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This paper aims to bring to the attention of the accounting research community the opportunities and challenges associated with using public inquiry data for accounting research. We have conducted a systematic review of prior contributions in accounting that incorporate public inquiry data, and identify trends in the types of inquiries, data, and analytic techniques used within the existing literature. Extending out of this analysis, we identify three broad lines of enquiry within accounting research that can be informed by public inquiry data, and provide guidance for future research in the form of specific research topics, questions, and exemplars that illustrate the possibilities of this empirical approach. Finally, we articulate the limitations of public inquiry data and identify strategies researchers may use to realize these possibilities in their own research endeavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rural–urban poverty gap exists in most countries around the world, and this paper employs a novel approach to explain this difference, using logistic regression to examine the effects of rural–urban residence type, individual socio-economic and demographic characteristics, and changes in government policies on the likelihood of being poor in England. Unusually, rural areas in England have lower poverty rates than urban areas, so the direction of the typical rural–urban poverty gap is reversed, but the method employed here would be applicable in either direction. We disaggregate micro-data from the Understanding Society Survey (USS) into three residence types (predominantly rural; significantly rural and predominantly urban), and combine these USS data with information on changes in councils' spending power, in service spending and in per capita income lost from cuts to welfare benefits since 2010. The results demonstrate that rural residence provides a buffer against poverty in England, a so-called 'rural advantage effect', but this is reduced or becomes non-significant after controlling for individual socio-economic and demographic characteristics and changes in government policies. Furthermore, working-age poverty has increased more rapidly in rural areas than urban between 2010 and 2018. Our analysis also reveals how national policies have differential spatial impacts on local populations according to their diverse characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factors influencing cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Horowhenua, Aotearoa/New Zealand, have been deduced from over 40 yrs routine monitoring data, detailed studies and high frequency (15-min interval) data from an in-lake monitoring buoy. Lake Horowhenua is currently hypertrophic but flips between a winter clear-water, macrophyte dominated phase (Potamogeton crispus), and a turbid phytoplankton dominated phase with substantial cyanobacterial (Microcystis sp.) blooms from mid-summer to autumn. Nitrogen for growth comes from agriculture and horticulture via groundwater and spring-fed streams. Phosphorus is released from the sediment when the weed beds die back. These nutrients stimulate the growth of Microcystis sp., until the water temperature falls below 15°C. Microcystis sp can raise the pH to over 10, which releases P from the sediment, sustaining its growth. High pH transforms non-toxic ammonium-N released from the sediment to toxic unionised NH3, which may contribute to fish kills in summer/autumn. Management strategies cannot use P-inactivation agents for cultural reasons and eradicating the macrophyte beds by spraying would cause the lake to permanently flip to a turbid state. Management of the macrophyte beds with a weed harvester is being trialled to allow a gradual replacement of P. crispus with indigenous species from the seed bank in the sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current procurement practices fail to deliver the accountability expected by the public for consulting expenditure and influence on government. This article offers a revised conceptual basis for the procurement of consultants, which the authors argue is an essential step to confronting this failure. Existing procurement practices must look beyond market transactions to include new approaches that bring oversight to the deeply-entwined relationships between these actors. These new approaches must be considered in more relational terms that give due weight to their function in the consultant–policy-maker relationship. Recent increases in government spending on consultants have raised concerns about the ability of government to hold consultants to account. Attempts at reform have focused on strengthening procurement practices. These, however, rely on transactional forms of accountability. The authors argue, instead, that transactional approaches obscure relational dynamics between consultants and policy-makers, limiting the efficacy of current procurement paradigms. The article shows how procurement operates relationally as an initiation, a reification, and a performance of the new public management. This article contributes to the literature on 'consultocracy' by demonstrating how power functions through the procurement of consulting services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airborne radioactivity from fossil fuel production systems is poorly characterized, but a recent study showed elevated ambient levels with proximity to oil and gas production wells. Here, we report year-long, high temporal resolution monitoring results of airborne alpha radioactivity from both radon gas and radon progeny attached to particulates immediately northeast of an oil refinery in Commerce City, Colorado, USA, in an environmental justice community of concern. Gas and particle-associated radioactivity contributed nearly evenly to the total alpha radioactivity. Total radioactivity levels of 30–40 Bq m−3 were 2–3 times higher than background levels (~10–15 Bq m−3) when winds were light and southwesterly, suggesting the refinery as the geographic origin. Furthermore, elevated airborne radioactivity tracked most closely with the light hydrocarbon and natural gas tracer ethane. Thus, the data imply natural gas as the radon emission carrier, possibly from flaring. However, this could not explain all our particle-associated radioactivity observations. Our findings are unique and suggest a need for further investigations of radon emissions from oil and gas infrastructure such as natural gas processing plants, compressor stations, petrochemical plants, and oil refineries that process oil and natural gas from unconventional production.Implications Statement: Regulatory agencies currently do not mandate or conduct monitoring of radioactivity releases and public exposure from petroleum industry air emissions. This study reports elevated radioactivity from radon gas and nonvolatile radon decay products attached to particulate matter, at about 2-3 times above background levels in proximity to Colorado’s largest oil refinery. Observations were within an environmental justice community of concern that experiences well above-average exposure to many other harmful atmospheric pollutants, suggesting potential adverse health effects from this cumulative exposure. Our findings offer actionable insights for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and affected communities alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]