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The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it examines the association between income‐shifting arrangements consisting of transfer pricing aggressiveness, tax haven use and foreign tax rate differentials, and Financial Interpretation No. 48 (FIN48, now ASC740–10‐25) unrecognized tax benefits (UTBs). Second, it analyzes the impact of audit specialization on the association between income‐shifting arrangements and UTBs. Using a dataset of 286 US multinational firms over the 2007–2016 period (2,097 firm‐years), our regression results show that income‐shifting arrangements represented by transfer pricing aggressiveness, tax haven use and foreign tax rate differentials are significantly positively associated with UTBs. We also observe that audit specialization magnifies the positive association between transfer pricing aggressiveness and UTBs, and foreign tax rate differentials and UTBs. Finally, in additional analysis we provide some evidence that the positive association between income‐shifting arrangements and UTBs is magnified in the post‐2010 uncertain tax position reporting requirement period. Overall, our study extends prior research on the topic of audit characteristics (i.e., audit specialization) and tax aggressiveness.

This study examines the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and financial distress and additionally the moderating impact of firm life cycle stages on that association. Based on a sample of 651 publicly listed Australian firm-years’ data covering the 2007–2013 period, our regression results show that positive CSR activity significantly reduces financial distress of the firm. In addition, the negative association between positive CSR performance and financial distress is more pronounced for firms in mature life cycle stages. Our results are robust to alternative proxy measures of financial distress, CSR performance and life cycle stages.

This study examines the association between market risk disclosures (MRDs) and the investment efficiency of financial firms from six emerging markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Based on a sample of 553 firm-year observations over the 2007–2011 period, we find that MRDs are significantly and negatively associated with both under-investment and over-investment and that this association is more pronounced for larger firms. We also find that the association between MRDs and under-investment is moderated during periods of economic distress such as the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and that the association between MRDs and over-investment is magnified during periods of reduced financial distress. Our results are consistent with the idea that MRDs reduce information asymmetry, which ultimately improves investment efficiency. We contribute to the literature in an emerging market context by providing empirical evidence on the association between MRDs and investment efficiency across six emerging GCC capital markets. This study also fills a gap in the literature by providing evidence on the factors affecting the investment efficiency of financial firms.

This paper examines the major determinants of tax haven utilization based on a sample of 200 publicly listed Australian firms, over the 2006–2010 period (1,000 firm-years). Our regression results show that variables relating to transfer pricing, intangible assets, an interaction term between transfer pricing and intangible assets, withholding taxes, performance-based management remuneration and multinationality are positively associated with tax haven utilization. We also find that corporate governance structures are negatively associated with tax haven utilization. The magnitude and significance of the regression coefficients indicate that transfer pricing, withholding taxes, intangible assets, an interaction term between transfer pricing and intangible assets, corporate governance and multinationality are the most important drivers of tax haven utilization.

Information is stored in distributed cortical networks, but it is unclear how distributed stores are synthesized into a unified percept. Activation of local circuits in the gamma range (30 80 Hz), and distributed stores in the low theta range (3–5 Hz) may underlie perceptual binding. Words have a crucial role in semantic memory. Within memory the activation of distributed semantic stores is facilitated by conceptually related previous items, termed semantic priming. We sought to detect event-related brain oscillations (EROs) sensitive to semantic activation and priming. Here we show that low theta evoked power and inter-trial phase locking (4–5 Hz) from 250–350 msec over left hemisphere language areas was greater to related than to unrelated words. Theta band event-related oscillations over left hemisphere language areas may provide a brain signature for semantic activation across distributed stores being facilitated by semantic priming.

We investigate the disclosure patterns of Financial Ratios (FRDs) within the annual reports of 111 Australian listed resource companies over the period 2002 to 2006. Disclosure of financial ratio information increased over this period with a significant increase in disclosures recorded in the first full-year annual report prepared following adoption of IFRS. The results of logistic regression analysis demonstrate that income tax and firm size are factors that are significantly associated with financial ratio disclosures. This study contributes to an understanding of the extent, trends and rationale behind resource firms’ financial ratio disclosure practices in Australia.

This study provides insights on the Financial Risk Management Disclosure (FRMD) patterns of Australian listed resource companies for the 2002–2006 period leading up to and immediately following adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Regression analysis demonstrates that corporate governance and capital raisings of firms are significant and positively associated with FRMD patterns. In contrast, overseas stock exchange listing of firms is significantly negatively associated with FRMD patterns. The findings show that the introduction of IFRS changes corporation’s willingness to communicate risk information.