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The Impact of Social Learning and Social Norms on Auditor Choice

Description: The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the influences of industry dynamic factors (e.g., peer selections) on a client’s subsequent decision to select the type of auditor (e.g., Big N versus non-Big N), following auditor turnover. More specifically, drawing on social norms and social learning theories, I develop testable implications and investigate whether and how industry dynamics have an incremental power in explaining auditor choice beyond traditional firm-specific variables document… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Li, Xudong
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Tax Compliance in a Social Setting: the Influence of Norms, Perceptions of Fairness, and Trust in Government on Taxpayer Compliance

Description: Many taxing authorities, including those in the United States (U.S.), rely on voluntary tax compliance and continually search for ways to increase tax revenues. Most of these methods are costly and labor intensive, such as audits and penalties for noncompliance. Prior tax compliance research has heavily investigated the influence that economic factors, such as tax rates and penalties, have on individual compliance intentions. However, economic models fail to fully predict individual tax complia… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Jimenez, Peggy D.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Stable Book-Tax Differences, Prior Earnings and Earnings Persistence

Description: This study resolves divergent prior findings relating book-tax differences to future earnings, determines whether prior literature has missed relationships between different types of book-tax differences and pre-tax and/or after-tax income, and investigates prior earnings as a factor contributing to the observed relationships. As past research has found that some firms have large book-tax differences over several years, this study separates these firms with large stable book-tax differences fro… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Racca, Joshua C.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Changing Role and Responsibilities of Audit Committees in the United States

Description: The corporate form that developed in the early 20th century created enormous pressure for corporate governance mechanisms to curb the power of corporate managers. Berle and Means, legal pluralists, warned about concentrating economic power in the hands of a small but powerful class of professional managers. They claimed this "new form of absolutism" required governmental oversight and viewed boards of directors as part of management, rather than monitors for shareholders. The Securities and Exc… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Teed, Dan Graham
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Experimental Examination of the Effects of Fraud Specialist and Audit Mindsets on Fraud Risk Assessments and on the Development of Fraud-Related Problem Representations

Description: Fraud risk assessment is an important audit process that has a direct impact on the effectiveness of auditors' fraud detection in an audit. However, prior literature has shown that auditors are generally poor at assessing fraud risk. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) suggests that auditors may improve their fraud risk assessment performance by adopting a fraud specialist mindset. A fraud specialist mindset is a special way of thinking about accounting records. While auditors… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Chui, Lawrence
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Regulation and Political Costs in the Oil and Gas Industry: An Investigation of Discretion in Reporting Earnings and Oil and Gas Reserves Estimates

Description: This study investigates the use of discretion by oil and gas companies in reporting financial performance and oil and gas reserve estimates during times of high political scrutiny resulting from increases in energy prices. Hypotheses tested in prior literature state that companies facing the risk of increasing taxes or new regulations reduce reported earnings to reduce this risk. This study uses a measure of high profitability (rank order of return on assets relative to industry peers) to ident… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Kurdi, Ammr
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Auditor's Reporting Practices for an Entity's Ability to Continue as a Going Concern: The Impact of SAS no. 59

Description: This study examines whether the probability of a firm receiving a going concern modified report or a standard audit report with note disclosure of a going concern uncertainty has increased after the issuance of SAS No. 59. This study also examines whether the probability of a firm having no reference to a going concern uncertainty in its audit report or the financial statement notes has decreased after the issuance of SAS No. 59. The findings provide support for the hypotheses that a firm has a… more
Date: August 1998
Creator: Vermeer, Thomas E. (Thomas Edward)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Analysis of the Incremental Information Gain in Combining Economic, Socio-Political, and Joint-Decision Characterizations in a Study of Accounting Choice: the Case of SFAS 106

Description: Typical accounting studies attempting to explain accounting method choice employ positive theoretical hypotheses and test for association between adoption method or adoption timing and economic measures that focus upon specific firm stakeholders. Such studies addressing the adoption and impact of SFAS 87, "Employer's Accounting for Pensions," yield mixed and contradicting results. Various researchers have suggested that traditional economic analysis often fails to capture important explanatory … more
Date: August 1996
Creator: Baker, Pamela Smith (Pamela Smith Elaine)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Examination of the Effects of Experience and Missing Information on Tax Preparer Judgment

Description: This research examines how experience and missing information affect judgments of tax return preparers. Tax return preparers may often be faced with the problem of incomplete information, and their responses to this problem may be conditioned by whether or not they recognize information is missing. Based on the Holland et al.'s cognitive theory of induction as applied to tax judgment by Marchant et al., it was hypothesized that experienced tax preparers would correctly classify more items as to… more
Date: August 1996
Creator: Lewis, Judy D. (Judy Dianne)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Test of Alfred Chandler's Theory of Corporate Control

Description: Alfred Chandler, in Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism (1990), suggests that the acquisition of targets is an alternative to direct investment in research and development (R&D). Chandler suggests that the failure of accounting to recognize investment in R&D as an asset may have made R&D less attractive. This study focuses on the relationship between investment in R&D and capital expenditures and a set of partitions based on Chandler's three technology types ("hightech," "sta… more
Date: August 1996
Creator: Schmidt, George Leo
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Accounting Regulation and Information Asymmetry in the Capital Markets: An Empirical Study of Accounting Standard SFAS no 87

Description: This study uses both basic and self-selection regression models to test three hypotheses about the effect of SFAS 87 disclosures on information asymmetry during 1985- 1987. Both types of models test the hypotheses after controlling for changes in the inventory holding and order processing costs of the spread, while the self-selection models also control for potential self-selection bias.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Lin, Wen-shan
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Analysis of Factors Associated with Voluntary Disclosure of Management's Responsibilities for Internal Control

Description: The purpose of this study was to identify company characteristics associated with the presence of disclosures regarding internal control in the annual report. Gibbins, Richardson and Waterhouse [1990] have developed a framework from which to examine financial disclosure,. These authors define two dimensions of a company's disclosure position; opportunism and ritualism. I examined the association between variables representing the dimensions identified by these authors and a company's decision r… more
Date: August 1992
Creator: Tanner, Margaret Morgan
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Impact of the Gain/Loss Provisions of Financial Accounting Standard No. 88 on Benefit Settlements

Description: This research analyzes the relationship between specific firm characteristics and firms' settlement/replacement plan decisions under Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 88 (FAS88). I examined firms that effected either (i) a settlement of their pension obligations without a benefit plan termination or (ii) a partial termination with a replacement benefit plan or (iii) a complete termination with no replacement of a benefit plan.
Date: August 1991
Creator: Ranganathan, Krishnan Ayengar
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Exploratory Investigation of Socio-Economic Phenomena that May Influence Accounting Differences in Three Diverse Countries

Description: This dissertation attempts to provide an exploratory structure to respond to, and tries to resolve, an existing void in international accounting research. The void is a lack of coherently structured, nation-specific, descriptive research to investigate socio-economic phenomena which may influence financial accounting. This dissertation's salient features include a political economy theory, an exploratory, sociological method, and a case study format. The political economy of accounting, introdu… more
Date: August 1989
Creator: Hudack, Lawrence R. (Lawrence Ralph)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Analysis of Smoothing of Proved Oil and Gas Reserve Quantities and an Analysis of Bias and Variability in Revisions of Previous Estimates of Proved Oil and Gas Reserve Quantities

Description: The purpose of this study is to determine whether oil and gas producing companies smooth their ending reserve quantities. Smoothing is defined as a reduction in variance in the trend of ending reserve quantities over time compared to the trend of ending reserve quantities less the hypothesized smoothing variable over time. This study focuses on two variables that are most susceptible to manipulation—revisions of previous estimates and additions. This study also examines whether revisions are po… more
Date: August 1988
Creator: Campbell, Alan D.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Income Tax Evasion and the Effectiveness of Tax Compliance Legislation, 1979-1982

Description: The federal income tax system in the United States depends upon a high degree of voluntary compliance. The IRS estimates that the voluntary compliance level is declining and that this tax compliance gap cost the government an estimated $90.5 billion in 1981. Between 1979 and 1982, Congress made several changes in the tax laws designed to improve tax compliance. Extensive data was collected by the IRS for 1979 and 1982 through the random sample audits of approximately 50,000 taxpayers on the Tax… more
Date: August 1988
Creator: Stroope, John C. (John Clarence)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Analysis of the Equity and Revenue Effects of the Elimination or Reduction of Homeowner Preferences

Description: One perceived deficiency in the tax system is its unfairness (inequity). One area in which unfairness has been alleged is the favoritism shown toward homeowners. The focus of this study was on the effects of homeowner preferences on the Federal tax system. The overall impact of homeowner preferences can be said to produce three major results—loss of revenue, reduction in horizontal equity, and reduction in vertical equity.
Date: August 1987
Creator: Hall, Bethane Jo Pierce
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Analysis of the Factors Used by the Tax Court in Applying the Step Transaction Doctrine

Description: The step transaction doctrine is one of the judicial doctrines used by the courts to interpret tax law. The doctrine requires that a series of transactions be treated as a single transaction if the transactions share a single, integrated purpose. Many authors believe there is a great deal of uncertainty as to when the doctrine will be applied. Uncertainty and inconsistency in the application of tax law add to the complexity of the law. One of the most complex areas of tax law is Subchapter C of… more
Date: August 1987
Creator: Smith, Darlene A. (Darlene Adel)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Critical Investigation of Positivism: Its Adequacy as an Approach for Accounting Research

Description: This dissertation addresses the influence of "positivism" in accounting research. Accounting research has been overwhelmed by "positivism" to the extent that the "scientific method" has become sacrosanct. The dysfunctional consequences include the extreme emphasis placed on methodology. Researchers believe that the methods applied, rather than the orientations of the human researcher, generate knowledge. This belief stems from an extreme objectivist ontological orientation. A second consequence… more
Date: August 1987
Creator: Eriksen, Scott D. (Scott Douglas)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Effects of Missing Data on Audit Inference and an Investigation into the Validity of Accounts Receivable Confirmations as Audit Evidence

Description: The objectives of the thesis research were twofold. One objective was to conduct an exploratory investigation of the underlying response mechanism to an auditor's request for confirmation of accounts receivable. The second objective was to investigate the validity of confirmation evidence. Validity was defined in terms of detection of errors.
Date: August 1987
Creator: Caster, Paul, 1951-
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Impact on Charitable Classes in Dallas County, Texas, Resulting from Changes in the Tax Economics of Private Philanthropy

Description: Private philanthropy is important in America. In 1985, philanthropy totaled almost 80 billion dollars. Philanthropy is partially a function of price. Absent a tax benefit, the price of charitable giving is unity. When tax benefits are available, the price of cash giving is one minus the marginal tax rate of the donor. Philanthropy is not evenly distributed among all classes of organizations. Changes in tax cost bring about changes in the distribution of gifts among organizations. Predictions ha… more
Date: August 1987
Creator: McClure, Ronnie C. (Ronnie Clyde)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Investigation of Asymmetrical Power Relationships Existing in Auditor-Client Relationship During Auditor Changes

Description: In recent years, considerable interest has been stimulated concerning potential conflicts of interest between a company's management and their independent auditors. Many researchers examined the association between corporations who changed their present auditors, and factors such as auditor's opinion on the financial statements, management changes, mergers, financial distress, etc. Some of these research efforts resulted in findings that were inconsistent with each other. The current research w… more
Date: August 1987
Creator: Sriram, Srinivasan
Partner: UNT Libraries
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