Accounting and COVID-19: A systematic review of the literature

By | 2024-11-21T12:05:57+01:00 November 21st, 2024|

Giulia Leoni / Financial Reporting / 1-2024

Purpose: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, research on the phe-nomenon has exploded across every discipline, including accounting. This paper aims to provide a systematic literature review of the research that has examined the various impacts of COVID-19 within the accounting realm. Design/methodology/approach: Through a systematic selection, classification, and thematic analysis of 294 articles on COVID-19 in accounting, this paper of-fers an overview of the journals, methods, themes, and impacts of this emerging literature. Findings: The review organizes a massive body of research that has explored the effects of the pandemic on accounting from diverse perspectives and approaches. It provides insights into how this research stream has rapidly developed, the main themes covered, and the role played by special issues in prompting timely research on this urgent matter. Originality/value: This is the most comprehensive literature review on COVID-19 in accounting. It organizes the extensive and rapid knowledge production by iden-tifying themes and highlighting the driving force of special issues. In doing so, it also offers suggestions for potential avenues of future research.

 

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Putting integrated reporting where it was not: The case of the not-for-profit sector

By | 2020-02-11T12:14:34+01:00 February 11th, 2020|

Girella Laura, Dameri Paola / Financial Reporting / 2-2019

Nowadays we are facing a new phase of capitalism. Information that is beyond financial capital and able to provide a more comprehensive picture of the path towards better transparency and accountability is increasingly needed and requested. A remarkable body of evidence already exist on how large, listed companies are facing this change, but very little is known about the non-for-profit sector. This work aims to analyse if and how new forms of reporting, such as integrated reporting, can be adopted by not-for-profit organisations to illustrate their efforts towards an improvement in their accountability processes. To this end, through an interventionist approach, the case of an Italian not-for-profit organization operating in the collection and redistribution of food is examined. It emerges that, integrated reporting can represent a valuable device that can be adopted also by the not-for-profit sector to improve its accountability. However, in order to be successfully implemented, some modifications have to be made in order to better encounter the  specificities of these organisational settings.

accountability, integrated reporting, not-for-profit

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Beyond Financial Reporting. Integrated Reporting and its determinants: Evidence from the context of European state-owned enterprises

By | 2020-02-11T12:04:04+01:00 February 11th, 2020|

Nicolò Giuseppe, Zanellato Gianluca, Manes-Rossi Francesca, Tiron-Tudor Adriana / Financial Reporting / 2-2019

Integrated reporting (IR), which aims to overcome the limitations of both traditional financial and stand-alone non-financial reports, has gained momentum as a single comprehensive tool merging financial and non-financial information. Initially conceived for private sector entities, IR is also establishing itself in the public sector context as a vehicle for transparency and accountability. This research offers empirical investigation of IR practices in the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) context. More specifically, the paper investigates the levels of disclosure provided through IR by a sample of 34 European SOEs and explores the effects of potential explanatory factors. The results indicate a fair level of IR disclosure and a trend of reporting information already requested under international accounting standards. The findings also highlight that industry (basic materials and financials) and size positively influence the level of IR disclosure in a particularly strong way, while governance features (board size and board gender diversity) and the provision of external assurance do not exert any impact.

integrated reporting, state-owned enterprises, non-financial disclosure, accountability

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The usefulness of accounting research: A practitioner’s point of view

By | 2018-02-16T13:09:45+01:00 February 16th, 2018|

Giovanni Andrea Toselli / Financial Reporting / 2-2017

This paper represents a contribution from the point of view of a practitioner who strongly believes that it is essential to continue to invest in accounting research. The cooperation between chief financial officers, auditors and academic institutions is central not only for improving the process of accounting regulations but also for relaunching, at the same time, the industrial system (and not only it), by creating a strong feeling of trust in general economic and financial communication, thus fostering higher level of accountability.

Accounting profession, Accounting research, Research impact, Impact factor, Accountability

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IAS-IFRS e rendicontazione socio-ambientale: una verifica della estendibilità dei principi generali del Framework alla valutazione della qualità dei documenti volontari (IAS-IFRS and social and environmental accounting reporting: a review of the extensibility of the Framework’s general principles to assess the quality of volunteer disclosures)

By | 2017-12-27T17:58:31+01:00 December 27th, 2017|

Cardillo Eleonora, Molina Silvia/ Financial Reporting, Riviste / Fascicolo: 1-2011

Obiettivo del presente lavoro è investigare sull’osservanza delle caratteristiche qualitative individuate dal Framework IASB nella predisposizione dei bilanci sociali e di sostenibilità, evidenziando al contempo la necessità di introdurre l’obbligatorietà del rispetto dei medesimi, in quanto elementi ritenuti imprescindibili per la produzione di documenti socio-ambientali attendibili. Nello specifico, lo studio empirico è fondato sull’analisi dei report pubblicati da un campione di imprese quotate nel periodo 2004-2008, con l’intento di verificare, attraverso un’indagine quali-quantitativa l’”utilità” dei bilanci socio-ambientali, la quale dipende dalla comprensibilità, significatività, attendibilità e comparabilità delle informazioni in essi contenute. I dati rilevati, statisticamente elaborati, rappresentano l’atteggiamento qualitativo di risposta delle società alle caratteristiche individuate dal Framework, quale scelta consapevole o inconsapevole di allineamento ad esse.

The aim of this work is to investigate the compliance with the qualitative characteristics identified by the IASB Framework in preparing social and sustainability reports, while highlighting the need to introduce the mandatory respect for themselves as elements considered essential for the production of reliable social and environmental disclosures. In particular, the empirical study is based on the analysis of published reports from a sample of Italian listed companies in the period 2004-2008, with the intent to verify, through a qualitative and quantitative investigation, the effectiveness of socio-environmental reports, which depends on the understandability, relevance, reliability and comparability of the information contained therein. The data collected, processed statistically represent the attitude of companies to answer qualitative characteristics identified by the Framework, as conscious or unconscious choice of alignment with them.

Keywords: social and environmental reports, Framework IASB, accountability, qualitative characteristics, listed companies, standards

 

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Do Corporate Governance Characteristics Affect Non-Financial Risk Disclosure in Government-owned Companies? The Italian Experience

By | 2017-12-27T14:14:26+01:00 December 27th, 2017|

Allini Alessandra, Manes Rossi Francesca, Macchioni Riccardo/ Financial Reporting, Riviste / Fascicolo: 1-2014

While a considerable amount of research has already been carried out into the corporate governance determinants of non-financial risk disclosure in companies in the private sector, such determinants in the annual reports of listed Governmentowned Companies (LGCs) have yet to be investigated fully. This study attempts to complete the picture. Italian LGCs have been selected for analysis and agency theory has been applied in the public sector under the accountability paradigm. The research investigates whether non-financial risk disclosure provided in the Management Commentary (MC) of Italian LGCs may be affected by ownership concentration, corporate governance mechanisms and company-specific features. The issue is of particular importance in a country where Government intervention has significantly affected its economic development since the nineteenth century. Our findings show that there is a relationship between the level of non-financial risk disclosure and Board diversity, leverage and sector. Our findings also reveal some useful insights concerning policy makers and standard setters.

Keywords: Government-owned companies, accountability, non-financial risk disclosure, corporate governance.

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Disclosures in Local Healthcare Organizations’ Social Reports. ‘What?’ and ‘Why?’ An Empirical Analysis of the Italian National Healthcare System

By | 2017-12-22T14:52:24+01:00 December 22nd, 2017|

Bonollo Elisa/ Financial Reporting, Riviste / Fascicolo: 1-2015

In recent years, public administration reform and the increase in information requests from citizens has drawn attention to the issue of reporting information (other than ‘financial’). Local healthcare organizations, as well as public administrations, have been affected by these developments. This paper presents the results of content analysis conducted on social reports published by Italian local healthcare organizations from 2009-2013 with the purpose of verifying the actual significance of the elements that according to the literature and standard setters, should define the scope and content of social reporting. The study highlights the fact that the healthcare organizations analysed tend to focus on the type and volume of the services provided, while neglecting the connection between predefined objectives and actual performance – as well as stakeholder engagement in the social reporting process. Social reports have the role therefore of being merely a tool for unidirectional communication by the healthcare organization to its stakeholders.

Keywords: Social reporting, local healthcare organizations, accountability

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