of a case study where “first language” was used as a proxy for ethnicity. Findings – The results of the literature review present six different research approaches towards determining ethnicity. Furthermore, it is found that “first language” was a justifiable determinant of ethnicity in an accounting education study. Research limitations/implications – The determination of reliable and valid proxies for ethnicity in accounting research is important for researchers, including those whose objective is to associate ethnicity with learning and teaching outcomes, accounting and financial reporting activities or behaviours. Originality/value – In the context of accounting research, the value of ...

A Study of the emergence of the Kuwaiti Association of Accountants and Auditors

This study contributes to the accounting literature on professionalization projects and is specifically located in the literature on projects in the British Empire. The study investigates the case of Kuwait, which was a British protectorate (neither settler nor non-settler) from 1899 to 1961. It deploys the enabling factors identified by Poullaos and Sian (2010) in professionalization projects in former British colonies to explore whether these factors were present in Kuwait as an Arabic British protectorate. The study also explores the role of the state in facilitating the creation of indigenous accountants and the Kuwaiti Association of Accountants and Auditors (KAAA). An outline of the Dewaniya, a distinctive aspect of Kuwaiti culture, is provided to help explain the motivation for the creation of the KAAA in 1973. This study finds that the nature of the protectorate treaty and the rise of Arabic nationalism movements led to minimal British imperial influence on Kuwait’s accounting profession, and to a greater reliance on Arabic laws and accountants. The data to support this study’s interpretation of events were obtained from semi-structured interviews with founders of the KAAA and a pioneer professional accountant, and from surviving archival records.

The Interface between Academic Education and the Professional Training of Accountants

This themed issue of AE features six articles which focus on ‘The interface between academic education and professional training for accountants,’ which are among those submitted in response to the Call for Papers that is appended to this editorial. Interface issues have always been contentious in the academic and professional literature. The problems of linkage and closure between academic education and professional training have new currency, given the present pressures from students and employers to move accounting preparation to a more efficient, economic and practical basis. The expectations of academics, students, employers and professional bodies struggle for alignment as current university and professional employment conditions generate new pressures for changing the academic and professional pathways for educational development. The authors are from Scotland, Australia, Northern Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa. Their research gives an international perspective on training, skills development, graduate capabilities and performance. Research methods employed are largely interviews and questionnaires, as well as analysis of research data using a range of techniques, including statistical, content and categorical analysis. Whilst one cannot draw valid generalisations from this set of research studies, it nevertheless provides some insights into the knowledge, skills and attributes of future accountants in a number of national settings and also into the training expectations held by the profession, employers, academics and trainees. A number of studies reported here are suited to replication in other national settings and then perhaps could generate a stronger basis for theory-building in an area where research findings are frequently tentative and localised. All the papers have importance for national and international settings and illustrate the complexities that training and education confront in preparing future accounting professionals. The Gallhofer, Haslam and Kamla paper focuses on accounting education, the accountancy profession and the interrelationship between academia and accountants in the Syrian context. Jackling and De Lange explore divergence and convergence between what graduates feel is taught in Australian university courses, and the skills required for career progression when compared with the skills employers are seeking in graduates. Ballantine and Larres review the potency of cooperative learning for skills development by comparing perceptions of skills enhancement between accounting students in Northern Ireland who experienced traditional group learning and those who were engaged in cooperative learning. Wells et al. identify professional capabilities and skills in New Zealand Accounting Education: an international journal Vol. 18, Nos. 4–5, 343–344, September–December 2009

Independent directors, ownership concentration and firm performance in listed companies: Evidence from Vietnam

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of independent directors on firm performance in Vietnam and identify how different types of ownership structure and the presence of controlling shareholders influence the relationship. Design/methodology/approach For a sample of 217 non-financial Vietnam-listed companies during the period from 2010 to 2014, this study uses the ordinary least squares regressions to estimate the relationship between independent directors and firm performance. Two econometric techniques – the fixed effects estimation and the difference in difference estimation – are used to control for endogeneity. The results are also robust to the lag variable of independent directors. Findings The results reveal that independent directors have an overall negative effect on firm operating performance. This finding may be because of information asymmetry, expertise disadvantage and the dominance of ownership concentration that prevent independent directors from fulfilling their monitoring function in governance. The negative relationship between independent directors and firm performance is stronger in firms where the State is a controlling shareholder. Research limitations/implications Findings suggest that changes relating to independent directors, as a response to the new corporate governance code in 2012, do not have a positive effect on the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance. Further reform is required to improve internal control mechanisms and corporate governance systems in Vietnam. Originality/value This is the first study to provide a robust evidence on the relationship between independent directors and firm performance in Vietnam as well as to explore the impact of the type of controlling shareholders on the relationship.

Is fair value information relevant to investment decision-making: Evidence from the Australian agricultural sector?

Despite major accounting standards boards worldwide continuing to use fair value extensively, academic evidence on the relevance of fair value accounting has focused on financial assets. This study breaks new ground to provide the first empirical evidence for the agricultural sector on the relevance of fair value accounting. It examines the forecasting power of the fair value of biological assets for future operating cash flows. Using all agribusinesses listed in Australia, where fair value accounting was first implemented in the agricultural sector, we find that fair value of biological assets does not provide incremental forecasting power for future operating cash flows, whether market-determined prices or managerially estimated value is used. The findings of this study provide empirical support for the call by Elad and Herbohn in 2011 for the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to revisit the implementation of fair value accounting in the agricultural sector. JEL Classification: G14, G38, M41, Q18