Department of Accounting and Finance
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Item The effects of multinationality on the market value of cash: evidence from Latin America(2025) Manoel, Aviner Augusto Silva; da Costa Moraes, Marcelo Botelho; Carneiro, Jorge; Perez, Eloisa de ToledoThe aim of this paper is to examine whether the value investors place on cash holdings varies between multinationals and domestic firms from Latin America. Utilizing data from the six largest Latin American economies, our analyses with different proxies of multinationality reveal that investors do not attribute a significant valuation premium, nor do they impose a price discount, on the cash held by Latin American multinational corporations (Multilatinas) when compared to the cash of their domestic counterparts. These findings suggest that shareholders do not view Multilatinas' cash holdings as conferring greater advantages relative to those of domestic firms. We interpret this as evidence that the perceived benefits of multinationality, such as increased growth potential, may be counterbalanced by elevated agency costs and greater information asymmetry. Our study advances the literature on cash holdings and international business and discusses implications for stakeholders of multinational corporations that have subsidiaries in countries with potential growth opportunities but in which poor investor protection may lead to agency conflicts and the risk of improper cash diversion. Our research yields important implications for policymakers by highlighting the relevance of requiring the disclosure of disaggregated information about domestic and foreign cash to improve efficiency in stakeholder decision-making.Item Audit quality and the market value of cash: the role played by the Big 4 auditor in Latin America(2025) Manoel, Aviner Augusto Silva; da Costa Moraes, Marcelo Botelho; Perez, Eloisa de Toledo; Pündrich, Gabriel PereiraDespite the extensive discussion in the accounting literature regarding the importance of internal control for the proper allocation of corporate resources, little is known about the role of auditors as a governance mechanism in reducing agency costs related to cash resources. This study extends the literature that explores differences in audit quality by examining whether perceived audit quality, measured by the Big 4/non-Big 4 dichotomy, mitigates the value destruction associated with cash. To the extent that investors do not perceive Big 4 auditors, as opposed to non-Big 4 auditors, as effective in preventing the potential value destruction associated with cash holdings or enhancing the contribution of cash to firm value in Latin America, our article is the first to document that investors do not assign a statistically significant premium to the cash balances of Big 4 clients. The results hold after a series of robustness checks and additional analyses. Our article enriches the literature on audit quality, corporate governance and cash holdings by demonstrating no statistically significant influence of auditor choice on the value investors place on cash reserves in a weak legal environment, i.e., where minority shareholders are poorly protected. Our conclusions have important implications for investors and lenders looking to Latin America to diversify their investments, as our findings about audit quality can influence their investment decisions. This study also has practical implications for the debate concerning the role played by audit quality.Item State ownership and financial reporting quality: evidence from natural advantage industries(2025) Boubakri, Narjess; Durnev, Art; Oliveira dos Santos, IgorUsing a hand-collected sample of state-owned enterprises and newly privatized firms around the globe, we examine financial reporting quality in natural advantage (substantial oil reserves or mineral deposits) industries. We find that ultimate state ownership tends to deteriorate financial reporting quality. Such a finding tends to occur particularly in countries with low shareholder minority protection, low financial development, high resource extraction intensity, low freedom of the press, collectivist societies, poor government anti-diversion policies, and in resource-dependent countries. Finally, we document that ultimate state ownership in the context of better financial reporting quality is associated with exacerbated capital expenditures, which indicate resource overextraction. Such a finding applies particularly to resource-dependent countries and civil-law countries.Item Perspective chapter: the audacity of risk – contemporary failures(2025) Roberts, Dominic; Salifu, Ekililu; Akanga, Fidelis; Maček, Anita; Murg, MichaelIn Modern society, risk is a complicated concept often taken for granted, and measured, calculated and predicted as a surety in most instances using mathematical and calculative analysis as concrete affirmation of market behavior. While this approach to risk is widely used and accepted as a premise to market assertion, it does not incorporate some of the facets crucial to understanding risk. The focus of contemporary risk management, especially for financial houses, in which some of the biggest culprits are banks, is on measuring and predicting risk rather than understanding this evolving concept. This chapter delves into the social aspects of risk that are usually ignored and presents some of the demits of banking and other financial institutions that plague a heavily calculative approach to risk. Our research on which this chapter is based has found that this measurable and calculative approach to risk has impaired the ability of risk to be explored in other dimensions. For example, the concept of risk, if better understood before being measured, can possibly lead to better decision making both at the micro and macro level of operations that can eventually result in a more stable, robust financial system.Item Boosting financial literacy: three researchers make the case for increased financial literacy education, led by CPAs(2021) Feils, Dorothee; Malin, Michelle; Perez-de-Toledo, EloisaFinancial literacy, or more specifically the lack thereof, has been in the news for some time. Financial literacy can be defined as the possession of appropriate knowledge and skills required to manage one’s own financial resources properly. This lack of financial literacy is ever more concerning, given the global trends towards more complex financial decisions that individuals must make. For example, Canada and other countries have seen a trend of defined benefit pension plans replaced by defined contribution pension plans, shifting the financial risk for retirement income from the corporation to the individual. In addition, individuals have greater access to financial transactions through internet purchasing, the advent of cryptocurrencies, crowdfunding, and crowd financing. Put together, individuals today are making considerably more financial decisions throughout their lives due to increased access to new financial products and longer lifespans. Yet, despite its growing importance, existing academic research has consistently shown that the average financial literacy of individuals is quite low across various demographics and countries.Item How increased volume of low-stakes testing improved student engagement and performance without additional grading burden(2023) Saccucci, Frank; Enomoto, Kayoko; Warner, Richard; Nygaard, ClausIn his chapter, Franco (Frank) Saccucci contributes to this book, Enhancing Student Learning Outcomes in Higher Education, by illustrating how an increased volume of low-stakes testing in the classroom improved student engagement and performance without causing additional educator fatigue to either the marking efforts or budget. He relates to the three phases of the central ESLO model of the book in this way: In the DESIGNING phase, he explains why and how he developed the approach incorporating regular low-stakes testing into his teaching approach. He demonstrates how quizzes are carefully planned to strengthen students’ memory and practical use of formulas, while a peermarking system is introduced to reduce the teacher fatigue from grading. In the DOING phase, he describes how he implements low-stakes testing in the classroom setting. Short quizzes are seamlessly integrated into class sessions, and the peer-marking system actively engages students in a less conventional aspect of the learning process. The approach fosters a ‘gamified’ atmosphere that further motivates student engagement and participation while ensuring consistent oversight of the effectiveness of the process across different institutions. In the DIAGNOSING phase, the author evaluated the effectiveness of this teaching approach through student surveys and direct observations of student performance. The survey feedback indicated an increased preference for this testing method and improved readiness for major exams. The observations supported enhanced student engagement, demonstrating the success of the intervention in improving learning and performance. An unexpected outcome was the gamification of the learning process, which further enhanced student motivation.Item Chartered professional accountant's competencies: the synergy between accounting education and employers' needs—evidence from Alberta(2023) Elbarrad, Sherif; Belassi, WalidThis study examines the competencies delineated by the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) in Canada and explores the gap between what universities provide, represented by the students' confidence in the knowledge acquired—and what the accounting profession in Canada requires and deems necessary.Item Research recast(ed): S1E7 - A conversation with Dr. Eloisa Perez(2021) Ekelund, Brittany; Cave, Dylan; Perez-de-Toledo, EloisaToday we learn a little about cryptocurrency, a lot about financial literacy, and we talk about how you can, and should, start saving now. Joining us in the studio today we have Dr. Eloisa Perez, an associate professor in the Department of Accounting and Finance at MacEwan University, who received her Ph.D. in entrepreneurship from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Her most recent research involves the creation of online courses, modules and resources aimed at improving the financial literacy of young adults.Item Strategies promoting psychological well-being of students: a case study and accounting games(2023) Khinkanina, NataliaThe article provides a rationale for the importance of students' psychological well-being in the process of acquiring knowledge and the role of teachers in its formation. Proposed practical recommendations for successful and entertaining study of the material at different stages of the accounting course.Item The westernization of the East: an opportunity for development or a fallacy?(2022) Bocatto, Evandro; Perez-de-Toledo, EloisaThe paper re-conceptualizes the terms West and East, arguing that West is related to development whereas East is in development. From the westernization metaphor, the article asks: Does the East intend to become the West? Content analyses and comparison of cases allow for the interpretation of countries’ intentions regarding economic, political, social, and environmental orientations of governments, institutions, and businesses. The paper concludes that the East is unlikely to find the ‘right’ model of growth by replicating the West because the Western model has mistakenly assumed unlimited resources for growth, among other reasons. To benchmark Western development is a fallacy to the East. Tradeoffs occur as the East chooses the Western economic model as its benchmark. The paper discusses the role of social and technological innovations in business and society as possible, albeit limited, solutions.Item A unique challenge: teaching finance and budgeting to your non-finance staff, government finance review(2021) Saccucci, FrankHow many times have you explained the same accounting, finance, budgeting concept, principle, or cycle to a non-finance colleague—only to have them say, “Oh, you finance people have your own language?” You’re left wondering why your non-finance peers don’t understand. A possible answer is the way in which finance is explained or taught, rather than the content itself. Teaching or explaining content is half art and half science—and learning the art of teaching and training can at times take longer than learning the science.Item A psychoanalytical approach to management research: the psychoanalytical problem, its resolution, and derivate research method(2022) Bocatto, Evandro; Perez-de-Toledo, EloisaKarl Popper has locked the reasoning of many researchers on a particular kind of rational thinking, that is, hypotheses stating and testing. For this reason, social sciences started to privilege a specific theory of personality. It is accurate to state that the common-sense knowledge, and resultant human "irrational" action, can be explained and even confronted by testing its assumptions. Nevertheless, Popper's categorization is not the only one possible. It neglects the irrationality of unconscious' intentions, a competing drive that directs human actions. In this paper, we discuss that, in accordance, management research and practice have strict relations with theories of personality that neglect the unconscious. For that reason, it assumes that humans are self-interested organisms like guinea pigs, neglecting this complementary supposition: the unconscious's intentions, structure, and dynamics that also drive human behavior, thinking, feeling, perceiving, and learning. The crucial integration of objective knowledge with the unconscious dynamic supposes the addition of the psychoanalytical problem to Popperian's psychological problem. Thus, the derivate capacity to explain human and social action understood as intention, plan, and act must consider conscious and unconscious intentions. The psychoanalytical approach to management research also provides ingenious methods like the awareness-enhancing interviews we present.Item Social inclusion and collective leadership for disadvantaged entrepreneurship: a theoretical perspective(2022) Pathak, Saurav; Muralidharan, EtayankaraIn this conceptual article, we suggest that disadvantaged entrepreneurship is a contextualized phenomenon. Combining individual-level (micro-level) disadvantage theory of entrepreneurship with societal-level (macro-level) theory of diversity and inclusion and culturally endorsed implicit leadership theory, we discuss the influence of societal level social inclusion values and culturally endorsed collective leadership styles (Collective CLT) on disadvantaged individual’s participation in entrepreneurship. We also propose interaction effects between these two antecedents of disadvantaged entrepreneurship. Societal level collective CLT is conceptualized as a shared cultural leadership style that (1) fosters sharing of leadership roles (2) encourages shared decision making, (3) promotes working in teams towards achieving shared goal through common actions, and (4) establishes high performance standards. Societal-level inclusion value would foster disadvantaged individuals’ participation in entrepreneurship through enhancing the effectiveness of collective CLT. A brief description on operationalization and empirical treatment of the two antecedents will also be presented. We also discuss the implications of this study for theory as well as for practice.Item Organizational response to goods failure complaints: the role of culture on perceptions of interactional justice and customer satisfaction(2021) Muralidharan, Etayankara; Guo, Wenxia; Fazel, Hesham; Wei, William XiaojunIt is well recognized that in a service failure context, cultural value orientations interact with firm responses to service failures to influence perceptions of fairness (justice) and satisfaction. We examine whether this effect is applicable in the case of goods failure complaint context. Using an experimental design with data from Hong Kong and Canada, we investigate how customer evaluations of firm responses are influenced by interplay of consumers’ value orientation and nature of firm responses to the goods failure complaint [whether complaint resolution is initiated by the firm (vs. initiated by the customer), customer is informed about the progress of complaint resolution (vs. not informed about the progress)]. Our findings reveal that the cultural values of collectivism and uncertainty avoidance do interact with the nature of firm’s response to influence perception of interactional justice. Finally, interactional justice positively impacts overall complaint resolution satisfaction.Item Does China’s outward direct investment improve the institutional quality of the belt and road countries?(2020) Pan, Chunyang; Wei, William Xiaojun; Muralidharan, Etayankara; Liao, Jia; Andreosso-O'Callaghan, BernadetteThis article investigates the effects of China’s outward direct investment (ODI) on the institutional quality of the Belt and Road (B&R) countries. Based on a panel data set of 63 B&R countries during the period 2003 to 2016, we find that China’s ODI improves the institutional quality of B&R countries not only in the short run but also in the long run. Further, although China’s ODI exerts no differential impacts on host country institutional dimensions of “control of corruption,” “government effectiveness,” and “political stability” in countries with different natural resource endowments, it improves their institutional dimensions of “regulatory quality” and “rule of law,” implying that China’s ODI may help the host B&R countries minimize the “resource curse”. As one of the most important strategies for China’s opening-up development in the current era, the B&R initiative serves as means to promote sustainable development of B&R countries. The article therefore contributes to existing scholarship on the institutional effects of China’s ODI and sheds light on the mechanisms that drive sustainable development.Item Finding hard evidences for the soft rhetoric of the stakeholder theory(2018) Bocatto, Evandro; Perez-de-Toledo, EloisaThe hard-science type of rhetoric present in the dominant model in management is put under scrutiny. As a result, the shareholders' profit maximization ideal is understood as just a competing socially constructed rhetoric. We are motivated by: 1. why is it taken for granted that the dominant model of business activity is scientific? and, 2. How the competing stakeholder approach would look like? We present mathematical equations that capture other constructs (e.g. women and employee participation, CSR, CER) and propose a stakeholder index (GOV-Icompr). Results indicate that companies that include other stakeholders have superior market value (measured by Tobin 's q).Item Deviant scrutiny methodology: applications in the war against inequality(2020) Bocatto, Evandro; Perez-de-Toledo, EloisaWe argue that research methodologies in management sciences often neglect the negative impact businesses may have on societies. To mitigate this problem, we suggest a deliberate integration of adjacent effects in the data collection of any topics under study. We call this approach to data sampling and collection, deviant scrutiny methodology. Deviant scrutiny can be defined as research methodology that emphasizes an integrative data collection that actively incorporates a variety of externalities into the dataset. The methodology shares three characteristics with Thomas Kuhn’s view: 1. an identified conception, metaphysics and values, viz., the approach includes externalities (i.e., sense of purpose); 2. an historical consideration focusing on emerging topics, or social facts, that affects society and organizations (i.e., sense of context); and, 3. the compulsory, by protocol, integration of evidences that challenge taken for granted assumptions and theories, and confronts the biases affecting scientific communities-of-practice (i.e., sense of awareness).Item How do manufacturing enterprises construct e-commerce platforms for sustainable development? A case study of resource orchestration(2020) Hu, Jingbo; Ouyang, Taohua; Wei, William Xiaojun; Cai, JiaweiThe existing literatures mainly focus on the pricing, strategic significance and sustainable development characteristics of the e-commerce platform, and lack deep research on mechanisms in the process of construction like main structure of recourses and driving force. This paper takes Haier as a Chinese example and explores how manufacturing enterprises create and develop the sustainable e-commerce platform. The research findings show that: (1) An e-commerce platform respectively carries the functions of sales channels, service differences and innovation incubation in different stages of the manufacturing enterprises’ sustainable development; (2) For managing e-commerce platform of manufacturing enterprises’ sustainable development, resource orchestration can effectively realize the integration of value creation and resource; (3) Finally, it further reveals that the driving power which resource orchestration continuously promotes for the sustainable e-commerce platforms to construct is from the co-creation value of manufacturers and users. This paper discusses the structure of e-commerce platforms based on the main characteristics of each resource, and systematically explores the mechanism and evolutionary driving force of resource orchestration to promote the construction of e-commerce platforms for the sustainable development. It complements and enriches the innovation ecosystem and resource orchestration theory, providing significant practical guidance to the sustainable development of manufacturing enterprises.Item A two-staged approach to technology entrepreneurship: differential effects of intellectual property rights(2020) Pathak, Saurav; Muralidharan, EtayankaraIn this article we examine how the strength of the intellectual property rights (IPR) regime drives technology entrepreneurship innovation (TEI). The latter is comprised of novel unfamiliar technological products and new business models, which in turn lead to new product-market combinations. We consider TEI to be a two-stage process that involves access to and use of new technologies and technological resources by entrepreneurs. While stronger IPR may constrain easy availability of new technologies and technological resources for entrepreneurs, using technology itself helps lead to TEI. We suggest that stronger IPR regimes could lead to TEI. The positive effect of TEI is felt through easier accessibility to the latest technologies and technology resources by entrepreneurs. Our model contributes to understanding the effect of strong IPR regimes on different stages of the innovation process.Item Using statistical analysis to investigate the relevance of accounting information in emerging financial markets: an empirical study(2020) Belassi, Walid; Elbarrad, SherifDespite extensive literature and numerous published work on the area of value relevance of accounting information, a major part of the studies have been conducted on large and developed capital markets. While there are a number of published articles in the area of value relevance of accounting information in developing markets, there is still a need to investigate more developing markets to see if there are similarities or different attributes of each market that could shed more light on the importance and usefulness of accounting relevance in developing markets. To study further the gap of accounting relevance in developing markets, this study investigates the relationship between the accounting information – represented in the financial ratios, F-Score, M-Score, in addition to market-related measures – and stock price represented in the ratio of Price to Book Value (PBV) per share and Price-Earnings (PE) Ratio. In order to shed light on the significant variables that affect the stock price in emerging markets, this study examines the cement sector in Saudi Arabia. The results of the study indicate that F-score, inventory turnover, current ratio, debt-to-equity ratio, return on assets, and average trading are significant determinants of PBV. Combined, they explain 75.1% of the variations in PBV. The study also shows that F-score and inventory turnover are significant determinants of PE. Combined, they explain 23.1% of the variations in PE.