Ethical Awareness, Ethical Judgment and Whistleblowing: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

This study aims to examine the ethical decision-making (EDM) model proposed by Schwartz (J Bus Ethics, doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2886-8,2016), where we consider the factors of non-rationality and aspects that affect ethical judgments of auditors to make the decision to blow the whistle. In this paper, we argue that the intention of whistleblowing depends on ethical awareness (EAW) and ethical judgment (EJW) as well as there is a mediation–moderation due to emotion (EMT) and perceived moral intensity (PMI) of auditors. Data were collected using an online surveywith 162 external auditors who worked on audit firms in Indonesia as well as 173 internal auditors working in the manufacturing and financial services. The result of multigroup analysis shows that emotion (EMT) can mediate the relationship between EAW and EJW. The nature of this relationship is more complex and then tested by adding moderating variables using consistent partial least squares approach. We found that EMT and PMI can improve the relationship between ethical judgments and whistleblowing intentions. These findings indicate that internal auditors are more likely to blow the whistle than external auditors; and reporting wrongdoing internally and anonymously are the preferred way of professional accountants to blow the whistle in Indonesia

Taking stock of accounting ethics scholarship: a review of the journal literature

The proportion of business ethics literature devoted to accounting and the proportion of academic accounting literature devoted to ethical issues are both small, yet over the past two decades there has been a steady accumulation of research devoted to ethical issues in accounting. Based on a database of more than 500 articles gathered from a wide range of accounting and business ethics academic journals, this paper describes and analyses the characteristics of what has been published in the past twenty years or so. It identifies and explores patterns and trends in publication outlets and the type of research conducted. Furthermore, through a comparison with issues that have been raised in the general business ethics literature, it offers guidance to researchers who intend to take the field of accounting ethics forward using empirical methods

Accounting Professionals’ Ethical Judgment and the Institutional Disciplinary Context: A French–US Comparison

International audienceThis paper investigates whether one aspect of the national institutional context (namely the disciplinary process of the accounting profession) may be associated with accounting professionals' ethical judgment, in France and the United States. For each country our study seeks to find if there is a link between the ethical judgment of accounting professionals and the disciplinary context, then we make a comparative analysis between the two nations. Our findings suggest that the judgment of the American accounting professionals is more influenced by the disciplinary decisions of the accountancy board. Conversely, the judgment of French accounting professionals seems to be more independent of the disciplinary context. Beyond the differences between the two countries, our results also show some common points; in both countries women tend to judge misconduct more severely than men. We then discuss these results by highlighting some characteristics of the legal systems (such as the facility of the procedure and the publication of sanctions), and that of the national culture (mainly the perception of the law and its link to ethics) which may account for the differences between the two nations. We conclude by identifying implications for the regulation of the accounting profession

Determinants of the attitudes of Portuguese accounting students and professionals towards earnings management

We revisit religiosity, gender, age, ethics education and experience as drivers of ethicality, while expanding prior research from Anglo-Saxon and Asiatic/Euro-Asiatic countries to a Latin European country, Portugal. We apply the Merchant (1989) instrument of attitudes towards earnings management, in a sample of Portuguese accounting students and alumni. We find no significant evidence of a positive association between religiosity and accountants’ judgments on earnings management. However, gender, age, education (and accounting ethics education) and experience are significant predictors of accountants’ judgments. The results are unchanged when we control for the intent (selfish benefit) of earnings management. Females, older individuals and alumni judge accounting earnings management more harshly than males, younger individuals, and students (who have not yet completed an accounting ethics course). A higher level of accounting work experience induces accountants to judge accounting earnings management as a less ethically questionable practice. This finding is theoretically relevant because it underscores the necessity of taking people’s constraints in the workplace into consideration when studying ethical behavior in business contexts. The results are also practically relevant, as they highlight the importance of a systematic ethics education throughout the accountant’s life.Funding -This paper is financed by National Funds of the FCT –Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the project UID/ECO/03182/201

The Impact of Selected Corporate Governance Programmes to Auditor Independence: Some Evidence from Malaysia

Corporate governance is essential for establishing an attractive investment climate characterised by competitive companies and an efficient capital market. This paper examines the impact of four corporate governance programmes to perceived auditor independence from the perspective of Malaysian auditors, loan officers and senior managers of public listed companies. Questionnaire and interview surveys were employed to seek the respondent's perceptions on these issues. It is found that auditor independence would be safeguarded on the following issues: the compliance with the Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) of the Malaysian Accounting Standard Board (MASB) was legally mandated, the establishment of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG), the establishment of the Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group (MSWG) and the implementation of mandatory director accreditation training programme (MDATP)