Multinational Clients: A Source Of Competitive Advantage For Multinational Audit Firms

This research evaluates the competitive advantages of the Big 6 audit firms in selected foreign markets, namely in Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. In particular, the current study investigates audit pricing for multinational clients headquartered in the above regions.  The analyses consider the degree of multinationality of the client and the locations of multinational clients’ operations in order to gain insight into the determination of audit fees and audit firms’ competitive advantages. The results indicate that audit fee premiums increase as the level of multinationality of the client increases in the Malaysian market, but not in the Hong Kong or UK markets. Also, in Malaysia, the magnitude of the Big 6 audit fee premium increases for clients with subsidiaries in developed countries.  However, in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, the location of client subsidiaries in developed countries does not provide additional competitive advantages for Big 6 firms.

Examining the Impact of A Protein Intervention to Improve Outcomes In Frail Perioperative Candidates: A Feasibility Study

Background: Frailty is a syndrome or grouping of clinical characteristics that collectively increases one’s vulnerability to acute and external health stressors. Higher rates of frailty are present in oncology surgical patients and is a predictor of postoperative complications, as well as increased morbidity and mortality. Long- and short-term survival of surgical oncology patients is worse in frail patients than robust patients. Prehabilitation interventions during the planning phase of surgical intervention may serve to mitigate already known health concerns prior to inflicting the stressor that is surgical intervention. Purpose: To measure the feasibility of an educational prehabilitative nutritional intervention aimed at increasing the pre-operative surgical oncology patient’s protein intake as measured by three 24-hour food recalls. The educational intervention focused on increasing the patient’s knowledge of commonly consumed, financially accessible, easily prepared foods that are high in protein and nutrient dense. Methods: A feasibility study method was used to evaluate an educational prehabilitative nutritional intervention that promoted increased protein intake prior to surgery. Twenty-four-hour food recalls were collected to measure protein intake over 3 different time intervals (once before the intervention and two in the month following the intervention). Results: A total of 20 participants enrolled and completed the initial survey and intervention 10 completed all three time points. Enrollment and retention of participants was feasible, as was the application of the intervention. The mean protein intake increased from initial assessment through the two post-intervention time intervals (65.8g; 74.1g; 86.3g, respectively). Conclusion: It is feasible to perform an educational prehabilitative nutritional intervention in an outpatient surgical oncology setting. There was an increase in protein intake among the patients within our study sample. However, because the sample size and the accrual time frame were small, we cannot claim a causal relationship

The Influence of Director Stock Ownership and Board Discussion Transparency on Financial Reporting Quality

Seventy-two active corporate directors participate in an experiment where management insists on aggressive recognition of revenue, but the chief audit executive proposes a more conservative approach. Results indicate interactive effects of director stock ownership and the transparency of director decisions. Stock-owning directors are more likely to oppose management’s attempts to manage earnings when transparency increases. For non-stock owning directors, however, increasing transparency does not affect the likelihood that directors oppose management’s attempts to manage earnings. The current study challenges suppositions that equate director stock ownership with improved financial reporting and higher corporate governance quality, and it provides evidence that increased transparency is beneficial when director compensation plans threaten director independence

Early predictors of phonological and morphological awareness and the link with reading : evidence from children with different patterns of early deficit

This study examines the contribution of early phonological processing (PP) and language skills on later phonological awareness (PA) and morphological awareness (MA), as well as the links among PA, MA, and reading. Children 4–6 years of age with poor PP at the start of school showed weaker PA and MA 3 years later (age 7–9), regardless of their language skills. PA and phonological and morphological strategies predict reading accuracy, whereas MA predicts reading comprehension. Our findings suggest that children with poor early PP are more at risk of developing deficits in MA and PA than children with poor language. They also suggest that there is a direct link between PA and reading accuracy and between MA and reading comprehension that cannot be accounted for by strategy use at the word level

A Comparative Analysis Of Audit Service Supply Using Desk And Working Paper Reviews

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) performs extensive reviews of audit working papers for selected Texas school district audits to evaluate the quality of audit services rendered by independent accountants. These reviews are referred to as Quality Control Reviews (QCRs). The TEA also conducts desk reviews of all audited financial statements issued by Texas independent school districts. During the desk review process, the TEA performs a limited check of the accuracy of financial statement amounts, completeness of financial disclosures, and existence of proper audit output. Prior research suggests that desk reviews and quality control reviews both measure audit quality (Colbert and O’Keefe 1995; Copley et al. 1994; Deis and Giroux 1992, 1996; Giroux et al. 1995; O’Keefe and Westort 1992; O’Keefe et al. 1994). The purpose of the paper is to determine if desk reviews capture the same audit quality information as quality control reviews. If so, regulators should focus resources on desk reviews since they are more timely and economical than QCRs. The results of the study, however, indicate that desk reviews and quality control reviews do not measure the same constructs. The findings suggest that desk reviews measure the industry specific knowledge of the auditor, which is only one aspect of audit quality. Moreover, it was observed that some audits passing the desk review were graded low in quality by the working paper review. This finding suggests that low audit quality may be more prevalent than generally suspected and that steps to improve audit quality and auditor credibility are warranted

Psychophysiological Responses to Data Visualization and Visualization Effects on Auditors’ Judgments and Audit Quality

We conduct experiments with practicing Big 4 auditors and business students in order to investigate the psychophysiological responses to Big Data visualizations and the effects of different visualization techniques on auditor judgment and ultimately audit quality. More specifically, the first experiment with students examines whether visualizations can be designed to increase the level of a users’ arousal. Such increases in arousal have the capacity to yield significant benefits to the audit profession by drawing auditors’ attention to important patterns in data and promoting the evaluation of these patterns during evidence evaluation. Results of the first experiment using cognitive pupillometry and eye gaze measurement indicate that different visualization techniques produce significant differences in the level of arousal without interfering with information evaluation efficiency. The second experiment then investigates whether visualizations that were shown to promote higher and lower levels of arousal have differential effects on auditor judgments and audit quality. In addition, the second experiment investigates whether the reliability of the data sources underlying visualizations affect auditors’ judgments. Results from the second experiment indicate that visualizations that increase arousal enhance auditors’ ability to recognize disconfirming evidence and incorporate this evidence into their decisions. That is, auditors who view visualizations of disconfirming evidence that are designed to promote arousal recommend greater reductions to management estimates of reported revenue and increase their budgeted audit hours more than auditors who view visualizations that promote less arousal. In addition, auditors who view visualizations that increase arousal are more likely to attend to the reliability of data used to create the visualizations. Overall, the experiments reveal that understanding the root causes of different visualization techniques on arousal and auditor judgment present multiple opportunities to enhance audit quality

Why Financial Executives Do Bad Things:The Effects of the Slippery Slope and Tone at the Top on Misreporting Behavior

This paper employs theory of normal organizational wrongdoing and investigates the joint effects of management tone and the slippery slope on financial reporting misbehavior. In Study 1, we investigate assumptions about the effects of sliding down the slippery slope and tone at the top on financial executives' decisions to misreport earnings. Results of Study 1 indicate that executives are willing to engage in misreporting behavior when there is a positive tone set by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) (kind attitude toward employees and non-aggressive attitude about earnings), regardless of the presence or absence of a slippery slope. A negative tone set by the CFO does not facilitate the transition from minor indiscretions to financial misreporting. In Study 2, we find that auditors evaluating executives' decisions under the same conditions as those in Study 1 do not react to the slippery slope condition, but auditors assess higher risks of fraud when the CFO sets a negative tone. Overall, our results indicate that many assumptions about the slippery slope and tone at the top should be questioned. We provide evidence that pro-organizational behaviors and incrementalism yield new insights into the causes of ethical failures, financial misreporting behavior, and failures of corporate governance mechanisms

Cascades of multisite phosphorylation control Sic1 destruction at the onset of S phase.

Multisite phosphorylation of proteins has been proposed to transform a graded protein kinase signal into an ultrasensitive switch-like response. Although many multiphosphorylated targets have been identified, the dynamics and sequence of individual phosphorylation events within the multisite phosphorylation process have never been thoroughly studied. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the initiation of S phase is thought to be governed by complexes of Cdk1 and Cln cyclins that phosphorylate six or more sites on the Clb5-Cdk1 inhibitor Sic1, directing it to SCF-mediated destruction. The resulting Sic1-free Clb5-Cdk1 complex triggers S phase. Here, we demonstrate that Sic1 destruction depends on a more complex process in which both Cln2-Cdk1 and Clb5-Cdk1 act in processive multiphosphorylation cascades leading to the phosphorylation of a small number of specific phosphodegrons. The routes of these phosphorylation cascades are shaped by precisely oriented docking interactions mediated by cyclin-specific docking motifs in Sic1 and by Cks1, the phospho-adaptor subunit of Cdk1. Our results indicate that Clb5-Cdk1-dependent phosphorylation generates positive feedback that is required for switch-like Sic1 destruction. Our evidence for a docking network within clusters of phosphorylation sites uncovers a new level of complexity in Cdk1-dependent regulation of cell cycle transitions, and has general implications for the regulation of cellular processes by multisite phosphorylation

Hepatitis B among Pacific Islanders in Southern California: how is health information associated with screening and vaccination?

We measured Hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission knowledge and self-reported screening/testing behavior among Pacific Islanders (Guamanians/Chamorros, Samoans, and Tongans) in Southern California. We also examined access and trust by Pacific Islanders of varying health information sources. We administered and analyzed survey data (N = 297), using a convenience sample in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties in spring 2009. We found that while Pacific Islander respondents reported that they receive health information from physicians, and largely trust this source, information from and trust in physicians were not statistically significant in explaining whether respondents sought HBV screening or vaccination

Presentation, Treatment, and Prognosis of Secondary Melanoma within the Orbit

BackgroundOcular melanoma is a rare but often deadly malignancy that arises in the uvea, conjunctiva, or orbit. Uveal melanoma is the most common type, with conjunctival melanoma being the second most frequently observed. Melanoma accounts for 5–10% of metastatic or secondary orbital malignancies, but only a minute proportion of primary orbital neoplasia. The aim of this study was to characterize the clinical presentation, treatment, and prognosis in patients presenting with melanoma metastatic to, or secondary within, the orbit.MethodsA retrospective cohort study of patients presenting to a tertiary referral orbital unit from 1982 to 2016 was performed. Eighty-nine patients with biopsy-proven diagnosis of melanoma within the orbit were included in the study. The clinical notes, radiological imaging, histology, surgical notes, and outcome data for the patients were reviewed. The main outcome measures of interest were the interval between primary malignant melanoma and orbital presentation, survival after orbital presentation, and clinical parameters (such as gender, age at presentation, and treatment approach).ResultsThe commonest primary source of tumor was choroidal melanoma, with conjunctival and cutaneous melanomas being relatively common; eyelid and naso-sinus tumors occurred in a few cases. The mean age at presentation with orbital disease was 65 years (31–97 years). The interval between primary malignancy and orbital disease (either local spread/recurrence or true metastatic disease) showed wide variability, with almost one-third of patients having orbital disease at the time of primary diagnosis, but others presenting many years later; indeed, the longest orbital disease-free interval was over 34 years. Twenty-three patients were considered to have had late orbital metastases—that is, at more than 36 months after primary tumor. The median survival following presentation with orbital involvement was 24 months. Patients with tumors of cutaneous origin had worst survival, whereas those with conjunctival tumors had the best prognosis.ConclusionA high index of suspicion for orbital recurrence should be maintained in any patient with prior history of melanoma, however distant the primary tumor is in site or time. Furthermore, giving a prognosis for orbital melanoma remains problematic due to highly variable survival, and further investigation will be necessary to understand the likely genetic basis of this phenomenon